Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace migration checklist

By Akash Sengar · 6 October 2026 · 6 min read

Before you start: is the move right?

Moving from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace changes how people write documents, run meetings and find files. Agree why you are moving, which apps people actually use, and whether any desktop Office features are essential, for example complex Excel models or Access databases. Our Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace guide covers the decision itself. This checklist assumes the decision is made. It mirrors our Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 checklist.

Inventory what you have

• Users, shared mailboxes, distribution lists and Microsoft 365 groups, with their aliases.
• Mailbox sizes and archives, and any mailboxes on hold for legal reasons.
• OneDrive and SharePoint content, Teams channels and who owns each.
• Every system that sends mail as your domain: website forms, invoicing, CRM, scanners, monitoring alerts.
• Devices enrolled in Intune and anything depending on Entra ID sign-in, such as single sign-on to other SaaS apps.

Prepare Google Workspace

1. Sign up, verify your domain in the Google Admin console and create users. Google's data import tool only copies data for users who already exist in both accounts; it does not create accounts (Google Workspace Admin Help).
2. Recreate groups, shared mailboxes (as Google Groups or delegated accounts) and calendar resources.
3. Turn on 2-Step Verification and set your security defaults before users arrive.
4. Set up DKIM for Google Workspace, but do not switch MX yet.

Moving mail, calendars and contacts

Google's data import tool in the Admin console copies email, calendar and contact data from Exchange Online. You connect it by signing in to Microsoft 365 as a Global Administrator from a Google super administrator account (Google Workspace Admin Help). The import copies data and does not delete or change anything in Exchange Online (Google).

Google describes two methods: a default import using Google's shared API quota, for up to 1,000 users at one time, and an advanced import that uses your own Azure application and quota, in batches (Google). Folders become Gmail labels, and attachments over Google's size limit or of blocked file types are not imported, so check the "What's imported" page before you promise users anything.

Run the first pass a week or two before cutover, then a final pass after MX changes to catch the last messages. Third-party migration tools are an alternative if you need features the native tool does not offer.

Files: OneDrive and SharePoint to Drive

Map OneDrive to each user's My Drive and SharePoint sites or Teams channels to shared drives. Decide who owns each shared drive and its membership before you copy anything. Google publishes separate options for importing files; check the current Admin Help pages for what each supports, including version history and sharing permissions, which rarely carry over exactly.

Word, Excel and PowerPoint files open in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, but macros and some advanced formatting do not convert. Leave complex files in Office format and open them with Office compatibility mode, or keep a few Microsoft 365 licences for the people who truly need desktop Office.

Moving from Zoho Mail instead

If your mail is on Zoho Mail rather than Microsoft 365, the same data import tool can copy mail from IMAP-based providers (Google). In practice:

1. Make sure IMAP access is enabled for each Zoho mailbox, and use app-specific passwords where two-factor sign-in is on.
2. Import mail over IMAP. IMAP moves mail only, so export calendars and contacts from Zoho separately and import them into Google.
3. If you also use Zoho CRM or Zoho Desk, update their email integrations so they work with Gmail after the move.
4. Remove Zoho's servers from your SPF record once Zoho no longer sends for you, and retire the Zoho DKIM selector afterwards.

Preparing people, not just data

Most problems after a move to Google Workspace are about habits, not data. People miss Outlook folders, desktop Excel and Teams channels. Plan for that early:

• Pick a few champions from different teams to try Gmail, Drive and Meet during the pilot and answer colleagues' questions later.
• Explain labels versus folders, shared drives versus My Drive, and how to find files that used to be in Teams.
• Decide how meetings will work: Google Meet for internal meetings, and how people join external Teams or Zoom calls.
• Set up Gmail and Google Calendar on phones with a short guide, and remove the old Outlook profile so people do not keep using it.
• Agree the shared mailbox approach early: delegation or Google Groups behave differently from Exchange shared mailboxes.

Single sign-on and connected apps

If other SaaS tools, such as your CRM, accounting or HR software, use Microsoft sign-in, they must be switched to Google sign-in or another method before Microsoft 365 is retired. List them during inventory and test each one with a pilot user. The same applies to calendar integrations in booking tools and to add-ins people rely on in Outlook.

Devices managed by Intune need a new home too. Chromebooks and Android devices can be managed from the Google Admin console; Windows PCs and Macs may need a separate device management tool.

Archives, PST files and shared content

Check for online archive mailboxes and old PST files on laptops before you plan the import. Online archives are part of the Exchange Online mailbox, but PST files sit outside it and must be uploaded to Exchange first or imported another way. Decide with each team whether old archives are worth moving at all, or whether a read-only export kept for the retention period is enough. Public folders and shared calendars also need a decision, because Google Workspace has no direct equivalent of either.

Cutover day

1. Lower MX TTL a few days before.
2. Switch MX to Google, update SPF to include Google, publish Google's DKIM key and keep DMARC in place.
3. Run the final mail pass.
4. Repoint apps and devices that send through Microsoft 365 SMTP.
5. Sign users in to Gmail and Drive, and keep a help desk channel open for the first days.

Keep the help desk channel open for at least two weeks after cutover, and log every question. The same questions repeat, so turn the common ones into a short FAQ for staff.

After the move

• Check SPF, DKIM and DMARC with our free email security check.
• Remove Microsoft 365 from SPF only when nothing still sends through it.
• Keep Microsoft 365 read-only for an agreed period before cancelling, and take any export you need for legal retention first.
• Re-enrol or reset devices that were managed by Intune.
• Run short training on Gmail labels, shared drives and Meet.

Our Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace service runs migrations in either direction with a written rollback plan.