Move My Microsoft 365 Email Away From GoDaddy: Defederation Guide

Businesses actively choose to defederate (unlink GoDaddy from Office 365) GoDaddy 365 tenants to gain ultimate administration control. It prominently includes:

• Complete Exchange Online Admin Center access,
• Integration of advanced tools like Microsoft Copilot,
• And full-fledged access to the dashboard with true global admin controls.

So, if you’re searching for “how to move my Microsoft 365 email away from GoDaddy”, use this step-by-step guide to defederate GoDaddy Office 365.

Why Defederate from GoDaddy?

The single most important reason to defederate from the GoDaddy 365 tenant is to get ultimate administrative control. Because when you purchase any Microsoft 365 license via GoDaddy, you are not getting your hands on a standard Microsoft tenant. But a federated domain by GoDaddy.

In simple words, GoDaddy will route all authentication via its own servers. Including maintaining administrative controls and restricting advanced add-ons like Copilot.

Acknowledge the given table, comparing the offerings of GoDaddy, Microsoft 365, and Native Microsoft 365. It will help you understand why organizations pursue defederating from GoDaddy.

How to Get Global Admin Access on GoDaddy Microsoft 365: A Crucial Pre-requisite

Migrating GoDaddy email to native Microsoft 365 requires Global Administrator access. If you don’t actually manage the environment, you cannot bypass the GoDaddy Microsoft 365 login.

And since GoDaddy wraps up the true Microsoft 365 Admin Center in its interface, heading directly to admin.microsoft.com is the best option. So, apply the steps to get Global Admin rights on GoDaddy Microsoft 365.

• Go to GoDaddy Portal and log in.
• Move to the Microsoft 365 admin dashboard.
• Review your user account. Ensure it is an active account and assigned as an administrator.
• Go directly to admin.microsoft.com to bypass the GoDaddy Microsoft 365 login. If it routes you to GoDaddy, simply use an incognito window and log in with the primary admin email.

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Pre-Migration Checklist

Moving Microsoft 365 email away from the GoDaddy mandates environment and user-readiness. In other words, if your Office 365 environment and users are not ready for defederation, it can interrupt user logins. And it can be a productivity killer.

So, check out this quick pre-migration checklist to defederate GoDaddy Microsoft 365. And ensure a frictionless migration.

• Primarily, assess every active user and the licenses assigned to them. To do so, go to the GoDaddy dashboard. You can document users, their email addresses, and license types.
• Review the domain status to make sure the domain and email subscriptions are not expiring within the next 5 to 7 business days. It prevents abrupt suspension when moving Microsoft email away from GoDaddy.
• Double-check the third-party integrations provided by GoDaddy. It includes email filtering services like Proofpoint or Barracuda Email Archiving. If it is an integral part of your daily workflow, you can create a direct account with those vendors before moving.
• Notify the users about the GoDaddy email to native Microsoft 365 migration. And inform them that their credentials will be reset. They’re required to sign back into Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive with new credentials, provided by the post-GoDaddy defederation process.

How to Defederate GoDaddy Microsoft 365 Tenant? Easy 5-Step Process

Defederating the GoDaddy Microsoft 365 Tenant is a 5-step, straightforward process. From opening a defederation ticket to swapping the GoDaddy M365 license, Migrating GoDaddy email to native Microsoft 365 requires a systematic approach.

Step #1: Open a GoDaddy Support Ticket

The process of GoDaddy defederation begins by opening a formal “Move Defederation Request” ticket. So, let’s see how you can raise a GoDaddy support ticket to find out the answer to “how to move my Microsoft 365 email away from GoDaddy?.

• Get in touch with GoDaddy Support via phone or live chat.
• Clearly state that you want to remove the GoDaddy partner access from M365. Example: “I want to move my Microsoft 365 organization away from GoDaddy to manage it directly with Microsoft”.
• Next, the GoDaddy Guide will verify your license ownership. It will require your customer number and your security PIN/2-step authentication.
• GoDaddy will ask you for an external email address. Provide an email ID like a Gmail address or other domain.

