How to Migrate from GoDaddy to Office 365? A Smooth Transition

  

Written By Mohit Jha

Approved By Anuraag Singh

Published On October 10th, 2024

Reading Time 13 Minutes Reading

This article provides the most promising solution to the user query i.e. “How to migrate from GoDaddy to Office 365 / Office 365 account?” Go through this guide and you will get to know about the different ways, that will help you to execute this task safely.

However, before jumping into the step-by-step solution let’s have a quick look at the user query.

User Query: Did anyone migrate emails from GoDaddy account to Office 365 account? How much time does it take to release the Domain (I got to know that it can take up to 24 or 48 hours?) Furthermore, if I just add the new user email accounts to Outlook will it cause a problem? According to me, it’s the same Exchange and Azure AD back-end, better to set up new profiles for each user? Please let me know a suitable solution to move my all emails from GoDaddy to O365 account.

Most users prefer to migrate their data to Office 365 because of various advanced features to increase business productivity.

Being a cloud-based hosting service, Microsoft provides a more cost-effective way to host a user’s business email than GoDaddy Webmail. Hence, it allows you to scale organization data seamlessly when it comes to handling user accounts. Apart from this, Office 365 also provides collaboration and productivity tools which are quite useful.

GoDaddy doesn’t provide such facilities or tools to its users. And we cannot deny the fact that Microsoft provides multiple applications in its suite including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Outlook which we all have been using for years.

Generally, we consider these three ways to do this task; One through the Exchange Administration Center (EAC), another one is Outlook, and the best one is through an automated software solution. Let us have a look at the detailed step-by-step working of the distinct approaches.

But before going to migrate from GoDaddy to Office 365 there are some prerequisites that you all must consider-

• Full access to a Microsoft Office 365 administrator or user account.
• Access to GoDaddy administrator or required user account.
• Login details of mailboxes of all users from whom you want to transfer emails.

Direct & Expert’s Suggested Way to Migrate from GoDaddy to Microsoft 365

If you want to avoid technicalities and want to transfer email from GoDaddy to Office 365 safely and securely then, it is suggested to use the expert’s handpicked SysTools IMAP to Office 365 Migration Tool.

If compared to the manual approach, it is quite simple to use, the user does not need any technical expertise or prior technical experience to run this tool. In addition to this, a nontechnical user can easily utilize this tool for GoDaddy to Microsoft 365 migration.

This tool is for Mac and Windows OS keeps the data folder structure and integrity at the post-migration stage. Moreover, it is one of the most trusted and widely accepted software solutions when it comes to migrate from GoDaddy to Office 365 account. Let’s have a look at its migration features.

Splendid Features of Software

• Migrates all IMAP account emails from GoDaddy to Microsoft 365.
• Offers a Date Filter for selective email data transfer.
• Provides two options to create a mapping for bulk user email migration.
• Completely support both Mac and Windows operating systems of different versions for a smooth migration.
• Provision for three types of Re-Run migration to ensure no data remains left at the source.
• Comes with concurrent migration to move from GoDaddy to Office 365 with multiple IMAP accounts at one go.
• Exports a migration report containing details of the migration process in CSV format.

Quickly Migrate from GoDaddy to Office 365 Step by Step

Step 1. Firstly, download the above-mentioned software on any supported Windows machine and launch it. Choose “IMAP” as the source migration platform and “Office 365” as the destination.

Step 2. Enable the “Email” migration checkbox from the workload selection panel. Apply the “Date Filter” provided by this tool, and set the required date range for selective email migration.

Step 3. Thereafter, select “Other” for a smooth GoDaddy email migration to Office 365 from the drop-down

Note: The IMAP Server URL Port Number will be entered by the tool automatically when you choose G Suite / Zoho Mail or Office 365 as your preferred IMAP Server. However, you need to enter these details manually in case you choose Other as IMAP Server.

Step 4. Provide the respective details such as the IMAP Server URL & the Port Number and validate the required software permissions for GoDaddy to O365 migration.

Step 5. Login with  Destination Office 365 Admin account credentials i.e. Admin Email & Application ID and validate.

Step 6. Add the source users of GoDaddy using any of these two options provided by this software i.e. Import Users or Download Template.

Step 7. Once, you have mapped the source and destination user account, then provide the “App Password” for the respective user accounts that need to be migrated to O365. “Validate” permission for password validation.

Step 8. Then  click on the “Start Migration” button to move from GoDaddy to Office 365 on a Windows computer.

