How to Migrate Gmail to Google Workspace Easily?

Many IT experts say: “Email migration doesn’t involve just the copying of mail messages. In fact, it is more about preserving context, protecting history, & governing organisation for future work.”

When it comes to email communication in the corporate environment today, the 3 key things are security, control, & collaboration. This is very much possible to achieve this with Google Workspace. Hence, many people migrate Gmail to Google Workspace to achieve them. Let us discuss this migration in detail.

Keypoints of This Blog

• Understand why users face the need to migrate email to Google Workspace.
• Study the manual migration steps.
• Check the fallbacks of the manual migration.
• See how a dedicated desktop tool helps to make the migration process better.
• Read about some tips & best practices to avoid any kind of mistakes.

Topics Discussed Here

Moving from a free Gmail account to this professional Google Workspace setup has today become a common thing when business units grow & expand, or when people want to have a safe & organised email environment with custom domains. Here, in this blog, we will be explaining why you might require to convert Gmail to Google Workspace, the manual formula of doing this along with its challenges, and how a pro third-party software can help you complete the task in a much better way.

Why Make the Move to Migrate Gmail to Google Workspace?

Most of us use a regular, standard Gmail account that we use for signing up on various platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, online banking apps, and even for work communication sometimes. However, the basic, everyday Gmail version does not have the business-oriented features that can effectively manage professional accounts. You may need more email storage, better tools to handle large volumes of email data, and a stronger security setup for protecting sensitive documents & financial records sent/received via email. To enhance the capabilities of your current email environment at work, consider migrating to Google Workspace.

Many people do initiate by using a free Gmail account, but later wish to move to a business-grade system for better control, more security, & more collaboration tools. This is when they need to transfer Gmail to Google Workspace. Let us look at some user queries below:

Q: How to move Gmail emails to Google Workspace?
A: You can either make use of Google’s migration tools in the admin console or pick a professional solution to transfer Gmail emails into Workspace in a better way.

Q: Is it possible to simply forward old Gmail emails into Google Workspace?
A: Simple forwarding will send only the new emails. To move all the old messages also, you really need to employ migration methods, which copy complete history.

Challenges with Gmail to Google Workspace Migration

Many users think that migrating from free Gmail to Google Workspace is an easy task that just involves changing a setting. But in reality, a Gmail address (such as user@gmail.com) can’t be converted straight into Google Workspace; instead, email data has to be migrated fully into the new business email account. This tends to include mail messages, labels, & sometimes even contacts & calendars, depending on the method you are thinking of using.

Doing this process to migrate data from Gmail to Google Workspace in absence of the appropriate software or right guidance could result in losing labels, missing emails, and even broken organisation.

Significant Statistics

While specific numbers of migration from Gmail to Google Workspace are not always public, wider cloud migration patterns tend to indicate that business units are moving a big number of mailboxes to cloud platforms every year.

According to enterprise cloud migration trends reported by leading IT research firms, more than 19 million mailboxes are being migrated with the help of leading migration tools in most enterprise projects.

Actual Case from the Real-World

A small businessman had been using a Gmail address (such as user@gmail.com) for his new startup. His business grew, and he then bought Google Workspace for a professional domain email such as [email protected]. Now he wanted to bring all his old mail messages, labels, & email attachments into this new account without losing any data. This was when he needed to migrate personal Gmail to Google Workspace.

Times Calling to Migrate Gmail to Google Workspace

You will often see the need to upgrade Gmail to Google Workspace in the following cases:

1. While starting a business, and upgrading from personal Gmail to Google Workspace.
2. For having professional email with your own domain.
3. While migrating company communication to Google Workspace for team collaboration.
4. While moving email data for security purposes & compliance reasons.
5. To consolidate multiple Gmail accounts into a single Google Workspace system.

Manual Formula to Import Gmail to Google Workspace

1. Try Making Use of Gmail Import/IMAP Setup

This involves connecting both accounts and transferring messages manually. Depending on updates and policy changes, IMAP access may be limited and require more advanced API steps.

