Migrate ProtonMail to Office 365 (Microsoft 365) Safely
IT admins who wish to migrate ProtonMail to Office 365 may find the lack of native options a major roadblock. Moreover, convincing users to adopt a completely new system by leaving behind ProtonMail’s end-to-end encryption and unparalleled privacy is quite a tough task.
User Query: Hi, Our company has been using ProtonMail since its inception. But over time, we’ve gotten better. Therefore, it is now becoming very costly for the organization to purchase a license for each and every user. So, we are planning to migrate the email data to Office 365 platform. So that we can manage a large data with a required subscription plan. But, we are more concerned about data security during migration. So, we are looking for a reliable and trustworthy solution for bulk ProtonMail email to Microsoft 365 migration. Please suggest.
However, as organizations grow, their requirements evolve simultaneously, and when the time is right, one must switch over to a more feature-rich service. Which is exactly what Microsoft 365 cloud is.
I know how confusing the first major migration can be. That is why I have prepared this guide that contains all the methods you can use to transition your team from the privacy-focused Proton to the M365 cloud. Before that, let me tell you all the advantages you get upon switching.
Benefits of Microsoft 365 Over Proton Mail
Being popular as an email service provider, MS Office 365 has other benefits as well, such as
- Microsoft Office 365 is best for large organizations or firms to manage and organize their data, but ProtonMail is only good for small ones.
- Users also like to migrate ProtonMail to an Office 365 account because O365 also has various filters to separate all emails into different folders.
- Moreover, Microsoft 365 is always up to date with the availability of various useful applications for organizational needs.
- Furthermore, MS Office 365 enhances productivity due to advanced features and time-to-time upgrades.
- Microsoft 365 also provides access to mailboxes, calendars, contact sharing, and document editing through its collaboration tools. Therefore, multiple users can use the shared mailbox at the same time for any email filtering.
Method to Manually Migrate ProtonMail to Office 365 and Why I Would Not Recommend It
Before we detail the official export tool, it’s important to address a common but flawed approach: manually forwarding emails. While you can open each email, click “Forward,” and send it to your Office 365 address, this method is not viable for a true migration. It destroys crucial metadata like the original sender and date, is incredibly time-consuming, and is impossible to scale for multiple accounts. For a proper migration, you need to preserve your data’s integrity, which requires a more robust process like the one detailed below. I have split the process into multiple stages for easier understanding.
Stage 1: Get Emails Out of ProtonMail Account to Transfer Them to Office 365
Step 1. Visit “https://proton.me/support/proton-mail-export-tool” and download the version that works on your machine.
Step 2. Once you have the file, unzip and install it on your computer.
Step 3. Then double-click on the proton-mail-export-cli.exe to run it.
Step 4. A new terminal will launch, and the tool will autocheck for any new updates. As you have just installed it a few moments ago, no update will be required.
Step 5. The CLI records all activity on a log file whose path can also be seen right here.
Step 6. In front of the “Username:” type or paste your Proton Mail account address, and press Enter.
Step 7. Now comes the tricky part: entering the password. For security reasons, the CLI won’t display any of the characters you type, although it would register every keystroke you press. So be extra careful while typing the password. Once done, press Enter.
Step 8. Then you will be shown two Operations: Backup or Restore. As our task is to get data out of the Proton account, press B and hit Enter.
Step 9. The path where the export will be made is shown, and you are asked for the final confirmation. So type in yes and press Enter.
Step 10. The Export Will begin, and there will be a completion bar with the percentage done metric. As soon as it reaches 100%, the export is complete, and the CLI will close on its own. So now move to the next stage.
Stage 2: Use Outlook Client to Add Proton Mail to an Office 365 Account
Step 1. Open the New Outlook client on your desktop (you must choose the new one and not the classic one).
Step 2. If this is your first time using the Outlook client, then set up your Office 365 account and then continue.
Step 3. Click on Settings > Files > Import > Scroll to Email Files (.eml) > Click on Start import.
Step 4. Using the Import window, browse to the file location where Proton has deposited the emails.
Step 5. If you have multiple accounts on the Outlook client, make sure you use the dropdown and select the right one.
Step 6. Then, in the Folder option, either create a new folder to keep all emails or choose an existing folder. Once all the settings are done, the Import button unlocks; click it.
Step 7. A mini dashboard gets made in the Outlook import setting screen (Under History), showing how many emails have been pulled in and out of the total.
Step 8. Once complete, close the settings menu and go to the main Outlook Client screen and check the folder; all the Proton mails should be right there.
The process sounds simple enough, but it has some hidden limitations, for which reason I don’t recommend it. Let me tell you all the problems you can face.
Why You Should Not Use Export and Import Methods for Proton to O365 Transfer?
