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INT-EXCH: Migrating from IMAP to Microsoft Exchange

Gregory Duffie
Updated

Here's a summary of how the migration works:

Before the Migration

  • A new Exchange mailbox will be created using your existing email address.
  • You’ll receive a temporary password via an alternate email or phone.
  • Ensure we have a backup contact method for important updates.

Migration Process

  • We will begin by transferring your existing emails to the new system.
  • During the migration, avoid accessing your email to prevent data inconsistencies.
  • Once the initial transfer is complete, we will update DNS settings so new emails are delivered to Exchange.
  • A final synchronization will ensure all emails are transferred successfully.

What You Need to Do After

  • First, log in to your new Exchange mailbox via webmail to verify access.
  • Then, configure your email on your desktop, laptop, and mobile devices.
  • If you encounter issues, contact support for assistance.

For Business Owners & Administrators

  • You’ll receive administrative access to manage users, aliases, and distribution lists.
  • Any shared mailboxes or group email configurations will be migrated accordingly.

Final Steps

  • Delete your old email hosting to stop charges.

IMPORTANT

  • Nothing is deleted from the source (old) mailbox until you're ready to cancel the old account.
  • Fees will continue on both accounts until you cancel one.
  • No incoming emails are lost during the transition.
  • Users should not attempt to access either mailbox during the migration.
  • We will create a temporary password for your new mailbox and send it to you before the migration starts.
  • We will change your old password to match the new mailbox password (so you don't have to share your password with us).
  • We can't automatically migrate IMAP calendars, contacts, tasks, and notes due to the limitations of the IMAP protocol. We will contact you after reviewing your current (old) mailbox to discuss options.

 

How the Migration Works (Full Version)

1. What You Need to Provide Before the Migration

  • An alternate email address (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, Outlook, Proton, Verizon, Comcast, AOL) for migration-related communication and password resets.
  • A mobile phone number to receive two-factor authentication (2FA) messages for accessing the new mailbox.

2. Before the Migration

  • Your new mailbox will be created with the same email address but a temporary, random password.
  • You will receive an email at your alternate email address with login details, your new password, and setup instructions.
  • Please do not sign into your new mailbox until the migration is complete.

3. During the Migration

  • We will notify everyone at their alternate email address when the migration starts.
  • We will reset your old mailbox password to the same temporary password we used for your new mailbox. Do not log in to your old mailbox until we confirm the migration is complete.
  • We will start the initial migration.
  • If successful, we will adjust your DNS records to point to the new email server. All new messages will go to your new mailbox now.
  • We will perform a differential migration to pick up any messages received at the old mailbox while the migration was in progress.
  • We will send a final notification to your alternate email address once everything is fully migrated and ready to use.

4. What You Need to Do After the Migration

  • Once you receive confirmation, follow the emailed instructions to sign in to webmail (first), then set up your new mailbox on your computer (second) and mobile devices (last).
  • Check your folders and messages. The total disk space used may be different than your previous mailbox—this is normal especially when switching between IMAP and Exchange.
  • If you notice missing folders, check if they are under a different parent folder (expand the Inbox folder).
  • If you experience any issues, reply to the confirmation email, and we will assist you.

4. Administrator Access

  • Admins will get access to the portal to manage spam settings, aliases, and distribution lists.
  • If you had shared mailboxes or distribution lists, they will be set up in the new system.

5. Final Steps

  • If your old mailbox was hosted with us, we'll need an email from you to confirm that you want us to delete the old mailbox and stop charges.
  • If your old mailbox was hosted with a third-party (e.g., GoDaddy, Bluehost, Hostgater), you may cancel your old email hosting (or we can help you).
  • Be careful not to cancel your website hosting, domain registration, or related services. Sometimes they bundle email hosting with other services making it difficult to know what to cancel.

For additional help, visit our support center or submit a ticket.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Are there any fees to migrate my messages?

A. Yes:

  • There is a $15 fee per mailbox to set up, monitor, and run the migrations.
  • There is a $25 fee per user (not per mailbox) for on-boarding support (e.g., Zoom, email, text, and phone calls) to help you set up your desktop email clients, mobile phones, and tablets. Clients confident in their technical ability to follow knowledge-base articles and screenshots can ask to waive this fee.

Q. Do you need my mailbox password?

A. No. We will create a new password for your new mailbox and change your old password at your old mailbox to match. You can reset your password to whatever you want after the migration finishes.

Q. Will I lose any messages?

A. No. But, please do not access your old or new mailbox in any way from any device (e.g., webmail, Outlook, mobile phone, tablet) during the migration. We will contact you at your alternate email address when the migration is complete.

Q. What happens to messages people send me during the migration?

A. Messages sent before the MX record changes will end up in your old mailbox. We will perform two migrations:

  1. The initial migration will copy 99.9% of your messages from the old host to the new host.
  2. We will change your MX records at your DNS provider. At this point, messages will start going to your new mailbox.
  3. We will perform a differential migration to pick up any new messages or differences between the two mailboxes.

Q. Can I send messages during the migration?

A. No. You should not engage with your email in any way during the migration.

Q. Can you forward my messages to a different mailbox while I wait for the migration?

A. No.

Q. What is NOT migrated from IMAP to Exchange?

A. The following IMAP features cannot be migrated automatically from IMAP email servers to Microsoft Exchange:

  1. Task and Notes in Webmail
  2. Auto-Saved and Group Contacts in Webmail
  3. Safelists/Blacklists
  4. Custom Signatures
  5. Forwarding, aliases, and distribution lists
  6. Flags in Flagged Messages
  7. Passwords
  8. Rules & Alerts
  9. Sharepoint Permissions and Sharepoint User Settings
  10. Outlook settings (Categories, Junk Folder Settings, Delegate permissions, Folder permissions, Archive Settings, and Autocomplete settings/NK2)
  11. If you used a desktop email client with the POP protocol instead of IMAP, then your messages are NOT in the cloud and we cannot access or migrate them. We will need to have a Zoom session to assess the situation and get a copy of your Outlook files to move those messages another way.

We will do our best to manually migrate the first 5 items above (tasks/notes, contacts, safelists/blacklists, custom signatures, forwards/aliases/DLs), however we cannot guarantee success.

There is a $75/hour fee, billed in 6-minute increments, to migrate these items for you.

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