Introduction

User Query

Now that we've seen why Office 365 is the preferred solution for many businesses, there's an increase in user inquiries about how to migrate from Fastmail to Office 365. We understand that cloud migrations are rarely simple and require careful planning and logistics to ensure a smooth transition. In light of these concerns, we have outlined a step-by-step procedure for performing the migration with ease.

“We currently use Fastmail's standard email plan and would like to switch to Microsoft's Office 365. We would like to continue receiving emails on our previous domain after the migration without disrupting the current setup. Could someone please point us in the right direction? Thank you very much.”

1. How to migrate from Fastmail to Office 365?

   To migrate Fastmail to Office 365, first generate the app password from your Fastmail account, then create a CSV file and launch a migration batch from the Exchange admin center. You can also use the EdbMails application to migrate your mailboxes from the source to the target.

   Steps to migrate Fastmail to Office 365

   • Step 1: Login to your Fastmail account and generate the app password
   • Step 2: Give a name to the app password and select the access type as IMAP
   • Step 3: Create a CSV file with the email address, username and app password 
   • Step 4: Click on migration under recipients from the Exchange admin center (EAC)
   • Step 5: Create a new migration batch and select the type as IMAP
   • Step 6: Upload the CSV file and enter Fastmail’s IMAP server information
   • Step 7: Enter a name for the batch and start migrating Fastmail to Office 365
   • Step 8: Update DNS (MX) records on Fastmail to point to Exchange online server

   The above method has the limitation that the entire procedure is manual and does not guarantee complete data integrity while performing the migration. If you plan to migrate in batches, it may result in missing entries or items from previous migrations. Furthermore, it takes time and requires technical knowledge of the operation, making it unintuitive.

2. Fastmail to Office 365 migration using EdbMails

   EdbMails IMAP migration is the best app for performing direct migration between cloud email platforms like Office 365. It entails connecting your Fastmail account and migrating mailboxes to Microsoft 365 without the need for technical knowledge or manual labor. Its automated features ensure that you can migrate all of your data in a few steps. Furthermore, its incremental migration technology prevents duplicate items from being migrated to the target on subsequent migrations. Let's go over the steps for migrating with this tool.

    Download EdbMails and click 'Start Your Free Trial' to start using the trial version of the software.

   • Step 1: Enter the Fastmail’s server information on the connection window

     Log in to your Fastmail account and get the IMAP details. Select ‘IMAP migration’ from the main EdbMails screen and fill out all the details as shown in the screenshot below.

     • Select the option ‘Connect to IMAP’
     • Enter the HostName as imap.fastmail.com
     • Enter the Port Number as 993 with the SSL/TLS option selected
     • Enter your Fastmail email address (name@yourdomain.com) and password

      If you would like to migrate a single mailbox, keep the ‘Single Server’ option checked. Else select the option ‘Multiple Server’ and follow the steps to connect to your mailboxes. You can safely login to your account since EdbMails is a secure application and does not store or log any of your user credentials on its servers.

     

   • Step 2: Expand and select the mailboxes and folders to migrate

     After connecting to your Fastmail account, EdbMails retrieves all of your mailboxes and displays them in a logical order for you to expand and select for migration. By going to the 'Settings' menu, you can apply different filters to select only the emails you want. Continue to the next step by clicking 'Migrate to Office 365'.

     

   • Step 3: Connect to the destination Office 365 tenant and map the mailboxes

     Connect to your target Office 365 using global administrator credentials. Check that you've already created user mailboxes and assigned them licenses. EdbMails displays all Office 365 mailboxes and allows you to map the source and target. Begin the migration operation once the mapping is complete.

   • Step 4: Migrate Fastmail emails to Office 365 and verify the migration

     While the migration is in progress, you can monitor the progress and verify the operation with the text-based log report, which summarizes the migrated folders, items, and so on.

   • Step 5: Change the MX records to point to Microsoft’s servers and receive emails

     Finally, configure your Fastmail server's MX records to point to Microsoft's servers so that you can continue to receive emails at the same address (if you have set up your email address with Fastmail). If your email domain is hosted by a different provider, such as GoDaddy, Rackspace, or another, you must update the MX records on these services to point to Microsoft.

Final Thoughts in a Nutshell

Fastmail is a popular email service provider that focuses on and values user privacy. It is, however, more centered on email, calendar, contact groups, and the ability to create alias email addresses. When compared to Office 365, it still lacks many advanced collaboration features as well as integration with third-party apps. Many users who want to migrate to Office 365 find it difficult to do so on their own due to a lack of information and assistance. Because of their technical and elaborate nature, manual methods are not recommended. EdbMails is a Microsoft-partnered tool designed to make migrations to Office 365 and Exchange easier. It has assisted many users in moving emails from Zoho to Office 365, Zimbra to Office 365, Icewarp and many others without requiring any technical expertise.