5users
Two to three working days
A founder, a few staff and a shared inbox. Cutover on an evening, everyone signed in the next morning.
Hosting email to Google Workspace
Your mail leaves the hosting plan. Your website stays.
For small businesses on cPanel, GoDaddy, Hostinger, HostGator, Bluehost, Zoho Mail, Titan or any IMAP host. We move every mailbox with its folders into Gmail, set up the DNS the hosting panel tends to get wrong, and switch over in a window you choose.
From cPanel, GoDaddy or Zoho
To Google WorkspaceWhat moves and where it goes
From the hosting panel to Gmail, piece by piece.
A hosting mailbox is more than the inbox: folders, forwarders, a filter someone set up years ago, and a contact form that sends as your domain. This is where each piece ends up.
| What | On your host today | In Google Workspace |
|---|---|---|
| Every folder, read by Google's data import tool over IMAPS on port 993 | Full history; the folder tree becomes Gmail labels | |
| Attachments | Stored with each message | Kept, except where message plus attachment exceeds 25 MB or the file type is blocked by Gmail; those are listed per user |
| Filters and autoresponders | Set in webmail or the hosting panel | Recreated by us as Gmail filters and vacation replies |
| Calendars and contacts | Usually in a desktop or phone app, not on the mail server | Exported and imported per user into Calendar and Contacts |
| Aliases and forwarders | Defined in the panel | Recreated as user aliases or Google Groups, decided address by address |
| Shared addresses like info@ | A mailbox several people sign in to | A Google Group or a dedicated account, so nobody shares a password |
| Website mail | Contact forms and notifications sent by the host | Still sent by the host, authorized in SPF before the switch |
| Personal Gmail and webmail | Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL accounts used for work | Gmail imported with labels and stars; webmail imported by each user with an admin setting we turn on |
Based on Google's own migration documentation and Zoho's IMAP documentation, checked October 2026. Limits change; we confirm them for your host during discovery.
The part hosts get wrong
Moving the mail is easy. The DNS is where it breaks.
When a hosting migration goes wrong, the mail was usually copied fine and the records were left half done. This is the checklist we run on every one.
- Find who really answers for the domain. The registrar, the hosting panel or a service like Cloudflare. Records edited in the wrong place look saved and change nothing.
- MX changed where it counts. Google's MX records replace the host's in the panel that is authoritative, at the hour you choose, with the old records removed so nothing lands in the host's mailbox afterwards.
- The panel told mail is no longer local. A hosting server that still believes it handles your mail can keep delivering the website's messages to the old mailboxes. We check this setting on the host, not just in DNS.
- SPF that includes everyone who sends. One record covering Google Workspace and the host's own sending for the website, invoicing or newsletters, so nothing legitimate starts failing.
- DKIM for Google Workspace. The key published and signing turned on, so receivers see mail from the new platform as authenticated from its first message.
- DMARC that watches before it blocks. Published in monitoring mode first, then tightened when the reports show only your real senders.
- The website left alone. The records that serve the site are not touched, and the site keeps running on the same host through and after the switch.
Want to see where your domain stands today? Run it through the email troubleshooter first.
What does not survive on its own
The gaps, named before we start.
IMAP moves messages and folders. Everything else on a hosting account needs a plan, and a few situations block the import until they are sorted out.
- Filters and autorespondersThey live in the host's webmail, not in the mailbox. We list them per user and rebuild the ones still in use in Gmail.
- Oversized or blocked attachmentsGoogle skips an attachment when message plus attachment exceeds 25 MB or the file type is blocked by Gmail. We report which messages were affected.
- Calendars and contactsNot part of IMAP. They are exported from wherever each person keeps them and imported one user at a time.
- Mail that only lives on a laptopIf a mailbox was set up with POP years ago, old mail may exist only in a desktop app. We find those mailboxes in the inventory and import them from the computer.
- Zoho accounts without IMAPZoho requires IMAP to be enabled per user, an admin policy can block it, and newly registered free-plan users have none. We check before we schedule anything.
- Hosts that refuse the connectionThe mail server has to be reachable from Google's IP ranges, and some hosts require app passwords. A pilot mailbox proves both before the full import.
How a hosting move runs.
The same order every time, sized for a team that has never had an IT department.
Inventory
Every mailbox, alias, forwarder and its size, every app that sends as your domain, and where your DNS is really managed.
Accounts first
Users, aliases and groups created in Google Workspace before any mail moves. The import tool needs them to exist.
Authentication before the switch
SPF updated, Workspace DKIM published and DMARC in monitoring mode while the host still delivers your mail.
Pilot, then import
One mailbox over IMAPS to prove access and app passwords, then the rest in batches of up to 100 users while everyone keeps working.
Cutover in your window
MX changed at the hour you choose, then a delta import picks up whatever reached the host in the last hours.
Reconcile and hand off
Message counts compared per mailbox, filters and replies rebuilt, a sign-in session for your team, and a one-page runbook.
Timeline and pricing
How long it takes, and how the price is set.
Typical calendar time from kickoff to reconciled hand-off for mail, calendars and contacts. Large mailboxes add import time in the background, not downtime.
25users
About one week
Groups, shared addresses and aliases come into play. One import pass, one evening or weekend cutover.
100users
Two to three weeks
Imported in waves by department with a pilot group first. The MX change still happens once, in one window.
- One fixed price per migration. Set after the discovery call from the number of users, the sources and the mail volume. It changes only if the scope does.
- Licences are yours. You buy Google Workspace directly on the plan that fits. We advise on the tier; we do not resell it.
- Included. Planning, data migration, DNS and email authentication, the cutover window, reconciliation, a sign-in session for your team and thirty days of questions afterwards.
How we scope, quote and invoice is on how we work.
Before you decide
Straight answers.
Can the website stay on our host?
Yes. Only the mail records change. The records that serve the site stay as they are, and anything the site sends is covered in SPF before the switch.
Do we need app passwords?
Some hosts require them for IMAP, and Zoho users with two-factor or SAML sign-in need an app-specific password. We tell each person exactly what to create, if anything.
We use Zoho Mail. Can it move?
Yes, over IMAP. It has to be enabled per user, an admin policy can block it, and newly registered free-plan users have none. We confirm which applies before planning.
How many mailboxes at once?
Google's data import tool takes up to 100 IMAP users per import, so larger teams go in batches. Delta imports catch the mail that arrives just before the switch.
What about calendars and contacts?
IMAP carries mail only. Hosting users usually keep them in a desktop or phone app, so we export and import them per user.
Personal Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail too?
Yes. Personal Gmail comes in with labels and stars, one account at a time. For Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL, an admin setting lets each user import their own mail and contacts; it can take up to 24 hours to apply.
Product names and logos belong to their respective owners.
Tell us which host you are on and how many mailboxes.
Thirty minutes, free. Bring the host's name, the number of mailboxes and who manages your DNS, and you leave with a plan, the known gaps and a fixed price.