How to Migrate Emails from Gmail to Office 365 Account?

You can migrate emails from Gmail to Office 365 using Microsoft’s built-in solution, IMAP setup, Google Takeout, or a dedicated Gmail to Office 365 migration tool by BitRecover. The manual method allows you to transfer Gmail emails to Office 365 but for that you require manual setup and a lot of effort and technical knowledge.

Therefore, specialized software ease the process allowing to easily migrate emails, attachments, and contacts to an Office 365 account without losing the original structure and formatting. In this article, we have provided a detailed step-by-step process to use all these methods. Keep reading to find out the best method to effortlessly import Gmail emails to Office 365 account.

Gmail is a powerful web client service that provides multiple benefits including cloud storage and advanced search options, and users can easily access it from any device with internet connectivity. Additionally, Gmail is one of the biggest platforms for free email hosting services. Still, Gmail is way behind when you need to migrate email from Gmail to Office 365 for enterprise-level business management.

Office 365 is a business suite that offers top-notch services to billions of its clients. The Office suite is a bundle of business applications that makes the workflow more effective, including Word, Excel, SharePoint, and so on. Microsoft 365 offers subscription-based models for all-level enterprises looking to migrate from Gmail to Office 365.

User Query to Transfer Gmail Emails to Office 365

However, there are multiple situations that come when users want to transfer Gmail emails to Microsoft 365. Some of the core reasons to migrate email from Gmail to Office 365 are mentioned below to get a better understanding.

Checkout: How to Migrate Gmail to Exchange? Best Solutions

Reasons to Migrate Emails from Gmail to Office 365

Here we have mentioned the advantages of why users should migrate Gmail to Office 365.

• Gmail uses labels to categorize data, whereas when you move from Gmail to Office 365, you can create separate, dedicated folders to maintain data.
• Office 365 has a robust desktop version, which enables users to work offline and synchronize to the cloud easily once they migrate email from Gmail to Office 365.
• Office 365 is one of the best and most highly recommended platforms to manage large businesses, making it a priority to transfer Gmail emails to Microsoft 365.
• Users want to migrate Gmail to Microsoft 365 because it provides superior administrative compliance and security controls.

Crucial Prerequisites for Gmail to Office 365 Migration

Before you attempt to migrate email from Gmail to Office 365 manually, administrators must verify these compliant settings:

• Enable IMAP in Gmail: Users must actively log into their Gmail settings and enable IMAP access, otherwise the connection will fail.
• App Passwords & 2FA Requirement: Gmail accounts with two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled require users to generate a 16-digit App Password. Google will block standard passwords from external migration tools as “less secure.”
• MFA Disablement for Admins: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) may disrupt migration endpoints. Configure app passwords properly or temporarily adjust MFA during the transfer phase.
• DNS TTL Best Practices: Lower your DNS TTL (Time-To-Live) settings to 3,600 seconds (one hour) or less before initiating the process so MX records update rapidly later.

Manual Solution to Migrate from Gmail to Office 365 Account

Here we are going to mention the manual steps to transfer Gmail emails to Microsoft 365. Please read all the limitations first. We do not suggest this method for large batches; perform it at your own risk.

Method 1. Microsoft 365 Built-in Solution

Step 1: Sign up and access the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Step 2: Verify the Office 365 Domain
It is important to verify that the domain is owned by you to successfully migrate Gmail emails to Office 365.

1. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
2. Hit on Go to Setup.
3. Choose a Domain.
4. Add users.
5. Setup DNS.

Now open Microsoft 365 admin center

Step 3: Create a User Mailbox and Assign the License

1. Firstly, go to Microsoft 365 admin center >> Users >> Active Users >> More options.
2. Select Add User for single users and Import Multiple Users option to add multiple users through a CSV file.
3. After uploading the file, hit the Verify button.
4. Lastly, assign the appropriate business license.

Step 4: Organize a Communication Channel between Gmail and Office 365
To transfer Gmail emails to Microsoft 365 successfully, you have to establish a communication channel.

1. Select the Exchange admin center (EAC) >> Recipients >> Migration >> Migration endpoints.
2. Hit the “+” and choose IMAP.
3. Put the IMAP Server & Settings (imap.gmail.com) on the configuration page.
4. Lastly, provide a migration endpoint name.

Move to Google Admin Console

Step 5: List User Mailboxes in Gmail for Migration Batch Creation

1. Sign into your Google Admin Console.
2. Collect the email addresses of the user mailboxes you want to transfer.
3. Strictly format a CSV file with three exact headers: EmailAddress, UserName, and Password (using App Passwords). Save it as a CSV file.

