Best Way to Migrate from Google Workspace to Office 365

Why Migrate Google Workspace to Office 365?

Google Workspace thrives when your focus lies on collaboration and productivity. However, Office 365 dominates when you rely on enterprise and hybrid environments, compliance, and control. This migration becomes essential when: 

• Native integration with Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, Outlook, SharePoint, etc. 
• Robust security features like multi-factor authentication, Microsoft Defender, and so on. 
• Suitable for growing and upcoming businesses that need more IT control and scalability. 
• Cost-effective solution when several Office 365 subscriptions are consolidated as one. 
• Flexible pricing plans with more flexibility and smooth data access across devices. 
• Secure migration, extensive documentation, 24*7 customer support, and regular updates. 

In today’s time, migrating organization data to Google Workspace is good, but it is ideal if you migrate to Office 365. To understand why users prefer to migrate from Google Workspace to Office 365 more, check out the distinction table below. 

Juxtaposition of Google Workspace and Office 365 

How to Migrate from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365?

In this section, we will discuss a manual method and a trusted professional software to perform the client-to-client migration. The detailed step-by-step procedures for these are discussed below. 

Manually Migrate from Google Workspace to Office 365

Once these prerequisites are completed, you can follow the steps below for migration. These are divided into different parts for easy and clear understanding. 

Part 1: Verify Domain Ownership and User Accounts

1. Sign in M365 Admin Center and navigate to Setup to select Domains. 
2. There, add your Google Workspace domain and the TXT record provided by Microsoft to your domain. 
3. Next, wait until the DNS propagates, and success is verified. 
4. Afterward, move to Users and click on the Active Users option. 
5. Here, add or bulk-import all the Google Workspace users. 
6. Finally, assign each user a proper M365 licence with Exchange Online. 

Part 2: Configuring Google Workspace to Office for Data Access

1. First, go to Google Cloud Console with super admin credentials. 
2. Then, click on Google Cloud Project and enable API Scopes for all data items. 
3. After that, generate a service account and enable domain-wide delegation. 
4. Next, in the Google Admin Console, add the generated service account, client ID, and OAuth scopes. 
5. Wait for the mailbox access to be granted and completed. 

Part 3: Migrate from Google Workspace to Office 365

This is the most crucial step, as you need to create endpoints, a CSV list, a migration batch, and run them to complete the migration successfully. Steps are:

1. In Microsoft Exchange Admin Center(EAC), click on Migration. 
2. Then, opt to Add Migration Endpoint and choose Google Workspace. 
3. Further, upload the P12 or JSON key generated earlier and complete endpoint creation. 
4. Afterward, create a CSV file with all user email addresses to import later in the migration batch. 
5. Now, move back to Migration in EAC and click on Create Migration Batch. 
6. After that, give it a proper name and opt for Migration to Exchange Online as the path. 
7. Later, upload the CSV created earlier and configure the filters. 
8. At last, save and click on Start Migration to create a batch and process the transfer. 
9. Check the progress in the Migration Dashboard of the EAC. 
10. Once completed, move back to your DNS, update the MX records, and also delete the migration batch. 

Loopholes of the Manual Method 

• Only emails are migrated and other data is not correctly moved.
• A high level of technical expertise and skills is required for the migration.
• Does not support the migration of Google Drive and is time-consuming.
• It is possible that some crucial items are missed or partial data loss happens. 
• Gmail labels are flattened in Outlook as folders, and structure is disrupted.
• API and throttling behavior differs resulting in errors during migration. 

Automatically Migrate from Google Workspace to Office 365 

Enterprises are more concerned about their data and are aware of the complexities of the manual method. Therefore, they prefer using the SysInfo Google Workspace to Office 365 Migration Tool for better functionalities, fast performance, and simplified migrations. This proficient and versatile software helps with a straightforward migration in a few simple steps with zero loss. It ensures the data is secure, the process is flawless, and time, effort, and cost are saved to the maximum. 

Process to Transfer Google Workspace to Office 365

1. Launch the Google Workspace Backup Tool and click Continue for all services. 
2. Then, choose to log in with a P12 or JSON file, generate credentials, and enter as required. 
3. After that, select Get User Mailboxes or Import CSV for multiple accounts and click Login. 
4. Further, choose the User ID from which you want to migrate data and click Next.
5. Later, pick the services to export from the Google Workspace account and tap Next. 
6. Now, you can preview the folders within your Gmail, click Next, select Email Clients, and tap Continue. 
7. Furthermore, select Office 365, choose an authentication mode, enter credentials, and pick a mailbox type. Tap Login. 
8. Finally, apply the filters from the software, click Next, and then Start Migration to complete the export. 

Why Tool-Based Migration is an Ideal Choice?

Migrate from Google Workspace to Office 365 using the Google Workspace Import Tool because:

• Supports complex and bulk volumes of Workspace data 
• Preserves structure and folder metadata while retaining labels 
• Minimizes downtime and ensures 100% accurate migration with no loss
• Allows migration to many other email clients and saves data locally. 
• Works with all major versions of Windows, Mac, and Linux OS. 
• Has a self-explanatory interface and processes speedy migrations. 
• Multiple filters to manage duplicates, attachments, selective conversion, migration, and more. 
• Equipped with a Demo Version to migrate upto 50 items per mailbox for free. 

Conclusion 

The transition from one email client to another is never an easy task, especially when you need to keep very large data volumes secure. However, it is possible when you have the right tricks and solutions, as discussed in this blog. The manual method is suitable when you need to move only some data from your Workspace. Whereas, with the professional tool, you can migrate from Google Workspace to Office 365 in no time, with the entire data of one or more accounts. It gives you scalability, flexibility, precision, and certainty of data security. 

Frequently Asked Questions

About The Author:

Deep Shikha

Deep Shikha Pandey is a Tech Writing Expert having deep knowledge about Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, SQL, and other databases and email clients. She will guide you the best about email migration and SQL Database recovery using her expertise and making all the processes a cakewalk for the readers. Make your technical journey easy with simple layman’s blogs and accurate technical information.