Short answer
Gmail, Google Calendar, Contacts, My Drive and shared drives all migrate to Microsoft 365 with standard tools. Labels become folders and Google Docs, Sheets and Slides convert to Office files. Google Sites, Forms, Apps Script, Keep, AppSheet and most Google Chat history do not move natively and need to be rebuilt, exported or replaced.
Key facts
- Gmail, Calendar and Contacts move to Exchange Online with Microsoft's Google Workspace migration batches.
- My Drive and shared drives move to OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams with Migration Manager or a third-party tool.
- Gmail labels become Outlook folders, and Google-native files are converted to Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Google Sites, Forms, Apps Script, Keep and AppSheet apps are rebuilt, not migrated.
- Sharing, group memberships and room calendars need mapping and testing, not just copying.
What migrates with standard tools
Microsoft provides native paths for the core workloads. Mail, calendar and contacts move through Exchange Online migration batches built for Google Workspace. Files move through Migration Manager in the SharePoint admin center, which has a Google Drive connector. Third-party migration tools cover the same ground and add options for scheduling, reporting and some extra item types.
| Google Workspace | Microsoft 365 destination | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail | Exchange Online mailbox | Labels become folders; mail with several labels can appear in several folders |
| Google Calendar | Outlook calendar | Recurring meetings come across; Google Meet links stay Meet links |
| Contacts | Outlook contacts | Personal contacts move; directory entries are rebuilt from users |
| My Drive | OneDrive | Google Docs, Sheets and Slides convert to Office formats |
| Shared drives | SharePoint sites or Teams | Best mapped by team or function, not by owner |
| Google Groups | Distribution lists or Microsoft 365 Groups | Recreated and populated, then tested |
| Users and aliases | Entra ID users and proxy addresses | Created before data moves |
What changes on the way
Some data arrives in a different shape. Gmail labels are not folders, so a message with three labels may land in three folders. Users who rely on stars, priority inbox or filters will need to rebuild those habits with Outlook categories, Focused Inbox and rules. Gmail filters themselves are not migrated as Outlook rules by the native tools.
Google-native Docs, Sheets and Slides are converted to Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Most content converts cleanly, but complex formulas, Apps Script bound to a sheet, and some formatting may need review. Comments and version history handling varies by tool, so confirm what your chosen tool keeps before you promise it to users.
Sharing is the most sensitive change. Drive permissions are mapped to Microsoft 365 identities, which only works if every Google account has a matching Microsoft 365 user or group. External shares usually need to be reissued from SharePoint or OneDrive under your new sharing policy.
What does not migrate natively
Several Google services have no direct Microsoft equivalent that a migration tool can fill. Plan to rebuild, export or retire these.
- Google Sites: rebuild as SharePoint communication or team sites.
- Google Forms: rebuild in Microsoft Forms; export past responses to Excel if needed.
- Apps Script and AppSheet: rebuild in Power Automate, Power Apps or another platform.
- Google Keep: users export notes or move them by hand to OneNote or Loop.
- Google Chat and Spaces: history is usually exported for retention, not moved into Teams, unless a third-party tool that supports it is in scope.
- Google Vault holds and retention: export what legal requires, then configure Microsoft Purview retention in the new tenant.
- Room and resource calendars: recreate as Exchange room mailboxes and rebook recurring room meetings where needed.
Items that are easy to miss
Discovery should look beyond mailboxes and Drive. Common surprises include apps that use Sign in with Google, scanners and line-of-business systems that send mail through Gmail SMTP, shared mailboxes built as delegated Gmail accounts, and Drive files owned by former employees.
Mobile devices and browser profiles also hold Google habits. Users need clear steps to add Outlook, Teams and OneDrive on their phones and to stop saving to Drive after cutover.
How to decide what to leave behind
Not everything should move. Old shared drives with no owner, departed user data held only for compliance, and years of mail beyond your retention policy can be exported to an archive instead. Moving less shortens the project and gives users a cleaner start.
Agree on the rules in writing during discovery: what moves, what is archived, who signs off, and how long Google stays available in read-only mode after cutover.
How Accred Consulting approaches it
Accred Consulting inventories every Google workload during discovery, including Sites, Forms, Groups, rooms and apps that use Google sign-in, and lists each item as migrate, rebuild, archive or retire in the Proposal. Delivery maps shared drives into Teams and SharePoint by function and tests sharing with pilot users before each wave. For an approximately 180-person firm, mail, calendar and Drive moved in 5 weeks with Drive mapped into Teams and SharePoint instead of being dumped into OneDrive. Handover documents what was rebuilt and where it now lives.
Track record: 400+ client projects, 2,000+ migration workstreams and 150,000+ users migrated by a US-based team. Company facts · Case studies
Related questions
Want this scoped for your environment?
Book a free consultation. After discovery you get a written plan with scope, a fixed price and a timeline.
Book a free consultation