Steps for Microsoft 365 to Microsoft 365 Migration

Follow step by step guide to Migrate Microsoft 365 Tenant to Microsoft 365 Tenant by SysTools Migrator

Pre-Requisites

Note: Before starting the migration please make sure about the destination domain name(e.g., @domain.com, @domain.onmicrosoft.com, or hosted domains), as this cannot be changed later, because the software licenses will be consumed and these cannot be revoked afterwards.

Following are the Steps to Perform Microsoft Office 365 to Microsoft Office 365 Migration

Download and Launch the migration tool

In case, tool is not activated, see how to activate the product: Activation Steps

Click the "?" Help icon in the bottom left corner to expand the sidebar. Review the prerequisites and carefully read the setup instructions before starting your project configuration.

Help Bar

To enable advance settings for Concurrent migration (optional). Read more: Advance Settings

Download and Launch the migration tool

In case, tool is not activated, see how to activate the product: Activation Steps

Tool provides the help section for the details about each migration mode. Click on "Help" button to view this section.

Start screen

To enable advance settings for Concurrent migration (optional). Read more: Advance Settings

From the software window, click on the "Setup" tab and select choose Source & Destination platform as Office 365.

Start screen

STEP 1

On the "Setup" screen, select "Microsoft 365" as your Source platform and "Microsoft 365" as your Destination platform to define the migration endpoints.

Endpoint Selection

STEP 2

Scroll down to the Resource & Workload selection section. Check the boxes for the specific data types you wish to migrate (e.g., Category, Email, Document, Contact, Calendar). Unchecked workloads will be completely ignored during the transfer. (Note: If you plan to migrate Groups, you will configure this under the Groups tab later).

Workload Selection

If you only want to migrate data created or received within a specific timeframe, check the "Date Filter" box next to the appropriate workload. Click the text box to use the calendar pop-up to set your exact "From" and "To" dates.

Date Filter

On the initial Setup screen, ensure you select the Groups tab under the Resource & Workload selection area to define the specific group data types you want to migrate.

Group Workload Setup

Ensure you check the relevant workloads and toggle the unique options such as Group Creation and Group Member mapping depending on your migration requirements.

Group Creation and Member Mapping

STEP 3

Click on the "Source" tab on the left-hand navigation pane to configure the authentication for your origin account.

Source Menu Tab

Enter the Global Admin Email and the Application ID generated from your Azure Portal for your Source environment. Click the "Validate" button to test the connection.

Source Validation

Review the Permissions Checklist pop-up. Ensure all required Read permissions (e.g., Read User, Read Email, Read Document) have a green checkmark indicating successful validation. Click "Next".

Source Permissions

STEP 4

Click on the "Destination" tab on the left-hand navigation pane to configure the authentication for your target account.

Destination Menu Tab

Enter the Global Admin Email and the corresponding Application ID for your Destination environment. Click "Validate".

Destination Validation

Review the Permissions Checklist to ensure all required Write permissions (e.g., Write Email, Write Contact) display a green checkmark indicating the tool has proper access to inject data. Click "Next".

Destination Permissions

Select Your Migration Path

STEP 5

Navigate to the "Users" tab. Choose your preferred method to populate the user list mapping: Fetch Users, Import Users, or Download Template.

User Options

Click the "Fetch Users" button to let the application securely query the source tenant for all active user accounts automatically.

Fetch Users

STEP 6

Read the prompt explaining the fetching process, then click "Continue" to command the software to retrieve the user list.

Start Fetch

Wait for the system to process the graph API call. Once done, a dialog will display the total number of fetched users found. Click "OK".

Fetch Complete

STEP 7

Alternatively, click "Download Template" to get a blank CSV file formatted perfectly for manually mapping differing source and destination user email addresses.

Download Template

Choose a local directory on your computer, verify the filename, and click "Save".

Save Template

Open the downloaded CSV in Excel. Fill out the "Source User" and "Destination User" email columns line by line to map the accounts, then save your changes.

Edit Template

STEP 8

Go back to the software and click the "Import Users" button to safely upload your finalized CSV mapping file.

Import Template

In the Import Users dialog box, click the small upload (arrow) icon inside the text field to trigger your system browser.

Import Box

Browse your computer to locate your saved mapping CSV, select it, and click "Open".

Browse File

With the file successfully loaded into the bar, click the blue "Upload" button to pull the mapped data directly into the tool.

Upload Mapping

Once processing is complete, a success prompt will tell you exactly how many users were safely imported. Click "OK".

Upload Complete

STEP 9 (Optional)

If you have not provisioned the accounts in your target admin center yet, you can optionally create them directly from the tool. Select the users you need to establish and click the Create User button.

Click Create User Button

In the creation dialog, you can manually type the "Destination User" email address and an individual "Password" for each account.

Empty User Fields

Filled User Fields

Alternatively, click Set Default Password to apply a single, universal password to all accounts to save time.

Set Default Password Button

Enter your standard password in the pop-up and click Apply.

