Exchange Online to Google Workspace Migration: A Guide to a Seamless Transition
Migrating your organization from the familiar environment of Microsoft Exchange Online to the integrated ecosystem of Google Workspace is a major strategic decision. While the task can seem complex, Google’s new Data Migration Service is specifically designed to make this transition straightforward and efficient, allowing you to move critical email and calendar data through a secure, cloud-based process.
Moving to Google Workspace is more than just changing your email provider; it’s about embracing a different way of working. Key benefits include:
A Truly Integrated Platform: Go beyond email and calendar with a single, unified solution that includes Google Drive, Meet, Chat, and the full suite of Docs, Sheets, and Slides, all designed to work together seamlessly.
Simplified, Predictable Pricing: Avoid complex licensing and add-on costs. Google Workspace includes powerful features like Gemini AI across its licenses, offering immense value without the per-user, per-app upcharges common in other ecosystems.
Enhanced Collaboration: Experience real-time, cloud-native collaboration that is at the core of Google Workspace, making it easier for teams to work together from anywhere.
What Data Is Migrated?
The service focuses on migrating your organization's essential email, calendar, and contact data. It's crucial to know exactly what is and is not included.
Email Data
Included:
All email messages, including drafts and sent items. You have the option to include junk email and deleted items.
Folders and subfolders, which are converted into Gmail labels. Note that if a naming conflict occurs with a Gmail reserved system label (like Sent or Trash), messages are migrated to the reserved label.
Read/unread status of all messages.
Message attachments, as long as the total size is under 25 MB and the file type is not blocked by Gmail.
Messages marked with "High importance" receive an "Important" label in Gmail.
Shared mailboxes are migrated as regular user mailboxes, you can enable Gmail delegation post-migration.
Not Included:
In-place Archive mailboxes.
Outlook Categories and certain status indicators like pinned or flagged messages.
Emails located in the "Notes" folder.
Draft emails without a "From" header.
Shared folders and starred folder status.
Calendar Data
Included:
Primary and additional user calendars.
Events occurring after your chosen migration start date, including details like attendees, status, and reminders.
Resource calendars, provided they are mapped correctly during setup.
Links to Microsoft Teams meetings (though they are not converted into Google Meet meetings).
Recurring events with no end date will migrate with an end date of December 31, 2099.
Time zone information for events.
Not Included:
Event attachments.
Rich text formatting in event descriptions (migrated as plain text).
Shared calendars are only migrated to the owner's account, not to the users they are shared with.
Calendar-specific settings (e.g., color, time zone).
Events that occurred before the chosen migration start date.
If an event is modified in Google Calendar after migration, it will not be re-migrated.
Contact Data
Included:
All contacts are copied to Google Workspace, regardless of the creation date or the date range selected for the migration.
All non-deleted contact folders migrate.
All categories with at least one contact migrate.
All business and home phone numbers migrate.
Not Included:
Your Global Address List
Deleted contacts and folders
Certain contact status information like Frequent Contacts and Starred Contacts.
Empty categories that don’t contain any contacts.
If a contact has multiple mobile phone numbers, only one migrates.
Prerequisites Checklist
For a smooth migration, ensure the following requirements are met on both platforms.
On Your Google Workspace Account:
You must be a super administrator to run the migration.
Your domain must be verified. For Essentials editions, this must be done before starting the migration.
All users must have an existing account with an active Google Workspace license.
Gmail and Google Calendar services must be turned on for all users.
On Your Exchange Online Account:
You need a user account with the Global Administrator role to authorize the connection.
You must know the email address of every user whose data you intend to migrate.
Step-by-Step Migration Guide
The process is managed from the Google Admin console.
Step 1: Connect to Your Microsoft Account
Sign in to the Google Admin console as a super administrator.
Navigate to Menu> Data> Data import & export> Data Migration (New).
Scroll down to the "Migrate Data from Microsoft" section, and under Exchange Online, click Migrate.
You will be prompted to sign in with your Microsoft Global Administrator account to authorize the connection.
Note: If needed, allow pop-ups from Microsoft sites.
Step 2: Define and Map Your Users
The process for selecting users now depends on the number of people you are migrating.
For 20 users or less:
The data migration service will automatically find and attempt to map users with similar email addresses between your Exchange Online and Workspace accounts.
You must review the suggested mappings. If the service cannot find a match for a user, or if a suggested mapping is incorrect, you must manually select the correct Workspace email address.
Uncheck the box next to any user you do not wish to migrate.
For more than 20 users:
You must create and upload a single comma-separated values (CSV) file. This file maps each source Exchange Online email address to its new destination Workspace address.
The CSV file should have two columns with the headers: Source Exchange Email and Target GUser.
You can migrate up to 250 users or resources at a time. For more users, you will need to run a separate migration.
Once created, upload the CSV file in the Google Admin console.
Step 3: Configure Migration Settings
Choose exactly what data to copy:
Select whether to migrate Email, Calendar, Contacts, or a combination of them.
Specify a start date for the migration. All emails and calendar events after this date will be copied, while all contacts will be copied regardless of the date.
Optionally, you can choose to include deleted or spam emails and exclude specific folders from the migration.
Step 4: Start and Monitor the Migration
Click Start migration to begin. The Admin console provides a real-time dashboard where you can track the progress. The status updates in real time with detailed metrics, including:
Users processed: The number of users whose migration is complete.
Successful: Total number of items that were migrated successfully.
Skipped: Items that were skipped, for example, because they were already migrated in a previous run.
Failed: The number of items that failed to migrate due to an error.
Item-specific counts for emails, calendar events, and contacts (discovered, migrated, skipped, failed). You can also export detailed migration reports for troubleshooting.
Step 5: Finalize with a Delta Migration
After the initial transfer is complete, run a delta migration. This step transfers any new or updated data that arrived in the source account during the initial process and also retries migrating data that failed in the first attempt, ensuring no data is left behind.
Step 6: Exit the Migration
Once you are finished and have saved any necessary reports, formally exit the migration.
Important: Once you exit a migration, you can no longer access its configuration data or reports.
You cannot start a new migration until you exit the completed one.
This action is final and removes the connection between the two tenants by deleting the client ID used for authorization.
Monitoring and Troubleshooting
The service provides comprehensive reports to help you monitor the migration process:
User summary report: Offers a high-level overview of each user's migration status, including counts of successfully migrated and failed emails and calendar events.
Migration report: Provides detailed status for each item (Success, Warning, Error, Skipped) along with error codes and descriptions.
Should you encounter issues, common error messages are detailed in the sources, offering troubleshooting steps like retrying delta migrations for temporary errors, confirming email addresses in CSV files, or ensuring necessary services are enabled. For instance, a "Mail service not enabled" error indicates that the Gmail service needs to be turned on for your users.
By leveraging the new Google Data Migration Tool, organizations can effectively transition their critical email and calendar data from Microsoft Exchange Online to Google Workspace, streamlining their operations and enhancing productivity.
Expert Help for a Flawless Transition
Moving from Microsoft Exchange to Google Workspace is a significant undertaking. While Google's tools are powerful, complex environments with large user counts, extensive archives, or specific compliance needs often require expert handling. Cloudasta specializes in complex Microsoft-to-Google Workspace migrations. Our team ensures a seamless transition with minimal disruption, zero data loss, and expert project management from start to finish.
Contact Cloudasta today to ensure your migration to Google Workspace is a strategic success.
Cloudasta, Google Workspace Productivity & Migration Experts
Your one-stop partner for seamless migrations, expert advisory, support, and training.
