Gmail to Office 365 migration

1. Gmail to Office 365 migration checklist

   Here is a detailed migration checklist for moving from G Suite (Google Workspace) to Office 365:

   1. Plan the migration to Office 365

      1. Identify the migration scope such as what data needs to be migrated
      2. Establish a timeline and costs for the migration
      3. Identify any potential roadblocks or issues that may arise during the migration
      4. Create a detailed project plan that includes the steps necessary for the migration

   2. Prepare the target Office 365 environment

      1. Create and configure all mail accounts in Office 365
      2. Ensure that all necessary permissions and access rights have been granted for users to access the data
      3. Assign suitable licenses to users in Office 365
      4. Create mail-enabled Public folders and enable the In-Place Archive

   3. Set up and configure Office 365

      1. Set up email routing in Office 365
      2. Configure email policies and email archiving
      3. Configure spam and malware protection
      4. Configure email retention policies

   4. Migrate Gmail to Microsoft 365

      1. Use EdbMails to migrate all your emails, folders and mailboxes.
      2. Import Gmail calendars and contacts to Office 365
      3. Import other items such as Conversations and Chats

   5. Post-migration tasks

      1. Add MX records to direct emails to Office 365
      2. Test the migration by sending and receiving emails
      3. Monitor the migration for errors
      4. Review the migration and make sure that it's working as expected.
      5. Update users and stakeholders on the status of the migration
      6. Train users on Office 365 and provide them the necessary assistance for the transition
      7. Perform regular maintenance tasks, such as backing up data, configuring security settings, and troubleshooting issues.

2. Gmail to Office 365 migration prerequisites

   Before you begin Gmail to Office 365 migration operation, it's important to make sure that your system meets the requirements for Office 365. You will also need to determine the number of users that will be migrated and create a plan and schedule for the migration.

   • Step 1: Determine the number of users and create an Office 365 migration plan
     1. Before you begin the migration, determine how many user mailboxes you plan to migrate to Office 365. Based on this requirement, you can purchase a suitable Office 365 plan for your organization.
     2. Create a plan and schedule for the migration such as migration start and end date, the number of users being migrated, and the specific data that will be migrated.
   • Step 2: Enable two-step verification and create app password in Gmail
     1. For the email migration from G Suite / Google Workspace to Office 365, you will be using IMAP migration. As a result, you have to enable IMAP for Gmail and Google Workspace accounts.
     2. To connect Office 365 with Gmail, you must enable two-step verification and also create an app password for your account.
   • Step 3: Evaluate the bandwidth and network requirements

     When you migrate from Gmail to Office 365, it's important to take into account the bandwidth and network requirements of the migration operation. The amount of bandwidth and network resources required depends on the number of mailboxes being migrated, the size of the mailboxes, and the migration method being used.

     • Connectivity: It's important to ensure that you have a stable connection to migrate all your emails between Gmail and Office 365. See networking roadmap for Office 365 which details the steps to plan and deploy your network for the migration.
     • Internet bandwidth: The migration requires a reliable and fast internet connection to transfer the data from Google Workspace to Office 365. See bandwidth requirements for Office 365 migration and also consider the Gmail bandwidth limits at the source.
     • Network latency: The network latency should be as low as possible. A latency of less than 150 ms is recommended. See how Microsoft 365 networking is different from IMAP servers.
     • Firewall configuration: Make sure that your firewall is configured to allow traffic to and from Office 365 which includes ports that are used for Exchange and Azure AD Connect. See the list of worldwide endpoints for Office 365.
     • Testing your network connection: With tools like Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer and Microsoft 365 network connectivity test tool, you can test your existing network.

      See best practices for network planning and improving migration performance.

     Note: If you have already configured your Office 365 tenant, you can directly skip to Step 7 in this section.

   • Step 4: Choose a Microsoft 365 license option that suits your requirements

     Microsoft 365 is available as a cloud-based subscription service or as a one-time purchase of a perpetual license. Office 365 has different licensing plans each suited to different user requirements.

     It is recommended to thoroughly evaluate the Office 365 business plans and Office 365 enterprise plans to determine which one aligns with your organization's requirements. Alternatively, you can also sign up for a 30-day free trial of Office 365 and test the various plans before making a final decision.

   • Step 5: Set up your target Office 365 tenant for the migration

     Setting up the target Office 365 for the migration involves creating the tenant and configuring it to receive the migrated data from Gmail.

