How the switch works
- The new provider sets up mailboxes using your existing addresses.
- Your existing mail is copied across while the old service keeps running.
- Your domain’s MX record is changed to point at the new provider, so new mail arrives there. Autodiscover and SPF records are updated too. Our free MX lookup shows where your mail goes today.
- Outlook and phones are reconnected to the new service.
Done properly, people keep working throughout and nobody outside the business notices.
The one thing to check first
Make sure you control your domain name — that it is registered in the business’s name and you can log in to change its DNS. Domains are sometimes registered by a former web designer or IT supplier, and getting access back is the step that takes longest. If your domain is registered with your current email provider, it can usually be transferred or its DNS pointed elsewhere.
What does not move automatically
- Calendars and contacts that were only stored on PCs or phones, common with IMAP.
- Email signatures and some rules, which are stored per Outlook profile.
- Devices and applications that send email, such as scanners and accounts software, which need new settings.
Our free migration service handles all of it, and our guide to moving from IMAP to Exchange sets out the steps if you would rather do it yourself.