If you’re currently using Outlook for your business email (e.g., info@samamatahir.com) and want to move to Google Workspace, the process can be tricky. This guide will walk you through the migration process step by step, ensuring a smooth transition.
Step 1: Understand Your Current Setup
- Your email (info@samamatahir.com) is connected to Outlook.
- Your hosting server has MX records pointing to Outlook, making it work with Microsoft services.
Now, you want to migrate to Google Workspace.
Step 2: Sign Up for Google Workspace
When you try to sign up info@samamatahir.com on Google Workspace, you may receive an error:
“This domain name is already in use. If you own this domain and would like to use Google Workspace, please follow the steps here.”
To bypass this issue:
- Sign up with a different username, such as hi@samamatahir.com.
- Google will provide a TXT record for domain verification.
- Add this TXT record to your hosting DNS to verify ownership.
Step 3: Update MX Records to Gmail
- After verifying the domain, update your hosting server with Google’s MX records.
- Now, your email hi@samamatahir.com will start working with Gmail.
Step 4: Create Your Main Email Account
- In Google Workspace, create a new user with the original email info@samamatahir.com.
- Set a password for this account.
- Since you’ve already updated MX records, your email info@samamatahir.com is now connected to Google Workspace.
Step 5: Migrate Data from Outlook to Gmail
Even though the email is now set up in Google Workspace, it won’t receive emails yet because Outlook’s MX records are still in the DNS. Before removing them, migrate your existing data:
- Log in to Google Workspace Admin.
- Navigate to Dashboard > Data > Data Import > Data Migration (New).
- Select Migrate from Microsoft Exchange.
- Choose Office 365 from the dropdown and click Authenticate (a pop-up will appear).
- Sign in to your Outlook account to grant permission.
- Add users for migration:
- Source: info@samamatahir.com (Outlook)
- Destination: info@samamatahir.com (Google Workspace)
- Select the data you want to migrate (emails, contacts, calendar, etc.).
- Click Start Migration.
Step 6: Resolving Large Data Migration Issues
If your data spans several years (e.g., 10 years of emails), you might encounter this error:
“The source server is temporarily busy. If this continues, try reducing the number of concurrent requests under Migration settings. (11028).”
Understanding the Error: Throttling Policy
Microsoft applies a throttling policy to limit the rate of data transfers to prevent server overload. This can slow down or interrupt large migrations.
How to Increase the Throttling Policy
To resolve the issue, follow these steps:
- Open Microsoft Exchange Admin Center.
- Log in to your Microsoft Office 365 account.
- Locate the green microphone icon (Contact Support) at the bottom right.
- Search for EWS and select Increase EWS Throttling Policy.
- Run the test.
- When prompted, choose 90 days from the dropdown menu.
- Run the test again to apply the settings.
If the migration still shows the same error after one hour, wait up to 24 hours for the changes to propagate, then restart the migration.
Step 7: Finalizing the Migration
- After data migration is complete, remove the old Outlook MX records from your hosting DNS.
- Your emails will now be fully functional in Google Workspace.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully migrated your Outlook emails to Google Workspace. 🎉