How to Migrate from GoDaddy Email to Office 365 on MAC Device?

Firstly, download the above-suggested utility on your Mac PC of the supported version, install and run the tool, and follow the step-by-step guide-

• There are a few prerequisites to confirm before migration, then tap Continue to migrate GoDaddy email to Office 365

• Then, select the Other option as a hostname >> Provide GoDaddy Webmail username and password and tap Validate

• Then, for the Destination IMAP account, select Office 365 as a hostname >> enter M365 details >> Validate

• Tick or check the delta migration option for skipping already migrated GoDaddy emails & attached files to O365.

• Click Start Migration to migrate from GoDaddy to Office 365 account on Mac OS.

Demo Version

The software comes with a trial version, you can download it for free as per the respective operating system. And it further allows you to migrate the data for limited trials.

Manually Transfer Email from GoDaddy to Microsoft 365 Account

It is not an easy task just like transfer GoDaddy email to another account, it more than that. In addition, Microsoft does not provide a method to transfer email from GoDaddy to Office 365 using IMAP servers. However, there are two manual approaches by using them you can perform migration and these are:

1. Exchange Admin Center
2. Microsoft Outlook

Let’s discuss them one by one.

Approach 1. Migrate from GoDaddy to Office 365 Using Exchange Admin Center

However, this approach can be overwhelming for most users, and even for Office 365 administrators. 

As, it requires multiple prerequisites and technical configurations, to execute the same, a user must be technically sound. Even if a user is technically sound and he further tries to execute this task using this approach, there are still chances of data loss and corruption. 

Now, let’s learn more about this approach in detail.

Pre-Requisites

1. You need to find out the full name of your current email server.
2. Also, create a list of all mailboxes that you want to migrate.
3. Connect Microsoft 365 to your current email system. Connect the source email server and create a new migration endpoint 
4. The administrator needs to Add users & Assign licenses to the destination Office 365 tenant.
5. Prepare your IMAP source GoDaddy email system and examine user accounts that you need to migrate from GoDaddy to Microsoft 365.
   Note: You need to verify that the respective domain is owned by you.
6. Communicate about these changes to your end users. Let them know, which tasks need to be done before, during, and post-migration.
7. Configure admin credentials or get, or you can reset user email passwords in the source email system.

EAC Steps to Perform GoDaddy to O365 Migration

1. Sign in to your Office 365 account using Admin credentials. Navigate to “Exchange Admin Center”.
2. Then, just go to “Recipients” then click on “Migration”.
3. Mouse-click on New (+) then choose “Migrate to Exchange Online”.
4. Thereafter, choose IMAP migration and then click on Next. 
5. Now, from the Select the users’ page, click Browse, and specify the respective migration file you created earlier.

Make sure of the following things:

• It should not be empty.
• It should be using comma-separated formatting.
• It should not contain more than 50,000 rows.
• It should have the required attributes in the header row.
• It should have rows with the same number of columns as the header row.

6. Once Microsoft 365 validates this migration file, then it will display the number of users listed in the file and the number of mailboxes to be migrated. Thereafter, just click on Next to migrate from GoDaddy to Office 365 account.
7. Now, from the IMAP migration configuration page, click on Next.
8. Choose the migration endpoints that you created in the pre-requisite to move GoDaddy emails to Office 365.
9. From the Move Configuration Page, type the *name (no spaces or special characters) of the migration batch, for example, Test1-migration, and then click on the Next button.
10. From the Start batch page, do the following

• • Click Browse to send a copy of the migration reports to other users. By default, you will get a migration report.
  • Choose Automatically Start the Batch –  The migration starts as soon as you save the new migration batch. 

Verify Whether this Approach Works or Not

From the Exchange admin center, navigate to Recipients > Migration. Verify that the batch is displayed in the migration dashboard. If the migration is completed successfully, and the Status is Synced then this method works. If not, then you need to re-check all the above checklist and process it all again.

Must Read: How to Migrate Email from cPanel to Office 365 Account?

As Microsoft itself suggests you check whether this approach worked or not to migrate email from GoDaddy to Office 365. Now what would else be remaining here, it is quite evident that this entire manual approach can be error-prone, and eventually, you can end up losing your crucial data.  Moreover, it becomes a tedious task to ensure these overwhelming prerequisites and the entire lengthy yet technical step.

Approach 2. Migrate from GoDaddy to Office 365 Using Outlook

This method is time-consuming because it involves several repeated steps. Possibilities of human errors are also high in this method. Here are the steps to complete the process. 

