How to Migrate Gmail to Office 365 – A Complete Guide

 

Office 365 has unique features like calendars, contacts, events, etc. Also, you can manage multiple email accounts in a single email client. On the other hand, Gmail can only manage a single email account and does not offer advanced features. Because of all these reasons, most Gmail users are migrating toward Office 365.

If you want to Migrate Gmail to Office 365, It is quite complicated and time-consuming. A general method used for Gmail migration is the IMAP migration.

IMAP Migration to Migrate Emails from Gmail to Office 365

You can perform Gmail to Office 365 migration by two methods. First, you can perform a sequence of operations and move mail from Gmail to Office 365 without using any additional software. This method is called a manual method. Another option is to use third-party software which is called an automatic method. The complete procedure to export email from Gmail to Office 365 manually consists of multiple stages, and each stage has several steps. Every step is mandatory to complete the process.

Step 1: Generate a Third-Party App Password and Enable 2-step Verification in Google

• Login to your Gmail account and open the Account options.
  
  
• Click on the Security tab and enable the 2-step verification.
  
  
• Next, select the app password option and generate the Third-Party app password.
  
  

Step 2: Confirm the Domain Authority

The first thing you should do to migrate Gmail to Office 365 is to verify the domain. In this step, you need to add a TXT record to your domain host provider. Follow the steps below to verify the domain

• Sign in to your Office 365 account and click on the Admin Center.
• Expand the Setup menu and select the Domains option.
• Click on the Add Domain button.
• Enter the domain name and press Next to add this domain.
• After that, tick the Add a TXT record instead option as a mode to verify the domain. Click the Next button.
• Copy the TXT value and add this DNS record to your host provider. Press the Verify button to complete the domain verification.

Step 3: Add the User identity to Office 365

You can add one user account at a time or multiple email accounts simultaneously. To add an individual user, follow the steps below:

• Visit the admin center of your Microsoft account.
• Select the Users option and then choose Active Users.
• Click on Add a User option to add a new account to Office 365.
• After that, fill in the general user account information like Name, Domain, Password settings, etc.
• Select the suitable user license and its location in the Assign product licenses pane. Press Next.
• Click on the Optional Settings pane and expand the Role option to determine the admin.
• Add extra information to the user account using the Profile Info tab.
• Click Next. After checking all the settings, press Finish adding and then Close.

Step 4: Prepare a list of all Gmail Mailbox Accounts

To migrate multiple user mailboxes, you need to prepare a list containing user information. This list should be in CSV format. Before switching from Gmail to Office 365, Google provides a sample CSV file. You have to prepare a file in the same format.

• Log in to the Google Workspace admin console.
• After successfully logging in, choose Users.
  
  
• Copy the email address of all users whose mailbox data you want to migrate.
• Now, open the Office 365 admin center and select the Users option.
• Create an Excel sheet and fill in your Email Address, Username, and Password as columns A, B, and C.
  
  
• After creating the sheet, save it in CSV file format.

Step 5: Connect Office 365 to Gmail Server for data migration

Before you export Gmail to Office 365, it is necessary to connect MS Office 365 to the Gmail server. For such purposes, you need to create a Migration Endpoint. The migration endpoint contains the connection settings and administrator credentials that are necessary for a successful connection. Follow the steps below to set a new migration endpoint:

• Open the admin center in Classic Exchange.
• Select the Recipient option and then choose the Migration option.
• After that, press the More option (represented by three dots). Click Migration Endpoint.
  
  
• Create a new migration endpoint by pressing the New (+) button.
• Choose the IMAP option as the migration endpoint type.
• Next, in the IMAP Migration Configuration Page, enter imap.gmail.com in the IMAP server option. Do not change the other details on this page and click Next.
• As you press Next, the software checks the connection. After establishing the connectivity, it will show the General Information Page.
• Fill in the migration endpoint name and press the New button.

Note: The above step is not necessary for the latest version of Microsoft Office 365. If you are using Classic Exchange, you have to follow the procedure to migrate Gmail to Office 365. In the new versions of Office 365, the migration endpoint automatically gets created during the next step.

Step 6: Create a Migration Batch and Migrate Gmail Mailbox in Classic Exchange Admin Center

• This process helps you to export the batch of mailboxes. You can export multiple user accounts using the migration batch.
• Open Microsoft 365 and go to the Admin Center.
• Click on the Exchange option. Then, choose Recipient > Migration.
• After that, press the New icon (+) and select Migrate to Exchange Online.
• Choose the IMAP Migration option and click Next.
• In the Select the Users option, click the Browse button to search for the file you want to migrate emails from Gmail to Office 365.
• Note: If the file does not meet the requirements, an error message will appear on the screen. So, you need to fix the issue in the file for the successful migration batch.
• Next, you will see the file details, check the information, and click Next to proceed further.
• Then, create a migration endpoint with the required details as mentioned above and press Next.
• Leave all the details to default in the IMAP Migration Configuration. Click on the Next button.
• In the Move Configuration option, type the migration batch name and press Next.
• Next, you will see a Start a Batch option. Choose Automatically Start the Batch > New to start the migration.

This will manually migrate Gmail to Office 365, Let’s now look into the shortcomings of Manual methods. Limitations of IMAP Migration The method that uses the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) for Gmail to Office 365 migration is known as IMAP migration. This mode of exporting data provides several features, but it has limitations too.

• You can not transfer mailbox items like contacts and calendars using the IMAP migration.
• The maximum limit to export Gmail to Outlook PST is 50,000 emails.
• The maximum size limit of email to migrate is 35 MB.

The above method is quite complicated and time-consuming. So, it is not suitable for non-technical users. The ideal solution in such a scenario is to use automatic software. Gmail Converter Tool is advanced software that can transfer email from Gmail to Office 365. Also, it has a simple user interface, such that a novice user can use the tool. Moreover, it allows you to create an email signature in a Gmail account.

Conclusion

Migrating Gmail data to Microsoft Office 365 uses IMAP migration. This type of migration is quite complicated and time-consuming. Also, it has various limitations that make the method unsuitable for non-technical users. The most obvious solution is using a tool for transferring mailbox items. This method is known as the automatic method for Gmail Migration. The Gmail Converter tool helps you to migrate Gmail to Office 365 effectively. Apart from that, you can migrate the data to other email clients and file formats. So, it is the best solution for Gmail migration.

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