Migrate Gmail to Zoho Mail – Complete Email Migration Guide

If you want to transfer Gmail information to Zoho Mail, you can use Zoho's built-in migration console, IMAP setup, or a Gmail to Zoho Mail migrator for bulk admin-controlled migration. This document will walk you through the steps and prerequisites and provide an overview of the intuitive migration experience to assist a user to securely transfer email messages, email attachments, contacts, and folders from Google to Zoho Mail with minimum downtime, while ensuring that data integrity is consistent.

Reasons to Transition From Gmail to Zoho Mail

Companies decide to stop using Gmail and switch to Zoho Mail because of its privacy-first design, better control for admins, and complete communication suite. Zoho Mail is ad-free, more complete mailbox management, and helps with integration into Zoho Workplace, making it easier for organizations to have more control and flexibility for compliance.

What is Moving

You are able to migrate the following when moving Gmail to Zoho Mail:

• Emails with attachments

• Folders and labels

• Contacts and address books

• Calendar events based on Zoho Calendar sync

• Signatures and send-to data

If you are an administrator, you’re able to migrate all users' mail at the same time – ensuring consistency, speed, and ease of transfer.

Requirements for Migration

Before you begin to migrate Gmail to Zoho Mail:

• Admin-level access to Gmail (Google Workspace) and Zoho Mail

• Zoho Mail Admin console turned on for your domain

• IMAP turned on within Gmail settings for all users

• App passwords (in case of 2FA) created

• Complete list of all user accounts in a CSV for admin bulk migration

• A strong and stable high-speed internet connection

Method 1: Migrate Utilizing the Zoho Mail Admin Console

The best and easiest way for businesses is to utilize Zoho's Migration Console.

Steps:

1. Sign into the Zoho Mail Admin Console

2. Go to Data Migration → Add Migration

3. Select Gmail/Google Workspace as your source server type

4. With IMAP selected, select the required Gmail admin credentials

5. Add the list of users or import a CSV file

6. Select the data categories (Mail, Contacts, or Calendar)

7. Start the migration and monitor the progress on the dashboard

Once you see the status “Completed,” all of your Gmail emails and folders have been imported successfully to Zoho Mail.

Method 2: Manually Migrate Using IMAP

You can manually configure both accounts in an email client like Outlook or Thunderbird if diagramed by IMAP.

Steps:

1. Enable IMAP in Gmail (Settings → Forwarding/POP/IMAP)

2. Add both Gmail and Zoho accounts in your email client

3. Wait for both email accounts to sync

4. Drag and drop emails or folders from Gmail to Zoho Mail

Limitations:

• Time consuming if you have a large account

• Contacts and calendar have to be moved separately

• You will not be able to monitor the migration or show progress tracking

Method 3: Using a Gmail to Zoho Mail Migrator

When looking to migrate bulk or on a business level, Gmail to Zoho Mail migrators can provide more stability.

Steps to complete migration:

1. Download/install the BitRecover Gmail Backup Tool on your computer

2. Sign in with the Gmail admin account

3. Select the data to migration, which can include all emails, existing attachments, and folder migrations

4. Choose a Zoho Mail destination

5. Map user mailboxes or run full admin-level migration based on Zoho’s sign-up approach

6. When you are complete and quieted everything down, start the migration, which can be monitored in real time

Using a migrator for this method can manage multi-user migration, maintain the hierarchy, and complete without downtime for end users.

Post-Migration Checklist

Once you have migrated from Gmail to Zoho Mail, you want to review that:

• All folders, attachments, and labels appear properly in Zoho Mail

• All DNS/MX records point to the Zoho Mail server

• Any shared mailboxes and forwarding rules are migrated correctly

• Documentation and onboarding materials are updated

• Communication setting up credentials for users to log in is also sent properly

Key Limitations and Best Practices

As a limit, keep in mind that Gmail may throttle IMAP connections which can create pauses in large migrations.

Best Practices:

• Always migrate one or two accounts before a full migration to verify plans

• Never migrate the same account using two different migration techniques

• Schedule your full migration during non-working hours to minimize disruption

Final Thoughts

Using Zoho's native tools and/or a dedicated professional Gmail to Zoho Mail migrator will simplify the overall process of your Gmail to Zoho Mail migration. Their tools will support admins who are navigating large-scale transitions for their entire organization. To ensure everything is migrated successfully, ensure a full migration of emails, attachments, and configured outbound routing.