Easy Guide to Migrate AOL to Exchange Online
Are you currently an AOL user but want to migrate to an Exchange Server? Here you will learn several approaches to permanently migrate AOL to Exchange Online with Address Book and Calendar. Follow us for more information.
AOL, while free and offers a robust email experience, its basic features are only suitable for light business use. AOL is mostly used by legacy users, but for those who want more advanced features for managing contacts and calendar at the individual and business level, Exchange Server is the best option. Although unlike AOL, Exchange is not free, its advanced email feature attracts a wide audience.
Why Migrate AOL to Exchange Online?
- Allows you to create your personal domain.
- You can access your email, calendar, and contacts from anywhere with OWA and the mobile app.
- Offers shared calendar features that are useful for team members to see each other’s availability.
- Offers a centralized contact storage system that can be accessed from multiple devices.
Migrating to an Exchange server is beneficial and productive only if you use it for small and large businesses. Microsoft Exchange server is specifically designed for businesses, helping them manage emails and coordinate with team members easily. It helps the team stay connected, secure, and productive.
How to Migrate Emails from AOL to Exchange Online?
Migrating emails from AOL to Exchange server is a simple process and can be done manually. You can use Outlook account as an intermediary to drag emails from AOL to MS Exchange. You can follow the complete steps below to implement this approach easily and efficiently.
Pre-Migration Steps for an Accurate and Safe Migration from AOL to Exchange
- Enable IMAP in AOL: You must sign in to AOL email and enable IMAP settings that allow third-party access.
- Ensure Access: You must have administrator-level access to Exchange Online to facilitate the migration.
- Verify Configuration: You must ensure that Exchange Online is configured and that mailboxes are created for users.
Steps to Migrate Emails from AOL to Exchange Online
1. Configure AOL Account in Microsoft Outlook
- Open Microsoft Outlook on your computer
- Navigate to the “File” and then select “Add Account”
- Now, enter your AOL email address and password.
- Outlook will auto-detect the IMAP settings, if it doesn’t manually configure it.
- Incoming Mail (IMAP): imap.aol.com | Port: 993 | SSL: Yes
- Outgoing Mail (SMTP): smtp.aol.com | Port: 465 or 587 | SSL/TLS: Yes
- Once configured, Outlook will start syncing the AOL mailboxes.
2. Add Exchange Online Account in Outlook
- Again, go to the “File” and “Add Account”
- Enter your Exchange online email address (provided my Microsoft 365 admin)
- Now, Outlook will auto detect the account using Exchange settings.
- Complete the sign-in process.
3. Move AOL Emails to Exchange Online
- Now, you have both the AOL and Exchange accounts added in Outlook.
- In the sidebar, open the AOL mailbox.
- Select the folders and emails you want to move.
- Drag and drop them into the Exchange’ mailbox folder.
This is how to manually migrate AOL emails to Exchange Online. By carefully looking at the manual steps, you will realize that it is complicated and very technical. Generally, it has certain limitations and is not preferable for most professionals.
Limitations of the Method
- Requires Outlook installation on computer
- Does not support batch migration.
- Requires technical expertise from the users to manually configure IMAP settings
- Manual drag and drop may cause data loss
- Does not appropriately migrate AOL contacts and calendars to Exchange
If you are not sure whether this approach is suitable for you or not, we offer you a second option. We will guide you through another approach to migrate emails from AOL to Exchange server, please see below.
User-friendly Way to Export AOL Mailboxes to Exchange Server
When manual methods are found to be ineffective, third-party solutions emerge to make things easier and faster. To make AOL to Exchange migration easy and reliable, use the best Email Backup Wizard by PCDOTS. This software works completely standalone and does not require you to use any intermediary for migration.
This software allows you to migrate AOL emails to any custom domain hosted by Exchange. Also, this software is fast and reliable and can migrate complete mailboxes from AOL Mail to MS Exchange Online within minutes. For a better understanding of how the tool works, you can refer to the step below.
Steps to Batch Migrate AOL to Exchange Online
- Download the software from button above. Then, install and launch it on your Windows.
- Next, navigate to the Open tab and select Email Accounts and Add Account.
- Enter your AOL mail credentials and then click the Add.
- Once all the mailboxes are configured with tool, click Export and select IMAP.
- Enter your hosted email address and also password and click Save.
And there you have it! The tool will immediately start migrating AOL mailboxes to Exchange Online, and once it’s done, you’ll be notified. This software simply makes the process more effective and efficient for you. Also, it has some out-of-the-box features that you can check out below before deciding whether this approach is right for you or not.
Benefits of the Advanced Solution
- This software is especially recommended for novice users.
- Allows you to batch migrate AOL to Exchange online.
- Export address book and calendar from AOL mail to Exchange server.
- Completely standalone and does not use any intermediary for AOL to Exchange migration.
- Also, migrate AOL emails to custom domains hosted by Exchange server.
- Migrate contacts, calendar and other mailbox items without restrictions.
- Also allows users to migrate AOL to iCloud and other platforms.
In Conclusion
Migrating to an Exchange server is beneficial for the organization for shared calendar and contacts management. In the above content, we have aimed to help you provide the best methods to migrate AOL to Exchange online with complete contacts and calendar. We have provided you the manual method that uses an intermediary for data migration. On the other hand, we have provided you an expert method that directly migrates AOL mailboxes to Exchange server in bulk without any error. You can carefully review both methods in detail above and decide which one you want to use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. 1 Can I directly migrate emails from AOL to Exchange Online?
No, AOL Mail does not have any integrated function to migrate mailbox data directly to Exchange online. For direct migration, it is suggested to use an advanced solution.
Q. 2 Does migrating AOL emails to Exchange Online affect my existing mailbox data?
Not at all. It’s a completely safe process, which just copies your AOL emails to Exchange. It does not modify or affect any existing data.
Q. 3 Can I move AOL contacts and calendars along with emails to Exchange Online?
Yes. If you use advanced solutions like PCDOTS software, you can easily move AOL emails, contacts and calendars to the Exchange server.
Q. 4 Do I need Outlook installed to migrate AOL emails into Exchange Online?
Yes. If you want to perform the migration manually, Outlook installation is required.
Q. 5 Do I need technical expertise to perform AOL to Exchange Online migration?
Technical expertise is required when migrating from AOL to Exchange manually, since you’ll need to configure IMAP and SMTP settings manually. However, if you use the PCDOTS tool, you won’t require higher technical knowledge.
