How do I move my email from Spark Business Mail to Hoopla Hosting?

Spark has announced that Spark Business Mail will close on 28 February 2027. After that date you won't be able to send or receive email, or open your mailbox, through Spark. This guide walks you through moving your email addresses, existing messages and contacts to your Hoopla Hosting account so nothing is lost.

Don't leave it until the last week. The move usually takes an afternoon for a small business, but allow time for DNS changes and for setting up everyone's phones and computers.

Rather we did it for you? Our support team can help migrate your email from Spark Business Mail. Open a support ticket from Support → Open Ticket with your domain name and the email addresses you'd like moved, and we'll get in touch to arrange it. Please don't include passwords in the ticket.

Before you start

Make sure you have:

• A Hoopla cPanel hosting plan for your domain. Any of our cPanel plans includes email. If you don't have one yet, you can order one at https://www.hooplahosting.co.nz/client/cart.php.
• A list of every Spark Business Mail address you use, including shared ones like info@ or accounts@, and the current password for each.
• Access to your domain's DNS. You'll need to change where your email is delivered (your MX records). Not sure who manages your DNS? See Where is my DNS managed?

For reference, these are Spark Business Mail's server settings, which you'll need when copying your email across:

Step 1: Create your email accounts at Hoopla

Create a mailbox at Hoopla for each Spark address, using exactly the same address (for example, jane@yourdomain.co.nz).

1. Go to Services → My Services (https://www.hooplahosting.co.nz/client/clientarea.php?action=services) and open your hosting service.
2. Under Quick Shortcuts, click Email Accounts, then + Create.
3. Repeat for each address. Make a note of each password.

Full instructions: How do I create email accounts?

If an address only ever forwarded mail to someone else's inbox, you can set it up as a Forwarder instead of a full mailbox.

Your new mailboxes won't receive anything yet. Email keeps arriving at Spark until you change your MX records in Step 4.

Step 2: Copy your existing email across

You can copy each mailbox, including all folders, from Spark to Hoopla with imapsync. You'll need:

• Source (Spark): host imap.sparkbusinessmail.co.nz, your full email address and your Spark password.
• Destination (Hoopla): the server name shown under Email Accounts → Connect Devices in cPanel, your full email address and the new password you set in Step 1.

See How do I transfer emails from one email account to another? for how to run imapsync. Copying can take a while for large mailboxes. If it stops partway, simply run it again; messages already copied are skipped.

Only have one or two small mailboxes? Another option is to add both the Spark account and the new Hoopla account to Outlook or Apple Mail (both using IMAP), then drag your folders from the Spark account into the Hoopla account.

Not comfortable doing this yourself? Contact our support team and we can help with the migration.

Step 3: Save your contacts and calendars

imapsync copies email only. If you keep contacts or calendars in Spark Business Mail webmail, export them before Spark closes:

1. Log in to Spark webmail at https://webmail.sparkbusinessmail.co.nz.
2. In Contacts, export your address book as a vCard (.vcf) file.
3. In Calendar, export your calendars as iCal (.ics) files.
4. Import the .vcf file into the address book in Hoopla webmail, or into Outlook or your phone. Import the .ics files into the calendar app you use.

Also note down any email signatures, filters/rules and auto-replies you've set up at Spark, as these don't transfer automatically. You can set up auto-replies again under Autoresponders on your service page.

Step 4: Point your email to Hoopla (update your MX records)

This is the step that switches delivery of new email from Spark to Hoopla.

If your domain uses Hoopla's nameservers (Which nameservers do I use?):

1. In cPanel, open Zone Editor and click Manage next to your domain.
2. Remove any MX records that point to Spark.
3. Make sure there's an MX record pointing to your Hoopla hosting. In cPanel, open Email Routing and check it's set to Local Mail Exchanger.

If your DNS is managed somewhere else (such as Spark, your domain registrar or Cloudflare), log in there, delete the Spark MX records and add the MX record shown in cPanel's Zone Editor for your domain. See Manage DNS records with the Zone Editor for help reading those records.

Update your SPF record too. Replace any Spark entry in your SPF (TXT) record so it authorises Hoopla instead, and set up DKIM. Otherwise your outgoing email may land in spam. See Emails going to spam: set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC.

DNS changes usually take effect within a few hours, but can take up to 24–48 hours. During that time some messages may still arrive at Spark, which is why the next step matters. We recommend making the change in the evening or at the weekend when email is quieter.

Step 5: Run a final copy

About 24–48 hours after changing your MX records, run imapsync (or the drag-and-drop copy) once more. This picks up any messages that arrived at Spark during the changeover. Messages already copied won't be duplicated.

Step 6: Set up your phones and computers

Remove the old Spark Business Mail account from every device and add the Hoopla account in its place. The Hoopla settings are different from Spark's, so copy them from Email Accounts → Connect Devices in cPanel. Step-by-step: How do I get my email?

Don't forget anything else that sends email using your Spark login, such as scanners and printers, accounting or invoicing software, or your website's contact form. Update their SMTP settings to your Hoopla email account.

Before you remove the Spark account from your last device, check webmail at Hoopla (click Log in to Webmail on your service page) to confirm your folders and messages are all there.

What about my domain name?

You don't need to move your domain to switch email providers, only the MX records need to change. If you'd like your domain, hosting and email all in one place, you can transfer the domain to us at https://www.hooplahosting.co.nz/client/cart.php?a=add&domain=transfer. You'll need the UDAI (.nz) or EPP code from your current provider.

Quick checklist

• Mailboxes created at Hoopla for every Spark address
• Email copied across with imapsync
• Contacts, calendars, signatures and rules saved
• MX records changed to Hoopla, SPF and DKIM updated
• Final copy run after 24–48 hours
• All devices, printers and software switched to the new settings
• Everything done well before 28 February 2027

Need help or want us to migrate it for you?

Our support team can help migrate your email from Spark Business Mail, or help if you get stuck at any step. Open a support ticket from Support → Open Ticket with your domain name, the email addresses involved and, if you're stuck, which step you're on and any error message you see (a screenshot is great). Please don't include passwords in the ticket.