Email migration to Google Workspace: Exchange, IMAP, and HCL Notes

What does an email migration to Google Workspace involve?

An email migration copies your existing mailboxes into Google Workspace and then points new mail at Gmail, without losing messages along the way. The order of the steps matters more than the tools. Most moves follow the same sequence:

1. List every mailbox, alias, shared mailbox, and forwarding rule on the old system.
2. Verify your domain in Google Workspace and create user accounts.
3. Copy historical mail into Gmail while people keep working on the old system.
4. Change your MX records so new mail lands in Gmail.
5. Run a final pass to pick up anything that arrived during the switch.
6. Connect phones and desktop apps, then retire the old system.

The final pass is called a delta sync. It is the reason a well-run migration does not need everyone to stop working. Our guide to delta migrations explains how it works, and the MX record cutover guide covers the DNS change in detail.

Which email platforms can move to Google Workspace?

Almost any email system can move to Google Workspace, because nearly all of them can at least be read over IMAP. The difference is how much comes along with the mail. Here is how the common sources compare:

If you are moving from Microsoft 365 rather than an on-premises server, start with our Microsoft 365 migration guide instead. This guide focuses on Exchange Server, IMAP hosts, HCL Notes, and the domain and account situations that cut across all of them.

How does an Exchange Server migration work?

An Exchange Server migration connects a migration tool to your server with an admin account, then copies each user's mail, calendar, and contacts into Google Workspace. Because Exchange holds more than email, it usually brings the most data across. It also has the most moving parts:

• The server must be reachable by the migration tool, which often means checking firewall rules and certificates.
• The admin account needs permission to read every mailbox it will copy.
• Older servers can be slow to export, so large mailboxes should start copying early.
• Public folders and local PST archives sit outside normal mailboxes and need their own plan.

Our Exchange Server step-by-step guide walks through each stage. If your team keeps years of mail in Outlook archive files, read migrating PST archives into Gmail. If shared folders are part of daily work, see moving Exchange public folders. When you want help, our Exchange migration service covers the full move.

How do you migrate from GoDaddy, Zoho, or cPanel email?

You migrate from GoDaddy, Zoho, or cPanel email by copying each mailbox over IMAP into Gmail, then changing your MX records wherever your DNS is hosted. These hosts are simpler than Exchange, but they have their own traps:

• Credentials. An IMAP copy needs a way to sign in to every mailbox, usually each user's password. Plan how you will collect or reset them.
• Calendars and contacts. IMAP carries mail only. Calendars and contacts are exported and imported separately, or rebuilt.
• DNS and website. Many small businesses keep their website, DNS, and email with the same host. Changing MX records must not touch the records that keep the website running.
• Forwarders and autoresponders. These settings live on the old host and need to be recreated in Google Workspace.

Each host has its own quirks, so we wrote a guide for each: GoDaddy email, Zoho Mail, and cPanel email. Our IMAP migration service handles all three.

What about HCL Notes and Lotus Notes?

HCL Notes mail can move to Gmail, but Notes applications cannot move as they are and need to be retired, archived, or rebuilt. Lotus Notes became HCL Notes after IBM sold it to HCL in 2019, so the same planning applies to both names. Notes keeps mail, calendars, and custom applications in database files, and the custom applications are where most of the work lives. Many organizations built approval workflows, request forms, and tracking databases in Notes that have no direct match in Google Workspace.

A Notes migration starts with an application inventory, not a mailbox count. Decide which applications to retire, which to keep as read-only records, and which to rebuild with other tools. Encrypted mail and rich text formatting also need testing before the main move. Our guide to moving from Lotus Notes and HCL Notes to Gmail covers the details, and our HCL Notes migration service handles the conversion.

What data needs special handling?

Data that lives outside a normal server mailbox needs special handling: public folders, PST archives, shared mailboxes, and anything saved on a desktop. Standard migration tools copy what sits in each user's mailbox on the server, so find these items during discovery:

• Public folders usually map to a mix of Google Groups, shared drives, and shared calendars.
• PST archives need to be collected, checked for damage or passwords, and imported for each user.
• Shared mailboxes and distribution lists usually become Google Groups. See migrating shared mailboxes and distribution lists.
• Rules, signatures, and delegates often need to be set up again by hand.

Our list of what does not migrate automatically is a good companion to this step.

How do multiple domains or Google Workspace accounts change the plan?

Multiple domains or accounts add a sequencing problem: each domain can belong to only one Google Workspace account at a time, so the order of the moves matters. This often comes up after mergers and rebrands. There are two common situations. In a domain consolidation, you bring several domains into one Google Workspace account, using secondary domains or domain aliases so people keep the addresses they need. Our domain consolidation guide explains the options. In a tenant-to-tenant migration, you move users and data from one Google Workspace account to another, often after an acquisition. Our tenant-to-tenant migration guide covers the timing of the domain release. Both are part of our mergers and acquisitions work.

How long does an email migration take?

An email migration takes as long as your largest mailboxes and slowest source server need to copy, plus time for planning and preparing your team. The DNS switch itself is quick. The copy is what varies, so start it early and schedule the MX change for a quiet time. Our guide on how long a migration takes breaks down the factors.

Should you migrate yourself or use a managed service?

You can migrate yourself if you have a handful of simple mailboxes and someone comfortable with DNS, but a managed migration makes sense once calendars, archives, shared data, or switchover risk are involved. Google includes a data migration service in the Admin console that handles basic email moves well. The hard part is usually everything around it: discovery, DNS timing, user communication, and the first week after the switch.

Google Migrations is a service of Lingows, a Google Cloud Partner since 2013. We offer three plans:

• Free: a self-service email migration tool for teams that want to do it themselves.
• Standard: a managed migration of email, contacts, calendars, and files, with delta sync and a weekday switchover.
• Premium: everything in Standard, plus a dedicated account manager, staged batches, Google Groups, Active Directory sync, SAML single sign-on, and a weekend switchover.

Every managed migration follows the same process: Discovery, Planning, Migration, Adoption, and Support. We include 14 days of support after the switch. Compare plans on our pricing page, or start with our Exchange migration service.