Transfer Microsoft 365 Domain to Another Tenant without Data Loss

For some users moving their Microsoft 365 domain to another tenant can be tricky. Therefore, in this guide, we will provide you with a step-by-step process to migrate Office 365 domain to another tenant.

Office 365 or currently known as Microsoft 365 is a cloud based suite developed by Microsoft. It helps to improve businesses productivity, collaboration and communication. Here, you will get many Microsoft Office apps like Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with the cloud services like Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams. According to your requirements, Office 365 comes with different plans with improved features and functions.

As the business grows over time, you face new challenges and want to increase your productivity. So to keep it in balance, you need to make changes in your Microsoft 365 environment. For this, migrating your domain from your Office 365 tenant to another would be a great choice.

When you Need to Export Microsoft 365 Domain?

Transferring your entire domain from one Office 365 tenant to tenant is a huge decision. As it involves careful planning and executing the process to minimize data loss. So you should take this decision in the following scenarios.

• When two companies merge or one company acquires another, often domains and users combine in a single Microsoft 365 tenant.
• If one section of your business is being seperated. Then, the domain and the associated user account will need to move to a new tenant.
• When the company goes through rebranding, it is required to move its existing domain or data to a new tenant.
• It can also be used when the business is restructuring its Microsoft license or switching to different subscriptions.

There can be other instances to migrate your domain, but you now understand when you are required to do this. Now, it is time to move your domain from one Office 365 tenant to another. We will explain this process in detailed steps, so focus on the task.

Step 1: Create Plan for Domain Migration

A smart and proper plan is key to a successful domain migration. Therefore, it is crucial to create a well-structured plan to avoid any future issues. Below are the key things you need to consider before you start the process.

• First, list all users, groups, and resources you are needed to transfer. This way you know what data you want or not.
• Plan a suitable time period for the migration. The process may take hours or days to move your data. Then, prepare a proper time so that there would be no disruptions.
• Find and note down all the services that are connected with your domain. This can be email services, SharePoints, OneDrive, or any third-party tool.
• Notify to all the users about the migration in advance. Told them that there might be temporary access issues.
• Make sure that you have the access of the domain registrar account and DNS settings. As it is required to update them later.

Once you make a comprehensive process, proceed to the next step to migrate office 365 domain to another tenant

Step 2: Backup Microsoft 365 Data

This is an important step of the process you can’t skip. As this migration process you are going to move your complete domain to another tenant where there is a high chance of losing your data. That’s why backing up your Microsoft 365 is an important step of the process.

For easily saving the copy of your data RecoveryTools Office 365 Backup Tool is a great method. This tool is available on both Mac and Windows OS. With the help of the tool you can effortlessly download your data in just a few minutes. After you backup your data. Now, it is time to start the migrating Office 365 domain to another tenant.

Step 3: Remove Domain from Source Tenant

For the transition of your domain to the new Microsoft 365 domain. You need to first detach or remove the domain from the source tenant. This is because Microsoft does not allow users to have the same domain in two tenants at the same time. Therefore, it is necessary to remove it, below are the steps on how you can do this.

1. First, log in to your Office 365 and go to the Users and Active Users option.
2. Click on the check box next to the username you want to move.
3. Select the Edit Domains from the bulk actions panel.
4. Choose a different domain and select set as a primary option. Save the changes.
5. After that, Click on Groups then Group Name. Choose the Group that is associated with the domain.
6. Select the Edit option and choose another group from the Group ID. Save this and close it.
7. Lastly, click on the Setup option and Domains.
8. Choose the domain you want to remove.
9. From the right pane, click on Remove. Now, close this panel.

Step 4: Add Domain to New Tenant & Update DNS

After removing the domain from the destination tenant. We are now creating a new domain. But, for this, you have to first update your DNS records. Here’s how you can do it.

1. Sign in to the Admin center, then click on Setup and Domains.
2. Select the Add Domain option and enter the name of the domain you want to add. Press the Next button.
3. Now, Microsoft displays a TXT record which you need to add in your domain registrar.
4. In the new browser, log in to your domain registrar. Then, go to the managed DNS records or DNS settings.
5. Select Add Record and TXT file. Paste details that Microsoft provided in Step 3.
6. Set your TTL to 1 hour or the lowest.
7. Once it is done, Save or apply changes to your DNS records.
8. Again, go to Microsoft 365 Admin Center and click on the Verify button.
9. When it is verified, choose to add the records myself to manually update your additional DNS records.

Step 5: Migrate Your Mailboxes and Data

Now that you have added your domain, it is time to migrate your data to the new tenant. To do this, IMAP migration will be very helpful. With this you can easily migrate Office 365 tenant to tenant. Alternatively you can move your backup copy of the data in this new tenant as well.

Once you move the data, now test run if the domain is properly connected to the account or all the data is in your tenant or not.

Concluding Words

Whenever you want to migrate Office 365 domain to another tenant, then properly follow the above steps. Here, we explained each step in detail. So, it is not difficult to understand. Apart from this, we also discuss the scenarios where you need to move a domain from one Microsoft 365 tenant to another. If you have any queries related to domain migration, you can contact our support team.