Before Beginning:

1. You must have Super Admin access to the Google Workspace account.
2. You need to also ensure the source Gmail account is active and it also has IMAP enabled (though the tool usually handles this).

Steps of This Manual Method:

Follow the instructions below for a stepwise migration:

1. First, Sign In to the Admin Console: Firstly, you must log in to your Google Admin Console (admin.google.com) with your Super Admin account.
2. Now, Navigate to Data Migration: Now, you should go to Menu > Data > Data import & export > Data Migration (New).
3. Then, Set Up Migration: Here, you need to click Migrate, and then select Gmail as the source, and after that click Start or Set Up Data Migration.
4. Next, Add Source Account: Here, you have to enter the source Gmail email address (example user@gmail.com) and then click Request Authorization.
5. Further, Authorize Request: You need to now check the source Gmail account’s inbox for an authorization email from Google, and then click the link, and after that authorize the migration.
6. Thereafter, Verify & Map: You now return to the Admin Console, and here click Verify, then Add User, and after that, map the source Gmail account to the target Google Workspace account (example user@yourdomain.com).
7. After that, Configure Settings: Next, you need to set a Start Date for the migration (example – from a past date to move an old mail message) and select message options, potentially excluding folders.
8. Lastly, Start Migration: You now have to click Start Migration. The process will run in the background, and you will see progress updates.

Pros of the Manual Way:

• This process incurs no cost to you.
• This method works for small amounts of email data.
• You will be able to control each step of this process.

Fallbacks of the Manual Procedure

• The process is slow and eats away a lot of time & effort.
• There is a risk of missing emails, structure, and/or labels.
• You are likely to get confused without technical confidence.
• Large mailboxes can’t be migrated well.
• It is easy for most users to make mistakes here.
• You might not be able to move contacts & calendars automatically.

Useful Software Features:

• With this tool, it is possible to move full mailbox data.
• The software preserves formatting, email attachments, & labels.
• The tool lets you select exactly what you wish to move.
• This utility can handle even big email volumes without any errors.
• The setup is simple along with guided steps given.
• Selective email migration is also supported.
• Folders & labels would be kept intact.
• The software works even when the manual formula fails to give results.

How to Add Gmail to Google Workspace? Stepwise Process

Here’s how to add Gmail to Google Workspace with proper steps explained:

1. Download & Install: First of all, you need to run the setup on your machine.
2. Add Source Account: You now have to add Gmail as the source, enter your Gmail credentials, and click Login.
3. Gmail Folders: The software will analyse Gmail folders. You will be able to see the folders’ list on the left panel. You can choose from these.
4. Select Saving Option: You must select G-Suite as the saving option.
5. Define Destination: You have to define a destination path to save the output.
6. Advance Setting: You can even pick a date range or specific folders for setting filters during this migration.
7. Start Migration: Click on the Backup button for the conversion to be started now. You can monitor the progress till the process completes.
8. Check Results: You can easily verify migrated emails in Google Workspace.

Comparing Manual Process with the Professional One 

Manual formula is nowhere near the goodness of a pro 3rd-party tool, check below:

Quick Answers to Some FAQs 

User queries matter the most; here’s answering some of the most common ones:

Q: Is it possible to forward Gmail to Google Workspace easily?
A: No! Forwarding will only move new mail messages. You need to carry out the migration process for a full history.

Q: How to migrate personal Gmail to Google Workspace without losing labels?
A: For this, you can use Google’s Data Migration Service or choose a good automated tool for getting the best results in moving emails, labels, & attachments.

Q: What does it mean to change Gmail to Google Workspace?
A: Gmail to Google Workspace migration happens to be the process where emails, labels, & attachments are moved from a personal Gmail account to a professional Google Workspace account with a custom domain. This is possible with the admin console feature, or even better, with a nice third-party tool.

Final Thoughts

Moving from the free Gmail account to an enterprise-grade Google Workspace environment can seem complex at first, but with a careful approach and the right tool, this process becomes totally smooth. Migrate Gmail to Google Workspace with full confidence by using the best third-party tool for the job, which will yield better results than the manual formula for this purpose.