How to Migrate Exchange Emails to Exchange Online? A Complete Walkthrough!

Migrating Exchange emails to Exchange Online is an essential procedure for several reasons such as seamless collaboration. Knowing the step-by-step procedure, and the right methods is the key to achieving the desired results. Therefore, we made this article to explain to users how to migrate Exchange emails to Exchange Online efficiently. In this guide, you will explore all the practical solutions, with their instructions. Let’s start!

Why Migrate Exchange Emails to Office 365?

Knowing the reasons behind the procedure is necessary to understand why is it important. The below points describe the same:

1. Moving to Office 365 helps users to access the data from anywhere, with any device.

2. Exchange Server uses EDB files to store data offline, which can be corrupted easily. So, moving the data to Office 365 will avoid this situation i.e. corruption.

3. Office 365 offers robust security and several collaboration tools to help users efficiently access data from any MS service.

4. M365 comes with various plans, which help companies to choose any of them, according to their requirements or budget.

5. Office 365 allows users a digital conference from any location through Teams, and migrating Exchange Server data to Office 365 allows users to integrate the MS services. So, that any user can access and modify the data from any service.  

As we learned the reasons behind the same. Next, we understand the solutions and the complete procedure to transfer Exchange emails to Office 365. Let’s dive in!

Related article: Export Office 365 mailbox to PST

How to Migrate Exchange Emails to Exchange Online? - Best Solutions!

Several solutions are available for this transition, we are going to learn only the secured and tested ones. The following sections describe the same, with the step-by-step procedure. So what are waiting for? Just go through them and proceed with the task effectively:\

Method 1). Automated Solution

The SysTools Exchange Server to Microsoft 365 Migration Tool is a powerful automated solution designed to simplify and streamline the process of migrating emails from on-premises Exchange servers to Exchange Online (Microsoft 365). This tool provides a user-friendly interface that allows administrators to efficiently migrate mailboxes, calendars, contacts, and other essential mailbox data to Exchange Online without the need for complex configurations or manual processes. It supports direct migration from multiple Exchange versions (2010, 2013, 2016, 2019) to Office 365, ensuring a seamless transition to the cloud. 

The tool also enables batch migration, helping organizations move large numbers of mailboxes at once. So, look no further, just try this for free today!

Here are the stepwise instructions to do so:

• Choose "Exchange" as the source platform and "Office 365" as the destination platform.
  Select the categories to migrate from Exchange to Office 365 and apply a Date Filter if necessary.

• Enter the required details for the Exchange Server:

• Exchange Server Version

• Admin Email

• Admin Password

• Active Directory IP

• Exchange Server IP

• Include Sub Domain

• In the Destination section, enter the Admin Email and Application ID for your Office 365 account.

• On the Users screen, choose one of the following methods to add users from the source account that need to be migrated: Fetch Users, Import Users, or Download Template.

• Click "Start Migration" to begin the migration process.

Method 2). Cutover Migration (For Small Organizations)

Cutover migration is typically used for small organizations (less than 150 mailboxes) that are moving from Exchange Server 2003, 2007, 2010, or 2013 to Exchange Online. This method involves migrating all mailboxes at once, with minimal preparation.

Steps for Cutover Migration:

• In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to the Exchange admin center.

• Under migration, choose + Add migration endpoint and follow the prompts to create the endpoint. This connects your on-premises Exchange to Exchange Online.

• In the Exchange admin center, go to migration, click +, and select Cutover migration.

• Follow the prompts to select mailboxes and initiate the migration batch.

• After the migration completes, update your DNS records to point to Exchange Online (Autodiscover, MX, etc.).

• Move users to Exchange Online.

Method 3). Staged Migration (For Larger Organizations with Exchange 2003 or 2007)

Staged migration is ideal for larger organizations that use older versions of Exchange (2003 or 2007). This method allows for migrating mailboxes in batches over time.

Steps for Staged Migration:

• In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to the Exchange admin center and create a migration endpoint to connect your on-premises Exchange server to Exchange Online.

• You need to move user mailboxes to a special migration batch in stages. Select the mailboxes you want to migrate, and then create migration batches.

• Go to Exchange admin center > Migration > + and choose Staged Migration.

• Select mailboxes for migration in batches. You can migrate mailboxes in groups (typically 100 or fewer at a time).

Method 4). Hybrid Migration (For Organizations with Exchange 2010 or Later)

Hybrid migration is ideal for organizations with Exchange 2010, 2013, 2016, or 2019. This method allows for a coexistence between Exchange on-premises and Exchange Online for a seamless migration experience. It is often used for larger organizations or those who want to keep a hybrid setup for a while.

Steps for Hybrid Migration:

• The HCW configures your on-premises Exchange and Exchange Online for hybrid coexistence.

• Follow the prompts in the HCW, which will guide you through steps like configuring mail flow, certificates, and free/busy sharing.

• Choose which hybrid features you want to enable, such as:

• Free/busy sharing between Exchange on-premises and Exchange Online.

• Mail flow between on-premises and online mailboxes.

• Migration of mailboxes to Exchange Online.

• After configuring the hybrid, use the Exchange admin center or PowerShell to create migration batches. You can choose to migrate specific mailboxes to Exchange Online.

Bring it All Together!

Migrating Exchange emails to Office 365 is a most common task nowadays. For organizations who are looking for an effective platform for collaboration, Office 365 is a go-to. The reasons we already discussed above. But the question is how to migrate Exchange emails to Exchange Online. We answer this query and explain to users a step-by-step procedure to do so.