Migration
Moving eight years of mail, without losing a message
Everything leaves your current provider in open formats, and everything arrives here through standard protocols. This page describes the work exactly as it happens, including the parts that are manual.
What we do not automate
Mail is imported by the console: the address of the previous provider, the password, and the copy runs on its own. Calendars, contacts and files are not. Those are exported from the source in open formats — iCalendar, vCard, CSV — and imported here, and that part is manual. Messages that the previous provider will not hand over are reported by number and by folder rather than omitted from the total.
What comes with you
Each item, with the protocol it travels on. Nothing here depends on cooperation from your current provider beyond the access you already have.
Mail, with the folder tree
Imported from the console, folder by folder, preserving the received date, the read and flagged state, and attachments. Gmail labels arrive as folders, and the folders that hold no mail of their own — All Mail, Starred, Important — are not copied, so no message arrives twice.
Calendars
Exported as iCalendar (.ics) from the source and imported per calendar, with recurrences and invitations intact.
Contacts
vCard or CSV, including custom fields, groups and photographs.
Files
Downloaded from the current provider and uploaded to Drive, or synced from a folder by the desktop application.
The domain
It stays registered wherever it is. Only the DNS records change, and you keep control of them throughout.
The sending reputation
New SPF, DKIM and DMARC records on the same domain, with dedicated reverse DNS. Reputation follows the domain, not the provider.
The plan, in order
Steps one to four change nothing for the people using the current mailbox. The only moment anything switches is step five, and it is measured in minutes.
- 01
Connect the domain
Add the domain in the administration console and publish the verification and DKIM records. Mail keeps arriving at the current provider: nothing has changed yet.
- 02
Create the people
Create the accounts and mailboxes, or send invitations. Roles, teams and permissions are set here.
- 03
Import the history
Each person opens their account, enters the address and password of the previous provider, and starts the import. The console first lists what was found — every folder, with its message count and where it will land — before anything is copied. The copy then runs on the server, at its own pace, with nobody's computer left switched on and nobody interrupted.
- 04
Bring calendars, contacts and files
Export from the source and import here: .ics per calendar, vCard or CSV for contacts, and a straight upload for files.
- 05
Switch the MX records
New mail starts arriving at Beskos. Lower the TTL a day in advance and the transition takes minutes. Messages already in flight are delivered to the old provider and are collected by a second import afterwards, which copies only what is not already here.
- 06
Check and close
Confirm sending and delivery, that SPF, DKIM and DMARC validate, and that nothing is missing from the folder tree. The old subscription is cancelled last, never first.
How long it takes
The copy runs unattended; what takes working time is the setup and the checks. These are real figures, not the best case.
Up to 10 people
Half a day of setup. The history imports overnight, unattended.
10 to 50 people
One to two days of setup, spread over a week to allow for checks between steps.
More than 50
Planned with you, in groups, so that no group is switched over before the previous one is verified.
The old provider stays paid and running throughout. It is cancelled once the checks pass, and not before — a migration where going back is impossible is a migration nobody should agree to.
The questions that decide it
Does anyone lose access to mail during the move?
No. Until the MX records change, everything continues to arrive at the current provider, and the accounts here exist in parallel. The switch itself is a DNS change of a few minutes.
What happens to messages sent during the switch?
Anything still routed to the old provider is delivered there and collected by a second import afterwards. An import that runs twice copies nothing twice: messages already in the mailbox are recognised and counted separately. Nothing is lost; some messages simply arrive a few hours later.
The previous provider rejects the password.
Google and Microsoft refuse the account password over IMAP when two-step verification is enabled, and require an application-specific password instead. The console reports this on the form, before the import starts.
What happens if the import is interrupted?
It resumes where it stopped. Progress is recorded folder by folder, so a restart, a network failure or a provider that stops answering costs the messages of one page, not the mailbox.
Do old links to shared files keep working?
No. Links generated by the previous provider stop working when that subscription ends, and this is true of every migration between providers. Files that are shared externally should be re-shared from Drive before cancelling.
Can we go back?
Yes, while the old subscription is active — the MX records return to where they were. That is precisely why it is cancelled last.
Who does the work?
The setup is yours to run in the console, and we plan the steps with you and answer during the process. For organisations moving more than 50 people, we agree the schedule in advance.
Tell us what you are moving from.
Send the current provider, the number of people and roughly how much mail there is, and you will get a plan with steps and dates before any commitment.