Microsoft 365 guide
How to Migrate Email to Microsoft 365 Without Losing Mail
In short
Copy the mailboxes across before you change the MX record. Do it in this order and nothing gets lost.
From cPanel email, Google Workspace or an old provider, the order is the same: copy everything across first, switch the MX record last.
1. Set up Microsoft 365 and verify your domain
Create your tenant, add users and licences, and verify your domain with the TXT record Microsoft provides. See our Microsoft 365 setup guide.
2. Create the mailboxes
Add a mailbox for every existing address, plus shared mailboxes (info@, sales@) as needed. Don't change DNS yet.
3. Migrate existing mail
For a few mailboxes, import each one (e.g. via Outlook or an IMAP migration). For many, use Microsoft's IMAP migration or a tool like BitTitan/MigrationWiz to bulk-copy mail, contacts and calendars while the old system keeps running.
4. Switch the MX record
Once mail is copied, repoint your domain's MX record to Microsoft and add the Autodiscover, SPF and DKIM records. New mail now goes to Microsoft 365. Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC so it doesn't hit spam.
5. Reconnect devices and do a final sync
Add the account to Outlook and phones. Do a final delta sync to catch any mail that arrived at the old server during cut-over, then decommission the old mailboxes.
Microsoft 365 migration, handled
We move your mailboxes to Microsoft 365 with no lost mail and no downtime.
Explore Microsoft 365Questions
Will I lose emails during the migration?
Not if you copy mailboxes before changing the MX record and do a final delta sync. That's how we run migrations.
How long does email migration take?
A few mailboxes can be done in a day; larger or slow source servers take longer to copy historical mail.
Can Gander Web migrate our email?
Yes. We handle Microsoft 365 setup and migration end to end, including DNS and authentication.