Windows 10 email

Hello folks,

I am now using Windows 10's email system to receive my @gmail.com and my @live.com emails.
I will at some point in time do a 'clean install' of the O/S in order to clean up my machine. Generally speaking I do this probably every couple of years, and, I like to get rid of (hopefully) all of the rubbish that has accumulated over that time. My question is then, when I do the 'clean install' will my emails, and particularly those that I have purposely saved in their own files, will they be 'prtected somewhere and be recoverable after the install?

I know (I think I do) that my gmail emails will be available but I'm not so sure about the @live ones.

Any help/guidance will be much appreciated. Thank you.

Ascertain that both accounts are using IMAP in which case all Emails are on the Mail server of the respective Email supplier.

Look at the Account settings for each of them. Go to Advanced Mail box settings > Incoming email server. If IMAP appears in the server name then it is using IMAP. This is the case for Gmail.

With Outlook Mail the server name does not show.

So sign on to both Mail Accounts using Webmail and check they are using IMAP.

The reason for doing this is to check as then you do not have to do anything as all Emails are on the servers.
Thus when Win 10 Mail is setup again each account is just synced.

There are various references claiming Emails are at certain locations on you hard drive but I have found nothing useful in such locations.

I don't find it necessary to do clean installs, mine last as long as the HDD lasts. Also the version updates every 6 months are usually a fresh install of Windows 10 anyway.

Thank you for the responses to my query. It is very much appreciated. I will have some free time at the weekend and so will be able to do what has been suggested.

Helmut, I usually do a fresh install of the O/S because I have a habit of downloading stuff that I eventually find I do not really use very much and, I always feel that such downloads tend to clog/slow down the pc. I have told myself time and time again not to do this but, I always manage to. I think that I am a bit too old to change my ways now

I'm very old as well...and still learning.

I changed all Email Accounts over from POP to IMAP only about 5 years ago. I did mull that for sometime, but eventually it was necessary to change to a modern method.

I have checked and it appears that both my @gmail and @live accounts both use the IMAP system.

I am still a little bit confused though. When in Windows 10 Mail, if I click on my @gmail account, I can then create whatever folders I want to and, I then save some of my emails to these folders. I can do exactly the same with my @live account and save the emails that I want to keep in the folders that I have created for this account. If I then do a 'clean install, any emails that I have not deleted will re-appear, does this also apply to the folders that I have created for each of the accounts. If this isn't the case, then it would seem that I will have to save the chosen emails via the system given in the links provided by dalchina. I would then save these to a different drive to the 'C:' drive which I do with all my data anyway.