     • Create an Office 365 tenant: Plan for the tenant creation and deployment. See the tenant roadmap for Office 365.
     • Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center: Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center (https://admin.microsoft.com/) and sign in with your global administrator credentials.
     • Customize the tenant settings: After the tenant is set up, you can configure and customize the settings such as email domains, language, and time zone to suit your organization's needs.
     • Configure email clients and apps: If you want to install Office 365 apps and Outlook, see system requirements for Microsoft 365 and Office configuration support matrix. Because Office 365 is a cloud based solution, it is also important to learn where your Microsoft 365 customer data is stored.
     • Set up Office 365 services: Besides email, you may want to set up additional services such as SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams and OneNote.
     • Establish data retention policies: With Office 365, you have the ability to retain data in accordance with compliance and legal requirements. Set up data retention policies to meet your organization's compliance needs, and if necessary configure retention policies for specific mailboxes or groups of users
   • Step 6: Add and verify the custom domain on Office 365

     If you have a custom email domain from your hosting provider (such as GoDaddy, Cloudflare, AWS) to which you want to migrate and receive emails, you must add and verify the domain on Office 365. This will enable you to use your own domain name (such as example.com) for your email addresses and other Office 365 services.

      To set up your custom domain, follow these steps:

     • Verify that you own the domain by adding a TXT record to your DNS configuration. If you have your domain registered with GoDaddy, follow the instructions to connect your DNS records at GoDaddy to Microsoft 365.
     • Add a new domain to your Office 365 tenant. You can use an existing domain that you own or purchase a new one. The domain is used to access your Office 365 services.
     • Update your DNS records to point to Office 365. This step is required to ensure that your email is delivered to the correct mailbox. You can also perform this step at the end after the migration is complete.
   • Step 7: Create mailboxes and mail-enabled Public folders

     Before you migrate to Office 365, ensure that you create mailboxes for users in your organization and assign suitable licenses to them.

     • Add users and assign licenses to Office 365 users
     • Add several users at the same time to Office 365
     • Assign Microsoft 365 licenses to user accounts

       If you want to migrate your Google emails to Office 365 Public folder, ensure that you create and configure Public folders and make them mail enabled on Office 365.

     • Create Office 365 Public folder and assign mailbox user
     • Enable In-Place Archive mailboxes in Office 365
   • Step 8: Set the impersonation role on the source to the admin user

     Ensure that you set the following permissions to the admin account on the source and target server and that the mailboxes you migrate are not hidden from the address lists.

     On the source server
     • Google Cloud platform permissions
     • View-Only Configuration - Run the cmdlet ApplicationImpersonation

     Setting impersonation rights in Office 365 is a simple process that can be done quickly using the Admin Center. Assign the Organization Management role group to the admin user in Exchange online. It is an elevated permission that is required to migrate Public folders.

   • Step 9: Configure Office 365 to send and receive large messages

      Follow the steps to increase the message size on Office 365 to 150MB.

3. G Suite to Office 365 migration step by step using EdbMails

   • • Step 1: Download EdbMails IMAP migration tool

       • Download and install EdbMails on any Windows computer that is connected to the source and target environment. The application is compatible with Windows 11, 10, 8 and 7.
       • Launch the application and click 'Login' or 'Start Your Free Trial'.

          See the detailed list of EdbMails system requirements for Gmail migration.

         

       • Select the migration method as 'IMAP migration' in the main window.

         

     • Step 2: Connect to source Gmail server

       • In the EdbMails interface, select the ‘Single User / Account Migration’ option. From the provided list, choose the appropriate Host name, or manually enter the Gmail IMAP server’s Host name if required. Set the Port number to 993 and configure the connection settings to use SSL/TLS, ensuring a secure and encrypted connection.

         

       • To migrate multiple mailboxes, choose the "Multiple (Bulk) Users/Accounts Migration" option. Download the sample CSV file and enter the required details, such as mailbox names, passwords, host names, and port numbers. After completing the CSV, upload it into EdbMails and verify the mailbox list before starting the migration process.

         

          Refer to the EdbMails detailed steps on connecting to single and multiple users during IMAP migration.

     • Step 3: Select source Gmail server mailboxes

       • Choose the desired mailboxes and folders from the left panel.
       • Click 'IMAP to Office 365' to set up connection with the target server.

         

     • Step 4: Connect to target Office 365 server

       • Choose the desired method for secure OAuth-based modern authentication. The default 'Auto Registration' method requires Global Admin access, while the ‘Manual Registration’ method allows you to use either a Global Admin account or a user account with full access rights.

         

       • Next, select the migration option that suits your needs and proceed to sign in on the Microsoft login page.

