When gmail went down…

Gmail – google’s email service – was down for over an hour yesterday. The question I got from several coworkers and friends was “Is my Email Safe?”

Yes.  But it’s a good idea to back it up anyway.

Like anything else; when I trust my (whatever) to someone else I run the risk that it’ll never come back to me.  The same is true for email; if something happened and my email was lost by google that would be that.  That’s why I have a backup.

The simplest way to have a “back up” is to use Outlook, Mac Mail, Thunderbird or another “Email Client” to access mail.  Not all the time, but if I open Outlook once a day and it goes and gets my mail I then have a copy on my computer in case something happens.

Using web email like gmail, yahoo or hotmail is simple and convenient; using Outlook or Mail once in a while is smart.

• Here’s how to set up gmail with a mail client
• Here’s how to set up yahoo
• If you use another program, ask your network administrator for help