Google Workspace to Microsoft 365: the complete playbook

This is the end-to-end guide for leaving Google Workspace for Microsoft 365 with MigrateX — a Workspace acquisition joining a Microsoft company, a move for Exchange, Teams or compliance features, or a subsidiary folded into the corporate tenant. Between platforms nothing is "copied"; it is translated. This page says what becomes what, what is listed instead, the order to work in, and how the domain moves from Google to Microsoft.

1 · Plan the move

Copy in waves, cut over once — and plan a day of hand-holding: people are moving from Gmail and Drive to Outlook, OneDrive and Teams.

2 · What becomes what

Listed, not converted: Gmail filters, Google-only calendar features, Sites, Keep, Forms, Meet recordings, sharing links. See section 18.

3 · Prepare both sides

In Microsoft 365 (target)

• Create the accounts with the same alias as the Google username so auto-match pairs them.
• Assign licenses that include Exchange Online, OneDrive and SharePoint; wait for mailboxes to be provisioned.
• A fallback domain (.onmicrosoft.com) that accounts hold until cutover. Microsoft will not verify a domain still in Workspace.
• A Global Administrator to consent; the Exchange Administrator role for the MigrateX app if Groups become shared mailboxes or lists.

In Google Workspace (source)

• A super administrator for delegation; API access not restricted for the OU.
• A Google Cloud organization for the domain (a super administrator has signed in at console.cloud.google.com at least once). Without it delegation fails with unauthorized_client.
• Decide what stays behind (suspended users, archived shared drives).
• Tell people which Google Docs they should finish before the move — exported copies are snapshots.

In MigrateX

• Route Google Workspace → Microsoft 365; scope: Gmail → Mailboxes, Groups & aliases → Shared mailboxes & aliases, Google Drive → OneDrive, Shared drives & Chat → Teams.
• Licenses: one per person, half per Group that becomes a shared mailbox; lists, sites, Teams and passes are free.

4 · Connect

1. Connect the Google Workspace sourceDomain-wide delegation with the scopes MigrateX shows, a super administrator address, Verify. Detail: Connect a Google Workspace tenant.
2. Connect the Microsoft 365 targetAdmin consent as the Global Administrator. Detail: Connect a Microsoft 365 tenant.

5 · Assess

6 · Match users

Auto-match by username, then alias, then unique display name; the rest by hand or CSV; exclude suspended users. Detail: Matching users.

7 · Pilot

Pick people who exercise the conversion: deep label trees, messages with several labels, a heavy calendar, a Drive full of Google Docs, someone who shares a lot. After the pass, open Outlook on the web as one of them and check:

• Folders match the label tree; a multi-label message sits in one folder with the others as categories; starred became flagged.
• A recurring meeting: recurrence and reminders intact, nobody re-invited.
• OneDrive: a Google Doc opens as a Word document; sharing shows the same people with the same roles.

8 · Gmail → mailboxes

Each message is read from Gmail as MIME and imported into Exchange with its original date and read state; its first label becomes the folder, other labels become categories; starred becomes flagged; Important becomes high importance. Spam and Trash are skipped. Delta passes use Gmail history IDs, so a second pass carries only what changed.

Doesn't convert: Gmail filters (recreate as Outlook rules — the notes list who had them), Gmail signatures (recreate), delegation, messages over Exchange's size limit (listed).

9 · Calendar & contacts

• Events are converted field by field — RRULE → Graph recurrence pattern, time zones IANA → Windows, reminders, free/busy — and imported without re-inviting attendees. RRULE shapes Exchange can't express (e.g. "every 2nd and 4th Tuesday") are approximated and flagged in the report.
• Secondary calendars become additional calendars in the target mailbox.
• Contacts and labels become contacts and contact folders. "Other contacts" are not moved.

10 · Drive → OneDrive

Files stream from Drive into OneDrive through memory. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are exported as Word, Excel and PowerPoint using Google's own converter — fidelity matches "File → Download". Other files move as they are; dates are kept. Sharing is re-granted to the matched Microsoft accounts with the same role; links and external shares are listed. Shortcuts are recreated where their targets moved.

11 · Groups → distribution lists & shared mailboxes

On Shared & groups each Google Group is listed with a choice: distribution list (members and owners, free) or shared mailbox (for Groups used as a collaborative inbox: members get Full Access, managers get Send As, the inbox contents are copied, ½ license). Aliases carry over; those on the moving domain are applied at cutover.

12 · Shared drives → SharePoint

On Sites & Teams, each shared drive becomes a SharePoint site with one document library; managers, contributors and viewers become Owners, Members and Visitors; Google-native files are exported as Office files on the way.

13 · Chat spaces → Teams

Each Chat space becomes a team with one channel, created in migration mode so history arrives with the original authors and timestamps; files referenced from Drive land in the team's library. Teams stay staged, kept current by delta passes, until you make them available on cutover evening. DMs, reactions, apps and Meet recordings are listed.

14 · Waves & delta passes

Migrate by team while both suites stay live; run Run delta pass nightly. Google's quotas on the way out and Microsoft's throttling on the way in are both honoured; failures are retried up to five times.

15 · Verify

Migration → Verify everyone lists every label, calendar and Drive on the Google side and checks each item against the folder, calendar or OneDrive it became. Missing items are shown by name; Copy missing items queues them.

16 · Cutover evening

1. Freeze changesAsk people to stop creating content in Workspace for the evening — especially Google Docs, which are exported one last time.
2. Forward mail from WorkspaceEach migrated account forwards to its Exchange twin.
3. Final delta pass, then verifyCopy anything missing.
4. Make staged Teams availableThey leave migration mode and get their members.
5. Remove the domain from WorkspaceMigrateX moves every Google user and Group to the Workspace's fallback domain, then removes acme.com.
6. Add and verify the domain in Microsoft 365Add the TXT record MigrateX shows; press Check. Microsoft can take a few minutes to see it.
7. Claim the addressesPrimary addresses and aliases on acme.com are applied to the Microsoft accounts, shared mailboxes and lists.
8. Point DNS at MicrosoftMicrosoft's MX, SPF include:spf.protection.outlook.com, Autodiscover CNAME, DKIM from the Microsoft 365 Defender portal; remove Google's records. The wizard checks MX.
9. Send the notice, sign offThe notice for this route tells people how to set up Outlook on their phone and desktop, and where Drive went. Print the report.

17 · The day after

• Have a one-page "where things are now" ready: labels are folders, starred is flagged, Drive is OneDrive, Chat is Teams, shared drives are SharePoint sites.
• Phones: add the Microsoft account in Outlook mobile; remove the Google one. Desktop: new Outlook profile; OneDrive sync client signed in.
• Recreate Outlook rules for the people the notes list. Signatures: MigrateX keeps each person's Gmail signature — open Cutover → signatures captured, download them (one HTML file per person, or all as a zip) and send each person theirs with the notice; the file explains where to paste it in Outlook.
• External people need new sharing links from OneDrive or SharePoint.
• Keep the Workspace and forwarding for a month; run a delta and verify if anyone reports something missing.

18 · Limits and what is listed

Checklist