Note: Do not provide an email address linked to the tenant you’re moving.

• Finally, the GoDaddy guide will raise a formal “Move Request” ticket.

Step #2: Log in to Microsoft Admin Center (Using Temporary, Direct Access Password)

After raising the defederation ticket, GoDaddy will send a temporary global administrator password to the provided external email address. Usually, it takes up to one full business day (excluding holidays) to process the defederation request on the backend. Exercising this step will reset the password (for all the admin users) on the tenant to the new, one-time password.

• Open the external email address to fetch the temporary password.
• Go to admin.microsoft.com and log in (using primary admin email and the temporary password).

Pro-tip: Always use an Incognito/Private browsing window to sign in. Because GoDaddy SSO fetches the cached login.

Step #3: Purchase Microsoft Licenses

Purchase native Microsoft Licenses to continue the GoDaddy 365 tenant defederation process. Also, avoid buying these licenses before GoDaddy concludes the Office 365 Defederation request. Otherwise, licenses purchased via Microsoft.com will create a new, unlinked tenant that cannot be merged with the existing data. Resulting in Office 365 mailbox provisioning stuck issues.

Steps to Purchase the Microsoft Licenses:

• Go to Billing and select Purchase Services.
• Purchase the same number and types of licenses. Or simply upgrade them as per preference. You can also buy these licenses from Microsoft or via a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP).

Step #4: Swap GoDaddy-Provisioned Licenses

Swapping GoDaddy-provisioned licenses with the newly purchased licenses will ensure users’ mailboxes stay active. And the workflow doesn’t get disrupted. Since all admin passwords were reset to the temporary passwords. This swapping and reassigning of the new M365 licenses also includes setting up new, permanent passwords.

Here’s how to swap the licenses and disconnect GoDaddy from Microsoft 365:

• In the Microsoft Admin Center, go to Users and select Active Users.
• Assign the newly purchased M365 Licenses to the users.
• Switch the GoDaddy-provisioned licenses with new ones for the same users. It will make sure that their mailboxes remain active. And the workflow will not get disrupted.
• Lastly, configure new, permanent passwords for the users and distribute.

Step #5: Update the DNS Records

Updating the domain’s Mail Exchanger records ensures the new emails will route directly to Microsoft -bypassing GoDaddy’s legacy servers. Follow the given steps to update the DNS records. And move forward with the GoDaddy Defederation process.

• Log in to DNS Host (GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap, etc).
• Find Mail Exchanger records. And delete the legacy GoDaddy records (eg, mx1-us1.ppe-hosted.com and mx2-us1.ppe-hosted.com).
• Lastly, add the native M365 Mail Exchanger record (eg, yourdomain.com.mail.protection.outlook.com). Replace “yourdomain.com” with your domain and set the priority to 0.

Post-Migration Checklist

GoDaddy can still access your tenant using Delegated Admin Privileges and API even after defederating the GoDaddy M365 tenant. Therefore, you’re required to follow the post-migration cleanup checklist to secure your tenant from any unapproved access.

This checklist highlights the quick steps to revoke DAP, remove the GoDaddy application, and terminate the GoDaddy subscription.

#1: Revoke Delegated Admin Privileges (DAP)

Revoking Delegated Admin Privileges (DAP) is a non-negotiable step for business. It assures that GoDaddy doesn’t hold any administrative access to the tenant. Here’s how to revoke Delegated Admin Privileges:

• Go to Settings and select Partner relationships
• In the list of partners, find GoDaddy.
• Finally, select it and right-click Remove all delegated admin roles.

#2: Delete the GoDaddy Enterprise Application

You might not know, but GoDaddy uses an API to manage your tenant. Hence, to remove the GoDaddy partner access from M365 entirely, delete the GoDaddy Enterprise application.

Steps to Delete the GoDaddy Enterprise Application:

• Go to entra.microsoft.com (Microsoft Entra ID).
• Right-click Identity >> choose applications >> select Enterprise Applications.
• Search for Partner Center Web App. Or any application related to GoDaddy.
• Lastly, open the Properties and hit Delete.