1. Configure a GoDaddy account on Outlook. Open Outlook > File. 
2. Click on the Add Account, provide all the required credentials, and connect.
3. After configuring the GoDaddy account on the Outlook. Click on File > Open&Export.
4. Then choose the Import/Export option and Export the PST file. 
5. After getting the resulting file, configure your Office 365 account.
6. Go to File > Open&Export and hit the Import/Export option.
7. Add the output file of the GoDaddy account to the Office 365 account.

Finally, the process to transfer email from GoDaddy to Office 365 gets completed. 

Post-Migration Tips

It’s not completed yet, check out this post-migration section to ensure the successful migration. 

1. Cross-check your Data – After performing the successful migration, verify your data by accessing it.
2. Set up Microsoft 365 Settings – Customize your Microsoft 365 account to meet the current requirements with the help of its settings.
3. Training Sessions – Train all the employees of your organization about Microsoft 365. Provide the necessary training sessions and manuals to improve their productivity with the new platform.
4. Monitor and Support – Monitor your Microsoft 365 environment to keep up-to-date with performance issues and security threats.
5. Detach GoDaddy – After transitioning to M365, delete your GoDaddy account.

Challenges While Performing GoDaddy to Microsoft 365/ O365 Migration Manually

Using the manual methods to transfer your GoDaddy emails to an Office 365 account comes up with numerous challenges such as

1. Data Migration Complications – Transferring your emails to the destination account requires planning. Data might also need to be reformatted and mapped for a successful transition. 
2. Technical Personnel – The administrator should be well-versed in the migration or have done multiple migrations earlier.
3.  Data Disruption – There might be the chances of power outages or network interruptions during migration.
4. Compatibility Issues – Sometimes there are some compatibility issues that can affect the migration process.

Bringing It All Together

In this guide, we have discussed the three unique ways to migrate from GoDaddy to Office 365, using Exchange Admin Center (EAC), Outlook, and professional software. It completely depends upon the individuals, to choose the required approach depending on their requirements. However, experts recommend the above-mentioned software to transfer the data for ensuring a safe secure, and error-free GoDaddy email migration to Office 365.

Migrate from GoDaddy to Microsoft 365 – FAQs

Q- How to transfer my GoDaddy email to the Office 365 platform?

Quick steps to move from GoDaddy to Office 365 account using the tool-

• Step 1. Select IMAP and Office 365 Platforms
• Step 2. Choose Other and Enter GoDaddy Details.
• Step 3. Provide Office 365 Details to Validate.
• Step 4. Fetch Users and Authenticate them.
• Step 5. Hit Start Migration to Begin.

Q- Why is it better to transition from GoDaddy to Microsoft 365?

This migration is useful because while using Microsoft Office 365, you can easily access your email attachments, and other applications from the suite at your convenience. Furthermore, this O365 cloud hosting enables you to have quick access to all mail, files, and apps.

Q- What benefits do I get when I migrate email to 365?

Microsoft Office 365 lets you benefit from several high-end security features that ensure that every user’s business will be protected in the cloud. As all applications are accessed only through SSL/TSL encryption so that communication or files cannot be intercepted by any other user without verification.

Q- Can I use my GoDaddy account while performing migration?

Yes, you can use your GoDaddy account but it is advised to not use it while performing migration. But if you still want to use your account, then you can use it because a professional tool offers the option of Delta migration to migrate the newly arrived data.

Q- How do I migrate from GoDaddy to Office 365 for only a few emails?

With the help of the mentioned tools, you can simply select the source (IMAP) and destination platform (Office 365) and set the date range filter from below for specific GoDaddy email migration to Office 365.

Q- How do I prepare to move emails from my current GoDaddy account to Office 365?

Steps to Prepare for GoDaddy to Microsoft 365 Migration-

1. Access to GoDaddy administration account
2. Access to Microsoft Office 365 administration account
3. User credentials to log in and account validation to migrate emails.
4. Run the Tool, validate accounts, and click Start Migration.

Q- Can I access the GoDaddy account during the migration?

It is recommended to not use the GoDaddy account while the migration is going on. Because there might be a chance of data loss if you make use of the GoDaddy account during the migration process. 

  

By Mohit Jha

Mohit is a writer, researcher, and editor. Cyber ​​security and digital forensics are the two subjects that keep Mohit out of his seat. In addition, he hopes that the well-researched and thought-out articles he finds will help people learn.

View all of Mohit Jha's posts.