Do you want to How Migrate Gmail to Zoho Mail? In this simple step-by-step guide you will prepare both your Gmail and Zoho Mail accounts. Including exporting your emails, contacts, and calendar, then importing them into Zoho Mail via Zoho’s built in migration/IMAP tools. Lastly you will learn how to update your MX/DNS records to facilitate a seamless and real-time change. Averting any gaps in email and loss of data.
If you want to migrate from Gmail to Zoho Mail — this guide will help you to plan out the transition! We will walk you through preparing your Gmail account, exporting emails and calendar data. Then importing it into your Zoho Mail account using Zoho Mail’s built-in migration tools. This will include updating your MX (mail exchanger’s), and DNS (Domain Name System) records . Ensure that all emails sent to you, will begin to go directly into Zoho Mail after the transition. In other words, you will not experience any downtime.
Why people are thinking of moving their email accounts from Gmail to Zoho Mail
Gmail is a powerful, competent program. However, Zoho Mail offers features that will appeal to users who prefer to use a service. Does not keep their information for advertising purposes and to small businesses. Prefer a professional email hosting that is ad-free. You get a professional ad-free email hosting solution with privacy-conscious control over your data and a suite of business tools. If keeping your branding the same . The best customer service guaranteed matters to your organization, switching from Gmail to Zoho Mail.
What happens to your Gmail account in the process of the transition
First of all, your Gmail account does not go away. As you are switching from Gmail to Zoho Mail.Your Gmail data.It will continue to reside on Google’s servers until you either delete. Your Gmail data or removed your Gmail account from a device. You will continue to have access to your emails, labels, contacts, calendars, and anything else in your Gmail account until you don’t want to. Migrating your data from Gmail to Zoho Mail.
Access and delivery of your email
Everything described in this section applies during and after the transition from gmail to zoho mail. During this time, incoming mail can be directed to zoho by updating your domain’s MX records. If you own a custom domain, then updating the MX records sends. The new mail to zoho mail and your old messages remain in gmail until you move them. If your email is an @gmail.com address, then you can forward incoming messages to zoho. Add your gmail account as an external account to pull mail from gmail using the POP/IMAP standard.
Migrant your contacts, calendar and attachments.
You can export your contacts and calendar events from google via either of two methods, using google takeout – or by exporting it from your contacts or calendar settings and then importing it into zoho. Attachments are always included as part of the email message so they will always be transferred as part of the migration process regardless of whether you use IMAP or the migration tools that zoho provides you.
Step-by-step migration guide
- Audit your gmail account:
- labels, filters, quasi-shared calendars, any account settings that are important to you
- (Optional) make a backup with google takeout (for offline email) if you’re interested in keeping an offline copy as well
- Write out your list of users and aliases if migrating a team.
- Creating Updated Zoho Mail Accounts.
- To set up your Zoho Mail account (Workplace/business plan), please verify your domain.
- Create your user accounts and mailboxes to mirror your existing users or roles. For example, if you are migrating from gmail to zoho mail across a company, you’ll want to create usernames and groups first.
- Export your contacts and calendar from Gmail.
- To export your Google Contacts, you can export as CSV/vCard.
- To export your Google Calendar, you can export your calendars as ICS files that can then be imported to Zoho Calendar and Contacts.
- Migrate your emails to Zoho.
- To migrate your email, use Zoho’s Mail Migration tool (IMAP migration) to copy all your old emails from gmail to your Zoho mailboxes.
- If you have a small setup, you can set up IMAP in an email client and then move folders manually.
- Just make sure to verify your labels are correctly mapped to folders after migration.
- Updating DNS and MX Records.
- Change the domain MX records to point to Zoho’s mail servers at your DNS host.
- The DNS changes should allow propagation (up to 48 hours but typically faster propagation time).
- Test to see if emails are delivery to the migrated Zoho mail account.
- Configure forwarding and SPF/DKIM
- If you wish to have a safety net, configure Gmail to forward any new email to Zoho until everything is confirmed to have worked.
- You will need to update the SPF and DKIM records on your domain to allow Zoho to send email on behalf of you domain.
- Import your contact and calendar into Zoho
- Use the Zoho Contacts and Zoho Calendar import tools to import CSV/vCard and ICS files.
- Recreate or update any shared calendars and permissions.
- Recreate filters, signatures, and automation
- Zoho does allow rules and filter – start with setting these up to mimick your Gmail workflows.
- Recreate your email signatures and any autoresponders or vacation replies.
- Decommission Gmail (optional)
- After checking your migration worked and giving users the opportunity to adjust, you may have the option to delete the Gmail data or delete the accounts.
- If you need to, go through the proper process of downgrading or canceling an Google Workspace domain subscriptions, but make sure you have solid backups.
Tips and Troubleshooting
- Keep your Gmail account active until you confirmed that all data has transitioned successfully and users feel settled in their new Zoho account.
- Be mindful of the difference between labels in Gmail vs folders in Zoho. Some remapping may be necessary for these to look the way they did previously.
- If attachments appear to be missing, check the IMAP settings before running the migration job again for that affected folder.
- Any third party applications that used your Gmail SMTP/IMAP credentials (like Giphy) should be updated with your Zoho credentials/account and server settings.
- Contact your contacts: it is best to send an email letting everyone know about the change and maybe even new contact addresses if need. Good communication reduces confusion, especially when switching from gmail to zoho mail.
Security and Compliance Considerations
Switching your email from gmail to zoho mail also has the potential to shift any compliance and data residency choices you have made. Zoho has data centers in a variety of places, and has enterprise controls that may need for regulatory, compliance, and/or governance needs. If you are in a sensitive industry or sector, please read and compare Zoho’s security features and functionality against the current set you are using with Gmail to ensure that your compliance policies are being met. Data retention policies, eDiscovery needs, and audit logs must also be considered as you move forward in planning.
FAQ
Q: Will my Gmail account get deleted when I switch to Zoho?
A: No. When you switch from gmail to zoho mail, your Gmail account will remain available until you delete it. A migration is a copy of data. It does not automatically delete anything in your Gmail account.
Q: Can I keep both accounts active?
A: Yes, you can either forward new mail from your Gmail account to your Zoho account, or have your Zoho account directly pull new messages yourself, so can run concurrently, as you are transitioning.
Q: How long will migration take?
A: The duration of your migration is based solely on the size of the mailbox and the amount of messages included in that migration. Smaller accounts can take a few hours, while larger teams may take several days for processing. I recommend implementing a pilot group to transition moving to yourself so you can view progress.
Q: Will I be able to move labels and folders correctly?
A: Labels in Google Mail can typically be moved to folders in Zoho using an IMAP migration. A one-to-one (1:1) mapping can be achieved for most of your labels, however for some of the more complicated labeling, it is possible you may need to make some adjustments after migrating.
Q: What about files in Google Drive?
A: Files in Google Drive will not be included as part of an email migration. You will need to export Drive files separately using Google Takeout or use a third-party service for assistance.
Final Thoughts
Transitioning from Gmail to Zoho Mail is an intentional journey: the Gmail account is still accessible to you until you remove it, and Zoho’s migration utility makes copying emails, contacts, and calendars a snap. Proper planning, DNS updates, and a short testing stage give your business the confidence it needs to transition to Zoho Mail and start enjoying its suite of productivity tools. If you need expert assistance, a migration partner can minimize disruptions, keep your data intact, and ensure the migration goes smoothly. You can contact HighXBrand India for assistance.
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