Google Workspace migration checklist

What should a Google Workspace migration checklist cover?

A useful checklist covers everything that has to be true before, during, and after the switch, with an owner for each item. It is not a technical runbook. It is a shared list that keeps your office manager, your IT lead, and your migration partner looking at the same facts. Use the sections below as a starting point and add anything specific to your organization, such as a line-of-business app that sends email. Put a name and a date next to every item, and review the list together each week until the old system is retired.

What do you need before the migration starts?

Before the migration starts, you need access, an inventory, and a few firm decisions:

1. Admin access to your current email system and to your domain registrar or DNS host.
2. A Google Workspace account with the right edition and enough licenses for every user who will move.
3. A list of every user, their mailbox size, and their aliases.
4. A list of shared mailboxes, distribution lists, and room or equipment calendars.
5. A map of where files live today and who owns each location.
6. A decision on a staged migration or single cutover.
7. A list of items that will need manual work, using our guide to what does not migrate automatically.
8. A target switchover date and a backup date.
9. A draft of your employee communication plan.

What happens during the migration?

During the migration, the bulk copy runs while your team keeps working in the old system. Use this stage to test before anyone depends on Google Workspace:

• Create users, aliases, and Google Groups in the Admin console.
• Start the bulk copy of mail, contacts, calendars, and files.
• Have a small pilot group check their migrated data and report anything missing.
• Lower the TTL on your MX records a day or two before the switch.
• Prepare your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Our guide to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC covers each one.
• Send the one-week reminder and the day-before message to staff.

What should you check on cutover day?

On cutover day, check that mail flows in both directions and that people can sign in. Work through these in order:

• Change your MX records to the values shown in the Google Admin console. Our guide to MX record cutover explains the timing.
• Send test messages from an outside address and confirm they arrive in Gmail.
• Send from Gmail to outside addresses and confirm they are not landing in spam.
• Confirm each user can sign in and see their migrated mail and calendar.
• Check that shared mailboxes and groups receive mail.
• Start the delta pass once the MX change has settled.

What should you check after cutover?

After cutover, check that nothing was left behind and that the old system can be retired safely. Work through these in the first weeks:

• Confirm the delta pass completed and recent messages appear in Gmail.
• Set up phones and tablets for every user.
• Rebuild mail filters, signatures, and delegate access that did not carry over.
• Update scanners, printers, and apps that send email through the old server.
• Turn on 2-Step Verification for all users.
• Keep the old system available until people confirm nothing is missing, then cancel those licenses.

Our guide to the first 30 days after a migration goes into more detail on each of these. For the bigger picture, read how to plan a Google Workspace migration.

Next step

If you would rather hand this checklist to someone else, our migration plans and process page shows what we handle on each plan.