         

       • EdbMails automatically loads mailboxes from your Comcast server. Additionally, it supports the use of CSV files to efficiently load mailboxes into Office 365.

         

     • Step 5: Gmail to Office 365 mailbox mapping

       • Choose the mapping option that best suits your needs.

         

       • EdbMails offers automatic mailbox creation for Office 365, allowing seamless establishment of target mailboxes while automatically mapping source Gmail server mailboxes and folders. This feature is especially helpful for managing large volumes of mailboxes during migration, ensuring a smooth and efficient process.

         

       • To set migration filters, click the ‘Folder and Item Filter’ button. This feature lets you customize your migration by selecting specific date ranges or excluding both standard and custom folders. This ensures that only the data you need is migrated.

         

     • Step 6: Start Gmail to Office 365 migration

       • After mapping the mailboxes, enter the job name and start the migration. Click the ‘View Log’ button to view the migration report, which details the number of emails, folders, and mailbox items migrated.

         

         Note: The IMAP method supports Gmail to Office 365 email migration, folders and attachments. To migrate contacts and calendars, follow these steps.

         • To migrate Gmail contacts to Office 365, you have to export your contacts as a CSV file and then import them into Office 365.
         • To migrate Google Calendar to Office 365, you have to export it to an ICS file (iCalender) and then import it into Outlook Calendar.

4. Gmail to Office 365 post migration tasks

   • Step 1: Verify the Gmail to Office 365 email migration

     After completing the Gmail to Office 365 migration, verify that all of your mail data, including messages, attachments, and folders, have been migrated successfully. Verify if all of your calendars and contacts have been imported.

      Perform the following tasks in Microsoft help page to verify a successful mailbox migration to Microsoft 365.

   • Step 2: Update MX records to point to O365 and send a test email

     If you have not updated your DNS records before the migration, you must update them to point your incoming emails to the Office 365 server. Note that, it may take anywhere between 48 to 72 hours for the changes to get propagated and ensures that any email sent to your domain on Gmail is routed to Office 365 mailboxes.

     1. Test the email flow by sending and receiving emails to ensure everything is working as expected.
     2. Test the sending and receiving of messages between internal and external users.
     3. Test the sending and receiving of messages with large attachments.
   • Step 3: Reset and create new password for all users on Office 365

     Ensure that your users change their passwords for their mailboxes. See how to reset passwords in Microsoft 365.

   • Step 4: Create a new Outlook profile for users in the new domain

     Ensure you have the latest version of Microsoft Office and Outlook installed to avoid compatibility issues with Office 365. Configure the Outlook profile for each user in your domain if Outlook has problems connecting to your mailboxes. See how to add email account to Outlook on PC and email account on Mac

   • Step 5: Train your users to become familiar with Office 365

     • Provide training for users on the new Office 365 environment, including new features and apps.
     • Train users on how to access and use the new email, calendar, and contacts features.
     • Provide training on how to access and use other Office 365 tools such as OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams. See Microsoft 365 help documentation.

5. Gmail to Office 365 migration troubleshooting

     For troubleshooting, visit Knowledge Base.

     For more queries, check Frequently Asked Questions or contact support.

Benefits of EdbMails for Gmail to Office 365 migration

1. User-friendly migration tool

   EdbMails offers an intuitive interface that requires no technical expertise, allowing users to migrate emails from Gmail to Office 365 easily. Its simple step-by-step process ensures a seamless experience for both personal and business users.

2. Data consistency assurance

   EdbMails guarantees perfect data consistency during Gmail to Office 365 migration, ensuring that emails, attachments, folders, and labels are transferred without any loss or alteration. This ensures the integrity of your data remains intact throughout the process.

3. No size limitations for large mailboxes

   EdbMails allows you to transfer large mailboxes from Google Workspace to Office 365 without encountering size restrictions. You can effortlessly move extensive mailbox data without worrying about capacity or performance issues.

4. Advanced include/exclude filters

   With EdbMails’ advanced filtering options, you can easily manage large batch migrations by selecting specific emails, folders, or items for transfer. This makes it simple to exclude unwanted data, streamlining the process for efficiency.

5. Cost-effective and efficient

   EdbMails provides a budget-friendly solution for both individual and corporate users, delivering high-quality results without the high cost. It saves time and effort, offering excellent value for efficient email migration.

6. Zero downtime during migration

   EdbMails ensures zero downtime during Gmail to Office 365 migration, allowing users to continue accessing and using their mailboxes while the migration process runs in the background. This minimizes disruption and keeps workflows uninterrupted.

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