What is transferred during the migration
A complete move from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 covers far more than just emails. In practice we transfer:
- Gmail mailboxes including labels (which become Outlook folders) and attachments.
- Google Calendar with recurring events, exceptions, reminders and shared calendars.
- Google Contacts including contact groups and distribution lists.
- Google Drive and shared drives to OneDrive and SharePoint, including folder structure and sharing.
- Google Groups as Microsoft 365 groups or distribution lists.
Mapping the concepts correctly is essential: Gmail labels are not a 1:1 equivalent of Outlook folders (an email can have several labels but can only sit in one folder). A clean migration resolves this ambiguity in a defined way instead of duplicating or losing emails.
The process in six steps
1. Inventory
First the current state is recorded: number of mailboxes, data volume, shared drives, groups and the domain configuration (MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records).
2. Prepare the target tenant
Users, licences and groups are created in the Microsoft 365 tenant. The domain is added and verified, initially without switching the MX records, so that mail flow is not interrupted.
3. Pre-migration
Most of the data is transferred in the background while everyone keeps working in Google Workspace. With large mailboxes, this gives you the decisive head start.
4. Cut-over
In a planned time window, often at the weekend, the MX records are switched to Microsoft 365. From now on, new emails arrive in the new system.
5. Delta migration
Emails that arrived at Google between the pre-migration and the cut-over are transferred afterwards. Not a single message is missing.
6. Validation & handover
Every object is checked against the source. You receive a final report on completeness, users are briefed, and the old tenant remains available as a fallback for a while.
The most common pitfalls
- Switching MX records too early: leads to duplicate delivery or lost mail. Only switch after the pre-migration.
- Underestimating shared drives: permissions and sharing take more effort than the files themselves and must be mapped explicitly to SharePoint.
- Calendar sharing: shared Google calendars need a deliberate mapping in the target, otherwise sharing is lost.
- Forwarding and filters: Gmail filters and forwarding rules have no automatic counterpart and must be handled separately.
GDPR: where does the data flow?
In a provider-to-provider migration, it matters which infrastructure the data flows through. Migravault moves all content exclusively via its own servers in Germany and the EU. The data does not leave the European legal area. On request we sign a data processing agreement (DPA) under Art. 28 GDPR.
Migrate yourself or have it done?
For a single mailbox, a simple IMAP import is often enough. But as soon as several users, shared drives, groups and a domain switch are involved, the risk rises significantly. A managed migration plans the cut-over, transfers the delta and proves every transfer. That is exactly the difference between “should be complete” and “demonstrably complete”.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a migration from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 take?
It depends mainly on the data volume and the number of mailboxes. Because most of the data is transferred in the background beforehand, the actual switch-over window usually stays short (often a weekend). Small environments are done in a few days, larger ones need one to several weeks of lead time.
Is anything lost during the switch?
Not with a planned migration with delta sync and validation. Every email, every event and every file is transferred and then checked against the source object by object.
Can we keep working during the migration?
Yes. The pre-migration runs in the background while your team works normally in Google Workspace. Only the short cut-over switches to Microsoft 365.
What does a migration from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 cost?
The project fee is 200 € per project. On top of that, per mailbox: 29 € for emails including folders, 5 € each for calendars and contacts, and 19 € for personal files (up to 50 GB per user). For 25 mailboxes with emails and calendars that comes to 1,050 € net. From 50 mailboxes the mailbox total drops by 10 %, from 100 by 15 %; from 250 we quote individually. All prices net plus VAT; you pay the Microsoft 365 licences directly to Microsoft.
What do you need from us to start the migration?
Administrative access to both environments, a list of the mailboxes to be migrated and control over your domain’s DNS records for the MX switch. Users and licences must exist in the target tenant — we can set them up for you on request.