Reviewed by Shubham Dixit, Independent Expert in Email Forensics and Data File Conversion. Shubham is an external reviewer and not a PCDOTS employee.
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Moving your business from G Suite, now Google Workspace, to Office 365? It is a common switch, and done carelessly it loses mail, breaks delivery and frustrates everyone. Done in the right order, it is smooth. There are two solid methods, and the best one depends on whether you are moving a whole domain or a few mailboxes. Here is both, honestly.
Summary To migrate G Suite to Office 365, you have two routes. Microsoft’s free IMAP migration in the Exchange admin center moves a whole domain of mailboxes. A per mailbox tool like PCDOTS Email Converter suits individual accounts and also saves local backups in PST, PDF or MBOX. Finish either by switching your DNS records to Office 365.
Two ways to migrate, and which fits you
A G Suite to Office 365 migration is the process of moving mail, and often contacts and calendars, from Google Workspace into Microsoft 365. Two reliable methods exist, and picking the right one upfront saves hours.
| Your situation | Best method | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Whole domain, many users, you are the admin | Microsoft IMAP migration | Free, built into Office 365 |
| A few mailboxes, or you want local backups too | Per mailbox converter | Free demo, paid full |
If you run the whole company’s email and have admin access on both sides, Method 1 is usually the right call and it is free. If you only need a handful of accounts moved, or you also want a local archive of the mail in PST or PDF, Method 2 fits better. Both are below.
Before you start: the prep that prevents pain
Migrations fail in the setup, not the transfer. Five minutes of prep saves a broken cutover. Do these first, whichever method you pick.
- Set up the Office 365 side first. Create the users and licenses in Microsoft 365 so there are mailboxes to receive the mail.
- Verify your domain in Microsoft 365. Add and verify the domain in the Microsoft admin center before you migrate.
- Enable IMAP access in Google Workspace. The migration reads Google mailboxes over IMAP, so it has to be turned on.
- Prepare app passwords or OAuth. Google’s security needs app passwords or admin consent for the migration to authenticate.
- Do not touch DNS yet. Mail keeps flowing to Google until you are ready. The DNS switch is the last step, not the first.
Method 1: Microsoft’s free IMAP migration
Most guides skip this, but Microsoft 365 has a built in migration that moves Google Workspace mailboxes for free. For a whole domain, it is usually the right tool.
- Sign in to the Exchange admin center in Microsoft 365.
- Go to Migration and start a new IMAP migration batch.
- Provide the Google IMAP server, imap.gmail.com, and a list of the mailboxes to move.
- Run the batch. Microsoft pulls the mail from Google into the matching Office 365 mailboxes.
- Check the migration report for any mailboxes that need a retry.
Microsoft documents the full process, including the CSV mailbox list format, in its Google Workspace migration guide. The one limit worth knowing. IMAP migration moves email only, not calendars, contacts or Drive files. For those, or for local copies, see Method 2.
Method 2: Per mailbox migration with local copies
For individual accounts, or when you also want a local backup of the mail you can keep on your own drive, the PCDOTS Email Converter connects to a Google Workspace account and moves it into Office 365, or saves it locally as PST, PDF, MBOX or EML. It is also useful for archiving a departing employee’s mailbox during the move.
Step 1: Add your Google Workspace account
Open the converter, go to Open, then Email Accounts, then Add Account, and sign in with the Google Workspace address and an app password.
Step 1: Entering the Google Workspace login.
Step 2: Preview and select the mail
The account’s folders load with a full preview. Select the mailboxes and folders to move, or pick everything.
Step 2: Selecting the mail to migrate.
Step 3: Choose Office 365 and sign in
Open the Export menu, select Office 365, enter the destination account login and start. To keep a local backup instead, choose PST, PDF or MBOX here rather than Office 365.
Step 3: Selecting Office 365 from the export options.
When it finishes, the mail is in Office 365 and, if you chose a file format, also saved as a local archive you control. This is the same export engine we used in the Apple Mail to Office 365 guide, pointed at Google Workspace instead.
Do not forget the DNS cutover
This is the step that actually completes the migration, and the one people forget. Until you change it, new mail still goes to Google.
- Verify the mail first. Confirm mailboxes look complete in Office 365 before touching DNS.
- Update the MX record. Point your domain’s MX record to Office 365 so new mail is delivered there.
- Update SPF and add DKIM. Set the Office 365 SPF record and enable DKIM so your outgoing mail is not flagged as spam.
- Allow time to propagate. DNS changes can take a few hours, so keep the Google account active during the wait.
- Then retire Google. Only cancel the old Workspace subscription once everything is confirmed working.
That last point is where most migrations go wrong, so it is worth hearing from someone who cleans up the aftermath.
“The mistake I see most is cancelling the old Google subscription too early. Keep both live until you have verified every mailbox in Office 365 and the DNS has fully propagated. A migration is not finished the day mail arrives, it is finished when you have confirmed nothing was left behind and new mail is flowing to the right place.”
Shubham Dixit · Independent Expert, Email Forensics and Data File Conversion
People also ask
Does Microsoft have a free way to migrate from Google Workspace?
Yes. The Exchange admin center in Microsoft 365 includes a free IMAP migration that moves Google Workspace mailboxes for a whole domain. It moves email only, so calendars, contacts and Drive files need a separate method.
What does the IMAP migration not move?
Microsoft’s IMAP migration moves email but not calendars, contacts or Google Drive files. To bring those across, you migrate them separately or use a tool that also handles contacts and calendars.
When should I use a tool instead of the native migration?
Use a per mailbox tool when you are moving only a few accounts, when you also want a local backup of the mail in PST or PDF, or when you are archiving a single departing employee’s mailbox rather than migrating a whole domain.
Will my email keep working during the migration?
Yes, as long as you leave DNS alone until the end. Mail keeps arriving in Google while you migrate, and only switches to Office 365 once you update the MX record at the final cutover step.
Do I need to keep my Google Workspace account during the move?
Yes. Keep it active until every mailbox is verified in Office 365 and DNS has fully propagated. Cancelling Google too early is the most common way to lose mail mid migration.
Get the order right and you are done
Scale decides your method. A whole domain belongs in Microsoft’s free IMAP migration, with the one caveat that it carries email and not calendars or contacts. A few mailboxes, or any case where you also want a local PST or PDF archive, belong in a per mailbox tool. The sequence matters more than the tool though. Stand up the Office 365 side first, migrate while Google still runs, switch DNS only once every mailbox checks out, and retire Workspace last.
Do that and nobody on your team will notice the move happened, which is exactly the goal. Map your mailboxes to the right method before you touch anything, and the rest follows.