The ProtonMail CLI is no doubt a good feature, but it has no ability to filter what emails you get from the account. Plus, you don’t even get any timeline slicing ability, so you have to export all of the emails, even if you only want to migrate a tiny portion of ProtonMail to Office 365.
Moreover, some users might find it difficult to interact with the CLI of the Proton Mail exporter. Earlier, there used to be a GUI equivalent, but it was quietly decommissioned without any solid reason.
Then, while confirming the credentials, the passwords remain invisible, so users who are new to this sort of security mechanism may get confused and waste a lot of unnecessary time and effort on a relatively simple task.
There is no ability to filter the emails you take out of Proton through the command line; it is either all or nothing. So, you will have to manually omit unwanted emails from the local folder, which is quite difficult because the emails are encrypted and you cannot identify them through the title.
This creates a secondary problem of how to deal with new emails. As the Export always starts from scratch, there is no way to perform a delta export.
The CLI only gets you the emails; the folder structure is not preserved. So if it is something that you can’t compromise on, the Export Import email transfer method isn’t for you.
Expert Suggested Solution to Migrate ProtonMail to Office 365
However, there is no manual procedure available for this task for any Windows or Mac user. Hence, it is better to go ahead with a professional solution to maintain the safety and security of the data. Therefore, in this case, we recommend using Smart IMAP to Office 365 Migration Software to transfer ProtonMail emails to M365 account.
Furthermore, for smooth migration, this software facilitates its users with a number of features. Hence, using those features the migration process can be customized as required. With this solution, it is quite easy to operate and perform email migration on a supported version of Windows OS.
Important Note: If anyone of you wants to perform this migration on a Mac machine, then, use Secure IMAP to IMAP Migration Tool to easily transfer ProtonMail emails to Microsoft 365 account. It has the capability of bulk or specific email migration from source to destination account.
Why is it Better to Choose Professional Software to Migrate Proton Mail to Office 365?
It is best to use this tool to migrate ProtonMail to an Office 365 account, as it has various benefits-
- Here, you get the facility of bulk and specific email migration simultaneously. However, there is a date filter option in this tool to transfer emails from a specific period only. For this migration, the user can set the required date range for ProtonMail emails. The software will only transfer ProtonMail user account emails to O365 that fall into that category.
- It is better if no information is saved in the portal, so keep this in mind. This tool provides complete protection of user account data.
- This software provides a delta migration facility to eliminate any possibility of duplication. It keeps on transferring new ProtonMail emails from the mailbox to Microsoft 365.
- Compatibility of both OS- This is software that comes with migration for all Mac and Windows users. Therefore, you can also access it and operate it in Windows 2012/2016 Server, Windows 10/11 (64-bit) OS. However, it also supports MAC OS X 12.0 (Monterey), MAC OS X 11.0 (Big Sur), and MAC OS X 10.8 and above.
- Apart from these, there are other benefits as well. For this, you can download the free demo version and get advanced information about the tool. As it provides a free trial version, try the application first on your respective system.
Step-By-Step Guide to Migrate ProtonMail to Office 365 Account
After downloading and activating the licensed key on a supported version of Windows OS, just follow the given instructions –
Step 1. After installation, you can see different options as Source and destination accounts. So, select the IMAP option as a source account and the Office 365 option as a destination on the window screen.
Step 2. Click on the Email checkbox that contains the ProtonMail account emails with attachments. If necessary, click on the Date Filter button to migrate emails from ProtonMail to Microsoft Office 365 selectively.
Step 3. From the next screen, pick the Other option as an IMAP server, and provide ProtonMail account details for account validation.
Step 4. Likewise, choose the Office 365 / Microsoft 365 option as the destination account and enter the required User credentials to validate.
Step 5. Now, click the Start Migration button to successfully transfer ProtonMail account emails in bulk to the O365 account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Can I migrate selective data with the above-mentioned expert tool?
A1: Yes, you can. The above-mentioned professional tool supports selective migration. To do that, you can utilize the Date Filter and enter your preferred “To” and “From” timestamps to filter out data.
Q2: Would my folder hierarchy be scattered by using the automated solution?
A3: No, this expert software ensures preserving and maintaining the folder structure and hierarchy of users data, same as the original, throughout the migration process.
Q3: I am a Windows 11 user. Can I use the above-mentioned expert recommendation?
A3: Yes, you can. The expert solution is compatible with all versions of the Windows OS; thus, you can launch the utility on any Windows machine, regardless of its version.
Conclusion
There are many users like you who want to migrate from Proton Mail to the Microsoft 365 platform for various reasons. Hence, in this article, we have shared how to move ProtonMail to an Office 365 / Microsoft 365 account quickly. A better and safer solution is the one we suggested in the above section. So, as a result, you will be able to access all the migrated emails in your destination MS Office 365 account without any data loss or hassle.