Several months ago I installed eM Client and imported my email environment from Windows Live Mail 11. At the time I was not ready to change email clients, so I never started using eM Client. Today I had a disastrous experience with WLM and can’t access any of my messages. Now I’m more than ready to move to eM Client. I thought I could get a fresh start by uninstalling eM Client and reinstalling it. I have done that, but eM Client still remembers my earlier import from WLM, which is now extremely obsolete. I have added and deleted many storage folders since that time. How can I delete all the messages from my newly installed eM Client that I imported from WLM months ago and do a new import from my latest WLM files?
The best way is to delete the database and start with a fresh one. to do this:
1. Close eM Client
2. Rename c:\users[user_name]\AppData\Roaming\eM Client to eM Client.old-- or just delete the entire directory. This is a hidden file, so in Windows explorer, go the View tab and check the Hidden Files box.
3. Restart eM Client. A new, fresh database will be created.
4. Update eM Client to the latest version by going to: https://emclient.com/release-history
5. Open eM Client and enter the account information (menu/tools/accounts)
6. Import your WLM data.
You then should be good.
Jay, thanks much for the advice. I’ve gone through the steps you listed, and there’s good news and bad news. It recognized my WLM account, and both items to import (I think something like Email Account and Storage Folders) were checked. Unfortunately, the only folder containing any messages right now is Inbox. Those are recent messages received today. The two most critical items for me are my Sent folder with the last year and a half of sent messages and numerous Storage Folders. When I tried our eM Client several months ago it did import my Storage Folders. Can I still do an import at this time, even though I thought it would be part of the setup process?
Here are the steps I have tried without success:
Menu - File - Import
Applications - Windows Live Mail - Next
Import selected folders - next - I see “Loading folder list.”
The top part of the folder list has the name of my email account first and the following folders indented below it:
Deleted Items
Drafts
Inbox
Junk E-mail
Sent Items
The bottom part of the folder list has Storage Folders at the top followed by a long indented list of my storage folders with the first part of each name correct but then followed by letters and numbers. I’ve read about eM Client not importing entire folder names, so that’s not a concern to me at this point.
The first time I tried to import I left a lot of these folder names checked, but then I tried to limit the number just to see if I could get the messages in the folders to import. In one such test I checked just 6 Storage Folder names and none of the folders for the email account at the top. In another test I checked just the Sent folder for the email account at the top and no other folders.
In a test I am running right now while I am writing these notes, I selected only one folder listed under Storage Folders - nothing else. Then I clicked Next. What I see at this point is a box with the title “Import data from Windows Live Mail” and two choices:
Import data to default root folders of the selected account
Import data to a specific folder
The first option is selected, but the second one sounds like the one I want, so I select it. Then I click “Select folder…” and under the list with the heading “Local Folders” I click the same folder name that I chose to import in the previous paragraph - then I click “Finish”.
This is where the problem occurs, as it has every time I’ve tried an import. An error message pops up that says, “Error when preparing import: Contacts database file is already opened by another program.” I click “Ok” and a box with Import at the top says “Preparing…” and a green progress bar quickly fills the whole width. There’s an “Ok” button, so I click it. Nothing happens after that - I’m back at the eM Client “Mail” screen.
I check the folder I wnted to use for the import, and it’s still empty. I’m not sure why Contacts should even be a pert of the process, so I don’t understand the error message. I don’t know what other program could be accessing Contacts. I am not running Windows Live Mail while I’m doing this.
Any ideas on what I might try next?
Unfortunately, I have never attempted to import from WLM, so I can’t be of much help. Maybe someone else…?
I discovered that Windows Live Mail had created a Recovery folder that included both my current Inbox, Sent, and Storage Folders, and I have been able to import them into eM Client. Big relief! WLM did not recover my contact list, however, so I’m starting with one I saved almost a year ago and trying to bring it up to date. I have to rename the imported storage folders, because their original long names have been converted to a short form. The first part of the name is retained, but the last part is a strange combination of letters and/or numbers.