Apply Default Password

Once all user details are accurately populated, click the Continue button.

Click Continue

Review the final confirmation dialog and click Start to begin creating the accounts in your destination tenant.

Click Start

When the green check mark appears and the success prompt is shown, click Close. Your new accounts are now ready for the actual migration process.

Creation Success Prompt

STEP 10

Review the list of users populated on the screen. The interface provides several helpful features to sort and select your accounts:

  • Search Bar: Located at the top left, use this to quickly filter and find specific accounts by typing an email address or name.
  • Show Selected Toggle: Enable this toggle switch at the top to hide unselected rows, decluttering the view so you only see the accounts marked for migration.
  • Checkboxes: Use the leftmost checkboxes to manually include or exclude individual users from the migration run.
  • Priority (Star) Icon: Click the star icon next to an account to mark high-priority mailboxes, ensuring the software processes them first in the queue.

User List

Once your final selection is made, click the Validate button at the top right of the grid to securely verify endpoint permissions.

Validate Users

Once the system performs a live backend check to verify the permissions for all selected users, click "OK" on the success prompt.

Validation Complete

STEP 11

Verify that both the Source and Destination permission columns are glowing green for your selections. Click the "Start Migration" button to proceed.

Start Migration

Review the final confirmation prompt detailing your available and consumed software licenses. If the quota looks correct, click "Start".

License Validation

A success prompt will inform you that the background execution job has successfully kicked off. Click "OK" to transition to the dashboard.

Migration Initiated

STEP 5

Navigate to the Resources > Groups tab on the left-hand menu. Here you have three primary methods to map your groups: Fetch Groups, Import Groups, or Download Template.

Group Resource Options

STEP 6

Click "Fetch Groups" and review the prompt. Click "Continue" to let the software automatically discover all groups in the source tenant.

Fetch Groups Prompt

Once the process finishes, a dialog will confirm the total number of groups successfully fetched. Click "OK".

Groups Fetched Complete

STEP 7

Alternatively, click "Download Template" to get a blank CSV for manual mapping. Choose a safe location and click "Save".

Download Group CSV

STEP 8

Open the CSV file in Excel. Map the SourceEmailID to the DestinationEmailID and ensure "MarkForExecution" is set to TRUE. Save the file.

Edit Group CSV

STEP 9

Click "Import Groups" in the software. In the modal, click the upload arrow icon to browse for your updated CSV.

Import Group Box

Select your CSV file and click "Open", then click the blue "Upload" button to parse the data into the tool.

Upload Group CSV

A success prompt will confirm the groups have been securely imported. Click "OK" to proceed to the validation phase.

Import Group Complete

STEP 10 (Optional)

If you need to provision groups natively in the target tenant, select the relevant source group(s) and click the Create Group button.

Create Group Option

In the creation modal, enter the email address suffix for the destination group.

Enter Group Address

Click the Start button to begin the provisioning process in the destination account.

Group Creation Start

A prompt will confirm the groups were successfully created. Click "OK".

Group Creation Complete

Verify that a green checkmark appears under the Status column indicating success, then click Close.

Group Created Success

STEP 11

Review the final group list. You can use the Search Bar to find specific groups, the Show Selected toggle to declutter the view, and the Checkboxes to include or exclude groups from this migration run. Click Validate.

Validate Groups

Once the software successfully verifies the permissions for the groups, click "OK".

Validation Complete

Verify that both the Source and Destination permission columns are displaying green checkmarks. Click the Start Migration button to initiate the process.

Start Migration

A prompt will display verifying the workloads to be processed. Click Start.

Confirm Start

The success prompt will appear indicating the background job has safely started. Click "OK" to head to the dashboard.

Migration Initiated

Post-Migration: Monitoring, Actions & Reports

STEP 12

The application will automatically shift to the "Migration" tab where you can monitor the ongoing process via the intuitive visual dashboard.

Dashboard Overview

To view the status of all accounts simultaneously in a grid format, click the "List view" grid icon located at the top right corner of the dashboard.

List View

While in List view, you can click the drop-down arrows on the far right of any row to expand and reveal real-time inline source/destination folder and item counts for that specific account.

Expanded List View

STEP 13

Monitor the gray "Pending" card to see which selected accounts are currently queued up and waiting for processing resources to become available.

Pending Card

Watch the blue "In-Progress" card to track live, real-time item counts (emails, documents, calendars) transferring for the active accounts.

In-Progress Card

Check the green "Completed" card to verify accounts who have reached 100% successful migration status without any skipped or failed items.

Completed Card

Review the orange/red "Completed With Error" card to catch any accounts whose migration suffered partial item failures due to file size limits or network drops.

Error Card

STEP 14

Click the "More Details" link at the bottom of an account's dashboard card to pull up a granular breakdown of their workload statistics.

More Details

In the pop-up, click on a specific workload name (like "Email" or "Document") to view deep folder-level analysis. This allows you to identify exactly which subfolder contains a failed item.

Workload Insights

If you need clarification on what any specific column header means in the reporting grid, click the "i" info icon on the right to open the terminology legend.

