John Lewis is closing its broadband service – find out what to do if your email is affected

John Lewis has confirmed plans to close its broadband service and all associated customer emails. If you're a John Lewis broadband customer, once your contract has ended, you will need to move over to a new email platform and migrate your messages to stop them from being lost forever.

The move will affect all domains hosted by John Lewis, including @john-lewis.com, @greenbee.net and @waitrose.com email addresses. Originally,  the John Lewis broadband service was provided by Plusnet.

Below, our Which? Tech Support experts explain how to transfer messages in your John Lewis inbox to a new account. Plus we explain how to set up a Gmail account - this will future-proof your email address when you next switch your broadband provider.  

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Each month, we feature one of the most popular questions answered by our Tech Support team.

Question of the month: How do I keep the emails in my John Lewis inbox?

'As you will be aware, John Lewis Broadband is closing down. They have been my broadband provider since I got my computer, so I'm unsure what to do about my email address. How do I prepare for the change?'

Which? Tech Support member

Our expert says:

'In recent weeks, we've received lots of calls related to the John Lewis broadband shutdown. It's worth noting that we always recommend moving away from email addresses hosted by Internet Service Providers (ISP). So, regardless of your ISP, you can continue to use the same email address. Gmail.com and Outlook.com are the free providers that we recommend.

'After creating a new email address, there are three main tasks that need to be completed. First, you need to let contacts know of the change – using your existing email address, send an email to your contacts letting them know you’ll soon be moving to a new email address.

'You also need to update your online subscriptions and services. This can take a while, depending on how many sites you are signed up for. Log on to each website associated with your old email address, then update your details.

'Finally, you might want to copy your emails and folders to your new address. We've heard from plenty of users that have a plethora of emails and folders in their mailbox and they want to keep there. Below, we've got the details on how to move data over to a new mailbox.'

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How to create a Gmail account

Setting up a new email address with Gmail is easy and free of charge. Once everything's ready, you'll be able to check your messages online from a computer, tablet or smartphone.

To create a Gmail account, just follow these steps:

1. Head to google.com/gmail and select Create an account
2. Enter your name, preferred username and password
3. On the next page, add your phone number. You'll receive a code that needs adding to the setup screen
4. Next, you'll be offered the choice of Express personalisation or Manual personalisation. The latter is longer, but lets you choose how much data you want to share with Google
5. We recommend setting up two-factor authentication (2FA) for additional security. Click your initial in the top-right corner of your inbox, then Manage your Google account. Select Security, then 2-step verification. Follow the on-screen instructions

With those steps out of the way, you now have a brand new Gmail account protected by 2FA – that means you'll always get a notification on your mobile phone when you sign in to confirm that it's you.

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How to copy over your emails

If you use an email client (such as Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird) to view your emails, you can add your John Lewis account and copy your old messages into the new mailbox.

To get started, you will temporarily need to install eM Client – this is the software you can use to copy your John Lewis emails to a new home. Then follow these steps:

1. Once eM Client has downloaded, open the app and select Mail, then Other (pictured below)
2. When prompted, enter the following IMAP address under Incoming server: imap.johnlewisbroadband.com (port 143)
3. Enter the following IMAP address under Outgoing server: relay.johnlewisbroadband.com (port 25)
4. Select Continue without encryption

Next, you can add in your Outlook or Gmail email address. Just select Menu > Accounts > Add account (automatic setup will work in this instance).

Once both accounts are added, you can proceed to copy the folders over to your new mailbox. If you have lots of emails, it’s best to copy over one folder at a time, so you don’t get any timeout errors. Right-click on the folder and select Copy folder. 

Finally, pick the new mailbox you’ve created as the destination folder (pictured below).

Once the copy has finished, your John Lewis Broadband emails and folders will be copied into the new mailbox. They'll also be available in webmail or any other device you have set up with an IMAP account.

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