How to migrate your email from to Google Workspace

We're moving your email to Google Workspace — a reliable, modern platform that includes Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, and Meet, all under your own business email address. This guide walks you through your part of the process. Don't worry: we'll handle the technical stuff at the end (updating your domain settings). Your job is to get your Google Workspace account set up and let us know when you're ready.

1. Sign Up for Google Workspace

You'll need a credit card and about 10 minutes.

The first thing to do is create your Google Workspace account. This is where your email will live going forward.

1. Go to workspace.google.com in your web browser and click Get started.
2. Choose a plan. For most small businesses, Business Starter ($6/user/month) is the right choice — it includes Gmail, 30 GB of storage per user, Google Drive, Docs, and Meet. If you need more storage or additional features, Business Standard ($12/user/month) gives each user 2 TB.
3. Enter your business name, the number of employees, and your country.
4. When asked about your domain, choose "Use a domain I already have" and enter your existing domain name (e.g. yourcompany.com).
5. Create your first Google Workspace admin account. This will become an email address like you@yourcompany.com.
6. Complete your payment details and finish sign-up.
7. You'll land in the Google Workspace Admin Console at admin.google.com. Bookmark this page — you'll come back to it.

2. Verify Your Domain with Google

Google needs to confirm you own your domain.

Google needs to confirm that you own the domain before activating your account. They do this by asking you to add a small temporary record to your domain's settings — we will do this part for you. Just follow the steps below and let us know when you reach step 4.

1. After signing up, Google will prompt you to verify your domain. If not, go to the Admin Console, click Account > Domains > Manage domains, and click Verify next to your domain.
2. Google will show you a TXT record — a short code that looks like google-site-verification=xxxxxxxxxxxx. Take a screenshot or copy this value.
3. Send us that code. We'll add it to your domain settings straight away. This doesn't affect your existing email at all.
4. Once we confirm it's added, return to the Admin Console and click "Verify my domain". You should see a confirmation that verification was successful.

3. Set Up Your Email Accounts

Create a Gmail account for everyone in your organization.

Now it's time to create Gmail accounts for everyone. Before you start, grab a list of all the email addresses you currently have so you don't miss anyone.

What to write down before you start

What to note	Example	Why it matters
All email addresses	john@company.com, info@company.com	Every address needs to be recreated in Google Workspace
Display names	John Smith, Info Desk	How your name appears to email recipients
Any aliases or alternate addresses	sales@ and support@ both go to john@	Aliases need to be added to the right account
Each person's current password	Their existing email password	You'll need this to move their old emails in Step 4

Creating accounts

1. In the Admin Console at admin.google.com, click Directory > Users in the left menu.
2. Click "Add new user". Enter the person's first name, last name, and their email address using your verified domain (e.g. john@yourcompany.com).
3. Assign a temporary password. The user will be prompted to change it when they first log in.
4. Repeat for each person who needs an email address.
5. For aliases (e.g. info@ delivers into John's inbox): click on the user's name, go to the User information section, find Alternate email addresses (email alias), and add the alias address there.

4. Move Your Existing Emails Across

Copy your old emails into your new Gmail inbox.

Google Workspace includes a free tool called the Data Migration Service that connects to your old email server and copies everything across — your inbox, sent items, and all your folders. It runs quietly in the background and can take a few hours to a couple of days depending on how much email you have. Your old email keeps working normally while this happens.

1. In the Admin Console, click Data > Data migration in the left menu (you may need to click "Show more" to find it).
2. Click "Set up data migration" and choose Email as the type of data to migrate.
3. For the migration source, select IMAP from the dropdown list.
4. Enter your old mail server address: secure.emailsrvr.com. Leave the port as 993 and encryption as SSL unless your host has told you otherwise. Click Connect.
5. Click "Select users" to add the mailboxes you want to migrate. For each person, enter their current email address and password, and select the Google Workspace account they should migrate into.
6. Choose a migration start date — this tells Google how far back to go when copying emails. If you want everything, choose a date several years in the past.
7. Click "Start" to begin the migration. You can check progress at any time by returning to Data > Data migration.
8. When the status shows Complete for all users, the migration is done and you're ready for the final step.

5. Let Us Know You're Ready — We'll Switch You Over

We handle the final step.

Once your accounts are set up and your emails have been copied across, you're ready for the switchover. This is where we come in. We'll update your domain's settings so that new emails start arriving in Gmail instead of your old server. The whole process takes about 30 minutes, and we'll aim to do it at a quiet time of day to minimize any disruption.

What we'll do	What this means for you
Update your MX records	New emails will deliver to Gmail
Update your SPF record	Your emails won't get flagged as spam
Add DKIM records	Extra security so your emails look trustworthy
Add DMARC record	Protects your domain from being spoofed by others

6. After the Switch — Setting Up Gmail & Devices

Getting everyone connected to their new email.

Once the switchover is complete, everyone will need to connect their devices to the new account. The good news is that Gmail works great in any web browser with no setup at all — and the Gmail app is free on both iPhone and Android.

Device / App	What to do
Web browser (any device)	Go to mail.google.com and sign in with your Google Workspace email and password. No setup needed — this is the easiest option.
Gmail app on iPhone / iPad	Download the free Gmail app from the App Store. Open it, tap Add account, choose Google, and sign in with your new email address and password.
Gmail app on Android	The Gmail app is usually pre-installed. Open it, tap your profile picture, choose Add another account, select Google, and sign in.
Outlook on Windows or Mac	Open Outlook, go to File > Add Account, and enter your Google Workspace email address. When prompted, sign in through Google's login page.
Apple Mail (iPhone or Mac)	Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts > Add Account > Google. Sign in with your Google Workspace email and password.

Your Migration Checklist at a Glance

Task	Who
Sign up for Google Workspace and choose a plan	You
Add your domain and send us the verification code	You + Us
We add the verification record to your domain	Us
Verify the domain in the Google Admin Console	You
Create Gmail accounts for all staff and add any aliases	You
Run the Data Migration and wait for 'Complete' status	You
Contact us — we update DNS and switch your email over	Us
Set up Gmail on devices and sign in	You

Questions at any point? Just reach out — we're happy to help you through any of these steps.