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Professional Guide for Office 365 Cutover Migration

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Published By Karen Chard 
Rollins Duke
Approved By Rollins Duke
Published On June 17th, 2025
Reading Time 6 Min Read

Are you planning to move your entire Office 365 account to a new location? Cutover migration will be a fast and reliable way to do so. But, what is cutover migration and how can you do this? We will explain everything about Office 365 cutover migration, so read this article to the end.

What is Cutover Migration?

Cutover Migration is used by many IT professionals and experts. It is a migration method where a user transfers complete data from their account to another in a single go. In Office 365, usually cutover migration is used to move your Microsoft 365 to your on-premise exchange. But, now most users use this method to transfer their entire Office 365 between tenants or other cloud platforms.

This process of migration is suitable for small or midsize organizations where the mailbox is not up to 150 mailboxes. Using this, the migration method makes the process of transferring faster and straightforward because you don’t need to synchronize your account to another. So, if you are thinking of using cutover migration for Office 365. We are going to help you.

When You Will Need to Use Cutover Office 365 Migration?

This method is very useful, but you can’t use it every time. There are situations where cutover migration is best suited.

  • It is ideal for small and medium organizations. So, if you have fewer mailboxes than 150. Then, this method is efficient.
  • When a company is merging, acquiring or rebranding they need their full data to other tenants.
  • The cutover method can help you to move full data in one time.
  • The business is shifting their data residency to another region. In that case, you may need cutover migration because it is a clean way to relocate your data to a new account.
  • If you have less time to migrate your data, cutover technique helps you to transfer your data quickly with minimal configuration.

So, this method is useful on many occasions. Now, if you want to use it, you have to first make sure of certain things before following the steps to ensure a smooth and error-free process.

Preparations Before Office 365 Cutover Migration

  • First, check your account if it is capable of cutover migration.
  • Schedule your migration process to a time period where there is minimal user activity. Also, inform the users about transferring your data.
  • Make sure that you have global admin rights to your account. Also, assign necessary roles to perform the migration.
  • If you are migrating your tenant to another tenant then you must update your MX records and DNS settings.
  • Backup your important data, it is crucial to first take a copy of your account to protect from data loss.

Once you have fulfilled the above checklist, follow the steps to do cutover migration in office 365.

Cutover Office 365 Migration by Outlook Desktop

Unfortunately, there is no manual cutover migration in Office 365. However, if you sync your account with desktop Outlook you can bulk export your data. How to do this, follow the steps below.

  1. First, run the MS Outlook on your desktop. Go to the Account Settings.
  2. Click on the new account option. Enter your Office 365 account details and connect your account.
  3. Once your account is synced, go to the File menu. Click on the Open & Export option.
  4. Select the Import/Export button and click Export to a file.
  5. Press the Outlook Data File option, then select all the Office 365 folders.
  6. Provide a destination location, then save the file.

This way, your complete Office 365 data is in PST format. The limit of the PST file is 50 GB. If the data is more than 50 GB and you don’t have the MS Outlook. Then, use this next method to bulk transfer your Microsoft 365 data.

Use Automated Software for Cutover Office 365 Migration

Apart from Outlook, there is no other manual way to do batch migration of Microsoft 365. However, automated tools like RecoveryTools Office 365 Backup Tool would help you. This specialized utility is created to backup your entire Microsoft 365 account at once. So, with the help of this you can easily perform cutover migration of your Office 365. Below is the step-by-step process to move your data.

Instructions for Office 365 Cutover Migration

  1. First of all, install the software and run the tool on your device.
    download the software
  2. Enter your Office 365 account details i.e. email address and password. Click on I am admin and then press the Sign in option.
    provide the office 365 credentials
  3. The software automatically fetches your Office 365 data in the tool. You can preview your data by clicking on the folder.
    the tool fetches your data
  4. Now, choose your destination from the saving options.
    choose your saving option
  5. Provide a location by clicking on the Change button. Hit the Backup option.
    click on the backup option

In addition to that, you will also get many features and functions which we explain below.

Amazing Features of the Software

  • The software easily saves your bulk Office 365 data with attachments and attributes.
  • There are several saving options which you can choose from to move your data.
  • With the help of this utility, you can easily export your data to other email accounts.
  • There is no limitation of size you want to transfer or import.
  • The tool uses advanced algorithms which help you to preserve the data integrity and folder hierarchy.
  • It is easy to download in your Windows as well as Mac OS.

Commonly Asked Questions

Q. How does cutover migration work?
Ans. The cutover migration migrates all of your mailboxes from one account to another in one go. Users do not need to sync their account, they can easily move their data.

Q. What is the difference between data migration and cutover?
Ans. Generally, Data Migration is used to move your data between accounts or systems. It includes batch or selective migration. Cutover migration on the other hand is a type of data migration where you move all the data at once, to immediately switch to a new system.

Q. What does cutover mean in cloud migration?
Ans. Cutover in cloud migration means that users switch from source environment to cloud. This involves migrating all the data and service at once in a single event.

Concluding Words

Whenever you want to migrate Office 365 data using the cutover technique. Use the methods described in this article, here we provided two simple methods: manual and automated options. The manual option has limitations as it transfers limited data and the problem of screen freezes also occurs. But, the automated method because of how it is easy to use and save bulk emails in less than a few minutes. This is why many experts recommend this tool.