#3: Cancel GoDaddy Subscription

Cancelling the GoDaddy subscription is the concluding step of this GoDaddy to Microsoft 365 migration guide. It ensures that GoDaddy is permanently removed from the tenant. And the GoDaddy Office 365 defederation process is completed.

Steps to terminate GoDaddy Subscription:

• Login into the standard GoDaddy retail portal.
• Go to Subscriptions and toggle off the auto-renew for the Microsoft 365 email plans.

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Will I lose my emails if I disconnect GoDaddy from Microsoft 365?

Absolutely Not! You will not lose any email when moving your Microsoft 365 email away from GoDaddy. Since GoDaddy Defederation is a process of identity and billing change, not a data migration. Your workloads (emails, SharePoint sites, Teams Chats, and OneDrive data) remain physically live on Microsoft’s server.

However, there are two conditions in which you can lose data.

• If you delete your users in GoDaddy mistakenly before securing the native Microsoft licenses.
• Or purchase new licenses before GoDaddy finishes the Office 365 Defederation request.

In such cases, Microsoft 365 IT experts recommend Systool Office 365 Backup & Restore. A handy solution to back up complete Microsoft 365 data (Emails, Contacts, Calendar, Documents) locally.

• This professional-grade IT tool also provides a date filter feature for selective Office 365 mailbox backup. Including excellent offerings like the Delta backup that stores only the freshly added data in the mailbox.
• For monitoring backup processes, it offers an intuitive built-in centralized dashboard.
• This robust backup software is available for Windows and Mac OS versions.

So, ensure a risk-free GoDaddy 365 tenant defederation by saving offline copies of your M365 data locally.

Author’s Final Words

“How to move my Microsoft 365 email away from GoDaddy?” is a frequent query of thriving businesses that have federated Microsoft 365 with GoDaddy. Migrating GoDaddy email to native Microsoft 365 empowers companies with ultimate administrative controls.

So, if you’re a business owner or IT leader who wants to remove GoDaddy partner access from M365 and migrate to native Microsoft 365, use the 5 simple steps mentioned in this thorough guide. It guarantees a successful GoDaddy 365 tenant defederation without any data loss.

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FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q.1 What is Defederation of GoDaddy 365?
Defederation of GoDaddy 365 refers to the process of removing GoDaddy partner access from Microsoft 365. And transferring Office 365 billing from GoDaddy to Microsoft. Growing businesses choose to defederate GoDaddy 365 for the following critical reasons:

• Full global admin access.
• Complete access to all Microsoft SKUs
• Direct authentication via Microsoft Entra ID
• Advanced Intune, Defender, and Conditional Access.
• Direct Microsoft Pricing

Q.2 How to move my Microsoft 365 email away from GoDaddy?
To defederate GoDaddy Microsoft 365, apply the given steps:

• Open a GoDaddy Support ticket.
• Log in with a temporary, direct-access password.
• Purchase new licenses
• Swap GoDaddy-provisioned licenses with native M365 licenses
  and Update DNS records.

Q.3 Why is Microsoft taking me to GoDaddy?
Microsoft is redirecting you to GoDaddy because your domain is federated with GoDaddy. In simple words, your Microsoft 365 subscription was purchased or bundled via GoDaddy.

Q.4 Why does GoDaddy keep saying access denied?
GoDaddy keeps saying “access denied” when its security system or firewall restricts the network’s IP address. This issue can be triggered by using a VPN, corrupt browser data, or accessing it from a blocked corporate/cloud network.

Q.5 After defederating from GoDaddy, my users are getting an ‘access denied’ error when logging in?
To fix the “Access Denied” after defederating from GoDaddy, apply the given fixes:

• Connect to a different network.
• Toggle the VPN
• Wipe out the browser’s cache or cookies.
• Run GoDaddy in an Incognito/Private Window
• Configure Firewall Rules