Microsoft to Google Workspace Migration Support in India

The Challenge: Microsoft’s “Throttling Policy” slows down data extraction. Simple IMAP migration loses Calendar/Contacts. Microsoft to Google Workspace migration with two methods: old and new.

The “Pro” Method: New Data Migration Service (OAuth-based) : Microsoft to Google Workspace

Note: This replaces the old tool that required creating a complex Service Account in Azure.

Authorise Google in Microsoft 365:
- In Google Admin > Data Migration > Set Up New Migration.
- Select Source: Microsoft 365.
- Google will prompt you to “Authorize”. This opens a Microsoft login window.
- Requirement: You must sign in with a Global Admin account for the source Microsoft tenant.
- Permissions: Accept the permissions request (Read Mail, Read Contacts, Read Calendar).
Configure Scopes:
- Email: Migrates full history.
- Calendar: Migrates events. Warning: Recurring meetings with exceptions often break.
- Contacts: Migrates personal contacts (not the Global Address List).
The “Exchange Throttling” Fix:
- Microsoft EWS (Exchange Web Services) will throttle Google after about 5-10GB of transfer.
- Solution: In the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, go to Help & Support > type “EWS Throttling” > Run the self-service diagnostic > Select “Update” to temporarily loosen throttling for 30-90 days during migration. This boosts speed by 300%.
Start Migration:
- Select “Auto-start” for users.
- Google will effectively pull data continuously.

MX Records For Email Delivery

Only perform this once you have migrated 90% of the data (e.g., mail from previous years).

Delete Old Records: Remove all existing MX records (Zoho/cPanel/Microsoft).
Add Google MX Records:
- 1 ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
- 5 ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
- 5 ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
- 10 ALT3.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
- 10 ALT4.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
SPF Flattening:
- If you had v=spf1 include:zoho.in ~all, change it to:
- v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all
- Do not keep both unless you are running a split delivery (hybrid) system.

Post-Migration Process

After changing MX records, emails will start landing in Google. However, emails sent during the DNS propagation period (last 24-48 hours) might have landed in the old mailbox.

Run Delta Migration:
- Go back to Google Admin > Data Migration.
- Do NOT stop the migration.
- Select the users and choose “Run Delta” or “Retry Failures”.
- Google will scan the old inbox one last time and pull only the new items that arrived since the first pass.

Troubleshooting “Stuck” Migrations

Error Code	Meaning	Technical Fix
Authentication Failed	Wrong password or MFA on.	For Zoho/cPanel: Check password. For M365: Re-authorise the OAuth token in Google Admin.
Connection Timeout	The source server is slow.	cPanel specific: Whitelist Google’s IP ranges in your cPanel server’s firewall (CSF/LFD).
18000 / 18002	Internal Google Error.	Usually transient. Pause the migration for that specific user, wait 15 mins, and “Resume”.
Mailbox Full	The destination has no space.	Temporarily assign a higher license (e.g., Business Standard) to the user to unlock 2TB storage.

Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace Migration (New Method)

This is the Master Migration Protocol for moving from Microsoft to Google Workspace using the “New Data Migration Service” (DMS).

This method replaces the old “GWMME” (local server tool) and the basic IMAP fetch. It utilises a direct Cloud-to-Cloud connection via the Microsoft Graph API and EWS, authorised securely via OAuth.

Microsoft to Google Workspace Step1

Unlike older methods that required you to manually create Azure Apps and copy Client IDs, the new DMS automates the authorisation.

Google Admin Preparation:
- Log in to Google Admin Console > Data > Data import & export > Data migration.
- Look for the section labelled “Data Migration (New)” or “Exchange Online”.
- Note: If you don’t see “New”, you may need to check “Data Migration” > “Set up new migration” and select “Microsoft 365” from the source dropdown.
Authorise Tenant Access:
- Click Connect.
- You will be redirected to a Microsoft 365 Login page.
- Crucial: You must sign in with a Global Administrator account for the source Microsoft 365 tenant.
- Accept the permissions request. This grants Google’s migration service specific “Read” scopes (Mail.Read, Calendar.Read, Contacts.Read) to your M365 tenant.
The “Throttling” Pre-Emptive Strike (Highly Recommended):
- Even with the new API, Microsoft often throttles large data exports.
- Action: Log into the Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Help & Support (bottom right).
- Type: “EWS Throttling”.
- Run the self-service diagnostic.
- If it detects that throttling is enabled, choose the option to “Update” or “Temporarily Relax Throttling” for 30–90 days.
- Impact: This can increase migration speed from ~0.5 GB/hour/user to ~2 GB/hour/user.

