Proton Mail¶
Proton Mail keeps mail end-to-end encrypted, so its servers don't speak plain IMAP or SMTP. Proton Mail Bridge runs locally, decrypts on your machine and exposes a normal IMAP/SMTP server on 127.0.0.1. That makes a Proton account usable from any standard client or sync tool. These guides cover setting Bridge up and getting mail out of it.
- Proton Mail Bridge with Mutt and NeoMutt covers installing and verifying Bridge, running Bridge on a desktop or headless server, its TLS certificate, Mutt/NeoMutt configuration, and an mbsync backup of the whole mailbox.
- Back Up a Single Proton Mail Folder shows how to pull just one Proton folder into a local Maildir with mbsync, then verify the backup against Proton's message count.
Which backup approach?¶
| Need | Use |
|---|---|
| Continuous, incremental backup of the whole mailbox | mbsync channel in Proton Mail Bridge |
| Backup of one folder only | Back Up a Single Proton Mail Folder |
| One-off full export without Bridge | Proton Mail Export Tool (all mail in one flat directory of .eml files) |