Information Legend

STEP 15

While viewing the deep Email folder analysis, click "Download Report" to export these specific granular stats to a standard CSV.

Email Details

Choose a safe folder on your PC and click "Save" to store the `MigrationEmail-FolderSummary` file for compliance or auditing.

Get Email Report

Open the downloaded Excel file at any time to analyze exact folder paths, source item counts, and item-by-item migration statuses.

View Email Report

Similarly, while viewing Document storage insights, you can click "Download Report" to securely export your OneDrive/SharePoint execution stats.

Document Details

Choose a folder on your PC and click "Save" to store the `MigrationDocument-FolderSummary` file.

Get Document Report

Open the Excel file to verify folder paths and easily check for any permissions or formatting errors that resulted in failed items within your document repositories.

View Document Report

STEP 16 (Stop Migration)

If an emergency halt is required during the active process, you can click the red Stop Migration button located at the top right of the dashboard.

Stop Migration

Confirm your intent to halt the process by clicking Yes in the warning pop-up. The software will safely finish processing the immediate item before disconnecting.

Stop Confirm

Click OK on the success prompt acknowledging that the job has been safely halted and all progress to this point has been logged.

Process Stopped

STEP 17

Click the "Migration Actions" dropdown menu at the top right to access post-job features such as Delta, Retry, and Re-Run.

Migration Actions

Select "Retry Failed Items" to exclusively re-migrate files or emails that registered as failures on the first pass, saving you from running the entire job again.

Retry Failed Items

Select "Re-Run Full Migration", select the accounts using the checkboxes, and click "Start" to execute a complete, overwrite-style migration over the existing data.

Re-Run Full

STEP 18

Select "Delta Migration", select accounts via checkbox, and click "Start" to seamlessly migrate only the newly created items that have arrived since your initial base migration.

Delta Migration

In the action dialog, click the Import CSV icon if you want to run the action on a specific batch of accounts.

Important Note on CSV Imports: When you use a CSV list to import and select accounts for post-migration actions (Delta, Retry), the CSV will retain the original TRUE/FALSE checked/unchecked criteria assigned at the time of the initial selection phase.

To ensure you don't re-run accounts unnecessarily, you must update the list accurately: Go back to the main grid, uncheck the specific accounts you do not want to process, click the cloud icon to download a new Resource List CSV, and upload that newly updated file here.

Import CSV

Click the upload arrow icon inside the text field to browse your computer for your properly updated execution file.

Browse CSV

Select your saved CSV from your local directory and click "Open".

Open CSV

Click "Upload" to inject the verified target list into the Delta/Retry migration configuration window.

Upload Action CSV

Click "OK" once the final processing prompt appears to acknowledge the updated list.

Upload CSV Complete

To assist in building correct CSVs, you can click the document template icon to download a clean, blank spreadsheet to create a fresh execution list from scratch.

Download Action Template

To execute the subset logic mentioned earlier, click the cloud icon to safely export the currently selected (checked) items on the screen into a convenient CSV.

Download Resource List

Pick a location on your computer and click "Save" to retain your exported Resource List for the import process.

Save Resource List

STEP 19

Once your migration is fully completed, click the "Download Report" menu at the top right and select "Migration Summary Report".

Select Summary Report

Choose a location on your computer, and click "Save".

Save Summary Report

Open the generated CSV to see a high-level summary table showing total item success/fail metrics summarized per account and per workload type.

View Summary Report

STEP 20

If you selected "Detailed Report" instead, check the boxes for the specific accounts you wish to audit, and click the "Download" icon in the dialog box.

Detailed Report Options

Select the levels of reporting granularity you require (e.g., Job Detail, Folder Detail, Item Detail) using the checkboxes, then click "Generate".

Generate Detailed Report

Once the system finishes compiling the comprehensive and potentially heavy logs, click the blue "Download" button to save them to your machine.

Download Detailed Report

Choose a safe location and save the compressed `.zip` file containing all the comprehensive CSV reports.

Save Detailed ZIP

Extract the `.zip` file using Windows or a utility tool. Open the specific categorized CSVs (e.g., Email, Calendar, Tasks) to see deep granular transfer data.

Unzip and View Details

STEP 21

To tweak backend performance, navigate to "Settings" > "General". You can check "Enable multiple accounts" and adjust the slider to increase "Concurrent user" processing speed depending on your available bandwidth. Click "Save".

General Settings

Switch to the "Logs" tab to securely view real-time system executions and application health. Select a `.log` file to read exact backend system states.

Logs Settings

STEP 22

Switch to the "SMTP" tab. You must check the Enable email notification box, input your server configurations, and hit Test Connection.

SMTP Settings

Switch to the "Notifications" tab. Important: The notification features in this tab only appear and function when the user successfully checks the "Enable email notification" box in the SMTP tab prior to this step. Craft your email template, hit "Send Test Email" to verify delivery, and click "Save" to finalize your automated reporting logic.

Notification Settings

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