How to migrate email from one provider to another

There are many reasons a business decides to move its email. Maybe your current host is slow, support is hard to reach, mailboxes keep filling up, or you want better pricing in UGX. Whatever the reason, the fear is always the same: losing years of important messages, or missing client emails during the switch. The good news is that if you plan carefully, you can migrate email from one provider to another with no lost messages and very little disruption. This guide walks through the full process, in the order you should do it.

How email migration works

Your email has two separate parts that move independently:

1. The mailboxes: the stored messages, folders, and sometimes contacts and calendars sitting on your current provider's servers.
2. The routing: your domain's DNS records, especially the MX records, which tell the world where to deliver new email for yourcompany.co.ug.

A migration copies the stored mail to the new provider, then switches the MX records so new mail arrives there. Done in the right order, nothing falls through the gap.

Step 1: Take stock before you touch anything

Make a simple spreadsheet listing:

• Every mailbox address and who uses it.
• Each mailbox's size, so you can choose the right plan and estimate migration time.
• Forwarders, aliases and group addresses such as info@ or accounts@.
• Auto replies, filters and signatures people rely on.
• Devices each person uses: Outlook on a laptop, Gmail app or Mail on phones.
• Any systems that send email through your old provider, such as a website contact form, accounting software or printers that scan to email.

Also find out where your domain's DNS is managed. It might be with your old email host, your domain registrar or a service such as Cloudflare. You need login access to it.

Step 2: Set up the new provider

Create all the mailboxes at the new provider with the same addresses. Recreate aliases and forwarders. Set strong, temporary passwords and keep them in a secure place. Do not change MX records yet. At this stage the new mailboxes are empty and inactive, and all mail still goes to the old provider.

Step 3: Lower the DNS TTL

TTL, or time to live, controls how long other servers remember your DNS settings. A day or two before the switch, lower the TTL on your MX records to a short value, for example 300 seconds. This means that when you change the MX records, the world will notice the change much faster.

Step 4: Copy existing mail

There are several ways to copy mail, depending on the providers involved:

• IMAP to IMAP migration tools. Many hosting providers and email services include a built in migration tool where you enter the old server address, username and password, and it copies messages and folders automatically. Tools like imapsync do this for larger migrations.
• Provider specific tools. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 have their own data migration services for moving mail from other IMAP servers.
• cPanel to cPanel transfers. If both old and new hosts use cPanel, an account transfer can move mailboxes together with the website.
• Manual export and import. For one or two small mailboxes, you can connect both accounts in Outlook or Thunderbird and drag folders across. This is slow and error prone for large accounts.

Important: if any staff use POP3, their old mail may only exist on their computer, not on the server. Check this before you start, and upload those messages to the server first or export them as a backup.

Step 5: Switch the MX records

Choose a quiet time, such as Friday evening or a weekend. In your DNS manager:

1. Remove or replace the old MX records with the new provider's MX records, exactly as given, including priority values.
2. Update the SPF record to include the new provider and remove the old one once the move is complete.
3. Add the new provider's DKIM record.
4. Keep or update your DMARC record.
5. Update any autodiscover or webmail records if the new provider uses them.

With a low TTL, most mail should start arriving at the new provider within minutes to a few hours, but some servers may keep delivering to the old one for a while. That is why you never cancel the old service on the same day.

Step 6: Run a final sync

After the MX change has spread, usually a day later, run the migration tool once more. This catches any messages that arrived at the old provider during the switch. Good migration tools skip messages already copied, so you will not get duplicates.

Step 7: Reconnect devices and systems

Each user needs to update their email apps with the new server settings or account details. Prepare a one page guide with:

• Incoming server, port and security type (IMAP with SSL).
• Outgoing server, port and security type (SMTP with SSL or TLS).
• Username, usually the full email address.
• Steps for Outlook, iPhone Mail and the Gmail app on Android.

Remove the old account from devices only after confirming everything has copied. Also update SMTP settings in your website, accounting software, printers and any other system that sends mail.

Step 8: Check, then close the old account

For a week or two, test regularly. Send mail to and from external addresses like Gmail and Outlook.com, check that it lands in the inbox rather than spam, and confirm that each person sees all their old folders. Once you are confident, download a final backup from the old provider if possible, then cancel the service.

Migration checklist

• Inventory of mailboxes, aliases, devices and sending systems.
• DNS login confirmed.
• New mailboxes created with matching addresses.
• TTL lowered a day or two before.
• Mail copied with a migration tool.
• MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC updated.
• Final sync completed.
• Devices and systems reconnected.
• Old service kept until everything is verified.

Frequently asked questions

Will I lose emails during migration?

Not if you copy mail before switching, keep the old account active for a while and run a final sync after the MX change.

How long does an email migration take?

Small migrations can be done in a day. Large mailboxes or many users can take longer, mainly because copying many gigabytes takes time.

Do I have to move my website too?

No. Email and website can be hosted separately. You only change the email related DNS records.

Conclusion

To migrate email from one provider to another successfully, take stock, set up the new mailboxes, lower TTL, copy mail, switch DNS, run a final sync, reconnect devices and only then close the old account. If you are moving to Baasa Cloud business email, our local support team can handle the migration for you, including DNS records and device setup.