It is undeniable that Microsoft 365, formerly known as Office 365, has become one of the best tools for business collaboration and productivity. Besides, did you know you could also access Microsoft Office suites directly from the web? Thus, if you were planning to migrate from GoDaddy to Microsoft 365, this article is for you! Below is a step-by-step guide that you can easily follow.
What’s IMAP?
IMAP, which stands for Internet Message Access Protocol, is a useful technology that helps retrieve email messages stored on the server and allows users to instantly access their email data from all devices: computer, tablet, or smartphone.
Moreover, the IMAP is also used to rapidly transfer your mailbox content from a source email system (like GoDaddy) to a new Microsoft 365 account.
What should you prepare before Microsoft 365 migration?
Before performing email migration, here is a list of things you have to prepare:
Microsoft 365 admin permissions
In order to migrate the content in users’ mailbox through IMAP, first, you need to sign up for Microsoft 365 and purchase a business subscription plan. After that, you will receive admin permissions which are a must for our migration process.
Administrator credentials
Make sure that you have noted both Microsoft 365 and GoDaddy administrator credentials, as well as the password of your other associated emails that will be migrated.
Data backup
You have to export all login data from GoDaddy to a CSV file. Please follow the steps below:
- Open GoDaddy’s official website and log in to your administrator account.
- Navigate to “Workspace Email” and then click on “Manage All”
- Thereafter, you will see a full list of your emails.
- Click on “Export” and then choose specific emails from the drop-down menu or choose “Select All”.
- Do not forget to select the “CSV” format before exporting the file to your computer.
- Normally, the backup file will consist of email addresses, usernames, and passwords.
A local copy of your contacts and calendars in Outlook
Not only can this process save you a lot of time with your emails, but it can also help you with the backups of your contacts and calendar information as well. Here are the instructions on how to make a local copy of this data in your mailbox:
- Log in to your Outlook account.
- Go to the “File” in the menu bar.
- Click on “Open & Export”, and “Import/Export”.
- Choose “Export a file” and then “Outlook Data File (.PST)” before hitting “Next”.
- Thereafter, you click on the target mail folders.
- Next, choose a location where you will save the exported file and it’s done!
A step-by-step guide on how to move from GoDaddy to Microsoft 365
Now, you have all the prerequisite information for the Microsoft 365 migration. Please follow the 3 main steps below to complete your migration process:
Sync old GoDaddy emails with Microsoft 365
- Log in to your Microsoft 365 administrator account.
- Navigate to “Microsoft Exchange Server Admin Center” and “Exchange”
- Click on “Recipients” and then choose the “Migration” option.
- Click on the plus (+) icon before selecting “Migrate to Exchange Online”.
- Then, go to “Choose File” in order to select the CSV files exported from GoDaddy.
- Next, click on the “IMAP migration” option and you will be forwarded to the IMAP configuration page.
- In this step, you fill out the server details and then hit “Next”.
- Thereafter, you have to create a batch migration before selecting the target user.
- To finish, click on “Start the migration” and wait until the migration process has been completed.
- When the status is changed to “Synced”, it means that all of your emails are successfully transferred to your new Microsoft 365 account.
Setup your new Microsoft 365 account in Outlook
In the next step, you have to manually enable your Microsoft 365 account in Outlook by following these steps:
- Open the “Control Panel” in your Window.
- Select “Mail” and then “Show Profiles”.
- When a new window pops up, click on “Add” before selecting the “Manual Setup or additional server types” option.
- After that, click on the “Microsoft 365” option and enter your email address.
- When the verification is completed, you will see a log-in window displaying on the screen. Just input your Microsoft 365 account credential and it’s done!
Import your backup files into Outlook
Once you’re done syncing your emails, now it’s time to import local copies of your contacts and/or calendar information that you have already exported in the previous step. Here is a simple method to import your backup files:
- Open your Outlook from the first step.
- Then, go to “File”, followed by “Open & Export”.
- Click on the “Import/Export option.
- Thereafter, choose “Import from another program or file” before selecting the PST file that you want to import to your new account.
- After successfully importing all needed items into your Outlook, you can remove the migration batch to finish.
Email migration is not as difficult as one might think and the whole process may take about 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how much data you have to migrate. On that note, make sure that you have already backed up all data from your old Godaddy account before deleting it. We hope this article helps you succeed in your Microsoft 365 migration and that you can quickly start enjoying its handy functions.