Open Exchange Admin Center (EAC)

Step 6: Create a Migration Batch for Gmail to Office 365 Migration

1. From the Exchange admin center (EAC) choose Recipients >> Migration.
2. Hit on the “+” and select Migrate to Exchange Online option.
3. Choose IMAP migration >> Next and select the CSV file.
4. Choose the previously created migration point.
5. On the Move configuration page & provide the migration batch name.
6. Lastly, start the process to migrate email from Gmail to Office 365. (Expert Note: Run a small test batch first to validate folder structures. If it gets stuck on “Syncing,” it is likely due to strict Google Bandwidth Throttling.)

Step 7: Up-to-Date DNS Record

1. Visit the Microsoft 365 admin center and choose Settings.
2. Hit on the Domain >> Domain Name option to update MX records.
3. The 72-Hour Sync Window: Let the batch run for at least 72 hours after updating MX records to catch straggling emails due to DNS propagation before completing the process to import Gmail to Office 365.

Method 2: Export Gmail to Office 365 with Google Takeout

Phase 1: Export Gmail Data in MBOX .zip File
If you want to migrate personal Gmail to Office 365, you can use Google Takeout.

1. Open Google Takeout on your system.
2. Choose “Deselect” option and click “Mail”.
3. Afterwards, choose “Export Type” and tap on “Create”.
4. Download the MBOX .zip file and extract it.

It is important to note that Microsoft cannot import raw MBOX files. Users must convert them to PST format using the “RecoveryTools MBOX to PST Converter“.

Phase 2: Convert MBOX to PST to Export Gmail Emails to Outlook 365

1. Install and open the converter tool.
2. Select the extracted MBOX files.
3. Choose “PST” as the save format to properly import Gmail emails to Outlook 365.
4. Add a “Destination Path”.
5. Finally, hit “Next” and start the process.

Limitations of Manual Methods

• IMAP Migration Content Limitations: The manual IMAP method only transfers emails. It will completely leave behind contacts, calendars, and routing rules when you transfer Gmail emails to Microsoft 365.
• Due to the multiple steps, the process to migrate email from Gmail to Office 365 will be lengthy and time-consuming.
• One wrong step will lose your complete data permanently.
• Not appropriate to forward or transfer Gmail emails to Microsoft 365 in large volumes due to Google bandwidth throttling.
• Does not include the modern filter option for users to organize their emails according to date, subject, from, to, etc.

Benefits of Using Gmail to Office 365 Migration Tool

• The software comes with an advanced filter option to selectively migrate email from Gmail to Office 365 via Date Range, To, From, Subject, etc.
• There is no need to perform any extra manual tasks; the tool will transfer Gmail to Office 365 directly.
• The tool allows users to migrate emails from all folders including Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Trash, Spam, and labels.
• It seamlessly maintains the original folder hierarchy and metadata (Bcc, Cc, To, From, Date, Subject, Formatting, Images) when you migrate Gmail to Outlook 365.
• This tool allows administrators to migrate email from Gmail to Office 365 from multiple accounts at once using “Use Batch Mode”.
• Also, users can migrate from Gmail to Office 365 in bulk with no file size limitations.

How to Migrate Email from Gmail to Office 365? Step by Step

1. Firstly, download & run the automated solution. If you want to move from Gmail to Office 365 for multiple accounts, choose Batch mode.

   

2. Enter your Gmail account login credentials (App Password) to load mailbox items.

   

3. After successful login, choose only the required folders to migrate email from Gmail to Office 365.

   

4. Choose Office 365 from the saving formats list to transfer Gmail emails to Microsoft 365.

   

5. Users can select Advanced Settings based on Filters like Date Range, From, To, Subject, etc.

   

6. Enter the resultant target account credentials to safely migrate Gmail to Office 365.

   

7. Lastly, click on the Backup button to instantly initiate the whole process to migrate from Gmail to Microsoft 365.

   

8. Open your resultant account and access all the mailbox items successfully imported.

   

To Conclude

In this article, we discussed how a user can migrate email from Gmail to Office 365 with a step-by-step guide. A lot of manual solutions are present, but we recommend you continue with the professional tool to speed up the process and easily transfer email from Gmail to Office 365. For any kind of help, you can connect with the technical team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What’s the difference between Office 365 and Microsoft 365?

A: Microsoft 365 is the rebranded suite that provides advanced applications, compliance centers, and security features to maintain your complete enterprise data.

Q2: Why is Office 365 better than Google for businesses?

A: While both provide similar applications, organizations prefer to transfer Gmail emails to Microsoft 365 because of its superior desktop integration and advanced administrative portals (like Microsoft Purview) for managing large company data.

Q3: What is the maximum email storage for Office 365?

A: 50 GB is the max email storage for a standard Business account. However, Office 365 Enterprise plans and Exchange Online Plan 2 provide up to 100 GB of mailbox storage.

Q4: Is Microsoft 365 now free?

A: Yes, basic web-based applications (Word, Excel) are free for all, but to migrate email from Gmail to Office 365 for business hosting and custom domain integration, you need a paid commercial subscription.

Q5: Does Gmail have a storage limit?

A: Yes, standard free Gmail provides 15 GB of shared storage space to manage your data.