Microsoft to Google Workspace Step2

Select Data Types:
- Email: Migrates messages, folders (converted to Labels), and attachments.
- Calendar: Migrates primary calendars. Warning: Shared calendar permissions often need manual re-sharing after migration.
- Contacts: Migrates personal contacts.
Identity Mapping (The CSV File):
- You need a CSV file to tell Google which source email belongs to which destination email.
- Format:
  Code snippet
  Source Email,Google Workspace Email john.doe@microsoft-domain.com,john@google-domain.com jane.smith@microsoft-domain.com,jane@google-domain.com
- Upload this CSV in the “Add Users” or “Upload CSV” step of the DMS setup.

Microsoft to Google Workspace Step3

Start Migration:
- Once the CSV is processed, click Start.
- Status Indicators:
  - Initializing: Google is scanning the source mailbox structure.
  - In Progress: Data is flowing.
  - Sleep/Idle: Often happens if Microsoft imposes a temporary rate limit. Google will auto-retry.
The “Cutover” Weekend:
- Friday Evening: Lower TTL on MX records to 5 minutes (as per the standard protocol).
- Change MX Records: Point them to Google (ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM, etc.).
- Sunday Night (The Delta Pass):
  - Go back to the migration job in Google Admin.
  - Do NOT stop or delete the migration.
  - Select all users and choose “Run Delta” or “Retry/Resume”.
  - What this does: It compares the source M365 mailbox with the Google mailbox and copies only the emails delivered between the start of the migration and the MX record change.

Technical Limitations

Feature	Limitation / Behavior	Workaround
Outlook Categories	Do not migrate labels automatically in all scenarios.	Users may need to re-categorise.
Calendar Colors	Colour coding on M365 events is typically lost.	No workaround; native API limitation.
Recurring Meetings	Complex recurrences (e.g., “3rd Tuesday of every month except July”) may break or split into single events.	Check “Calendar” error logs specifically.
OneDrive Data	NOT included in DMS.	Use the Google Drive Migration Tool (separate utility) or `rclone` for advanced users.

Microsoft to Google Workspace: FAQ

1. How will my Outlook Folders appear in Gmail?

To begin with, it is important to understand that Gmail utilizes Labels instead of traditional folders. Consequently, during the migration process, your existing Outlook folder structure is automatically converted into labels. For instance, if an email is stored inProjects > 2024 > Invoices, it will appear in Gmail with the nested label Projects/2024/Invoices. Furthermore, unlike Outlook, where a file lives in one spot, Gmail allows you to apply multiple labels to a single email for better organisation.

2. Can I continue using the Outlook desktop application?

In short, yes. While Google encourages the use of the browser interface, you can certainly maintain your current workflow by using GWSMO (Google Workspace Migration for Microsoft Outlook). By doing so, you can sync your Google mail, calendars, and contacts directly into the Outlook desktop interface. As a result, your team can transition to the new backend without having to learn a new interface immediately.

3. How are “Shared Mailboxes” handled in Google?

In contrast to Microsoft’s “Shared Mailbox” model, Google utilises Google Groups (specifically Collaborative Inboxes). In Microsoft 365, multiple users log into a single info@company.com account; however, in Google Workspace, you simply add members to a Group. Not only does this allow members to “Reply as” the group address, but it also provides better tracking to see which specific team member handled a query.

4. Will my Outlook Rules and Signatures be moved?

Unfortunately, no. Server-side rules and personalized signatures are platform-specific and do not migrate. Therefore, you must manually recreate your Outlook Rules as Gmail Filters. Similarly, you will need to copy and paste your signature into the Gmail Settings menu once the migration is finalized.

5. What happens to my OneDrive and SharePoint files?

Moving on to file storage, your data will be migrated to Google Drive for individuals and Shared Drives for teams. Nevertheless, it is vital to note that SharePoint permissions are often more complex than Google’s. For this reason, we strongly recommend auditing your folder permissions before the move to ensure that sensitive data remains restricted in the new environment.

6. Is there a risk of downtime during the process?

Provided that the migration is managed correctly, there should be zero downtime. Initially, we keep your Microsoft 365 account active while the data copies in the background. Once the data transfer is complete, we update your MX Records. Although there is a 24–48 hour propagation period where mail might land in either system, your business operations will remain continuous throughout.

7. Are there any items that cannot be migrated?

Finally, it is worth noting that standard tools generally do not migrate specific metadata. Specifically, items such as Outlook Tasks, Teams Chats, and OneNote Notebooks do not map perfectly to Google’s ecosystem. In these cases, such data must be manually exported to Google Tasks, Chat, or Keep to ensure nothing is lost.

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