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Migrate Apple Mail to Office 365 Mailbox For Mac & Windows

  Tej Pratap Shukla
Written By Tej Pratap Shukla
Anuraag Singh
Approved By Anuraag Singh
Modified On October 30th, 2025
Reading Time 8 Min Read

Quick Summary: Learn how to migrate Apple Mail to Office 365 Mailbox. We have explained the manual process to import Mac Mail to Outlook 365 account using IMAP configuration on MAC OS. You can also import or export Mac Mail Inbox.mbox to Office 365 account using a converter. Find out why users are migrating from desktop to cloud-based email platforms.

Apple Mail is one of the most widely used email clients. This application offers unique features and services to its users and allows users to store email data in MBOX format. However, due to technological advancements and global accessibility in recent years, more and more users are choosing to transfer Apple Mail to Office 365 Mailbox.

Mac Mail is a desktop-based application and comes with platform dependency. Office 365, on the other hand, is a cloud-based platform and can be accessed from anywhere and at any time. O365 is a line of subscription services by Microsoft that allows user to manage all their valuable data in the cloud.

Table of Content

Reasons to Import Mac Mail to Outlook 365 

Before we learn about the methods of migration, let’s understand the need to migrate Apple Mail to Office 365. Some of the common issues faced by Mac email users are:

  • Lesser Features as compared to Office 365 – One of the main reasons to migrate Apple Mail inbox MBOX to Outlook Online is the less intuitive features offered by the Mac Mail client. O365, on the other hand, provides faster connectivity and a systematic arrangement of data items in the mailbox. Other features like meeting invites, online mailbox access, and scheduling calendar meetings and invitations etc., make it easier to carry out professional tasks efficiently.
  • Restriction to desktop – Being a desktop-based service, Mail stores all its data at the local storage location, and it becomes tough to utilize data anywhere or anytime. With Exchange Online, you can easily manage emails, contacts, and calendars from any browser, with any device, and from any location in the world. This makes it a globally accessible tool and removes the dependency on desktop-based email services.
  • Work Requirements – In some cases, the employees of a certain organization may need to switch between different machines and different operating systems, as per the requirements of the project. In this scenario, you can transfer Apple Mail to Office 365 and save your valuable time.
  • Trouble in Managing Bulk Data– One of the main reasons users import Mac mail to Outlook 365 is due to an increase in the size of emails and other data items, making it difficult to manage and work with large files with Mac emails. MS 365, on the other hand, allows you to store an unlimited amount of data in its mailbox.

Methods to Migrate Apple Mail to Office 365

Now that you are aware of the reasons to migrate from a desktop-based email client to a cloud-based platform, let’s understand the methods to perform Apple Mail to Office 365 migration. You can either use a manual method of IMAP Configuration on MAC OS. Or migrate mailboxes from Mac Mail to an O365 account using a converter.

Method 1: Migrate Apple Mail to Outlook 365 365 Using Drag & Drop

You can migrate Apple Mail to Office 365 by simply dragging and dropping from Apple Mail. This method works well when you need to export Mac Mail to Outlook 365 from an already synced account in Mac Mail. This method is not recommended for large mailbox migrations from Apple Mail to O365.

  1. Add Office 365 to Mac Apple Mail
  2. Once set up, locate email folders under “On My Mac” or under the already configured IMAP account in Apple Mail.
  3. Choose the folder from your local/IMAP account you need to migrate from Apple Mail to Office 365.
  4. Simply drag the local/IMAP account to the Office 365 mailbox.
  5. You can migrate Mac Mail to an Outlook 365 account into the Inbox, Sent, or other folders.

The process can take time to sync, depending on the no. of emails and their size. You can also verify by logging in to your Office 365 account on Outlook Web.

Method 2. Use Microsoft Outlook to Migrate Apple Mail to Office 365

It is possible to import Mac Mail to Outlook 365 using Outlook. But this method is only efficient for a few number of accounts. If you need to migrate Mac Mail to Outlook 365 in bulk, then this is not the right one.

  1. Launch Outlook on your machine.
  2. Open the File section, then click on Add Account.
  3. Provide the Apple Mail details and Connect.
  4. Enter all of the essential credentials
  5. Click Next to finish the setup.
  6. After setting up Apple Mail in Outlook, go to Open & Export.
  7. Choose the Import from another program or file option.
  8. Select the Outlook Data File (.pst) and import it into the right folder.
  9. Now, you can use the network upload method to add the PST to Microsoft 365.
  10. In this, copy the SAS URL and install the AzCopy tool.
  11. Upload PST to Microsoft 365 using AzCopy and also validate the list of PST files.
  12. Prepare a PST File for mapping and then the PST import job. Finally, begin the process.

Method 3. Manual Method – IMAP Configuration For MAC OS X 

In many older versions of Mac OS (like macOS 10.14 Mojave), the direct Exchange or Microsoft 365 setup is likely to fail due to outdated authentication support. Which is using Gmail as a bridge is an effective bypass to export Mac Mail to Outlook 365

Let’s explore how to migrate Apple Mail to Office 365 in Mac OS X using IMAP configurations.

  • Open Apple Mail and configure your Gmail account in Mac Mail.
  • Within Apple Mail, create a new folder in your Gmail account.
  • Pick the required emails and transfer them to the new folder.
  • Launch Office 365, and now configure Gmail account here too using the IMAP feature.
  • Once the configuration process is complete, you can check the new folder created in Gmail account in Mac Mail.
  • Open the folder and pick the files, and move them to O365 folder.
  • As the migration is completed, you can delete Gmail account from both platforms.

Limitations of Manually Migrating Mac Mail to Office 365

There are certain limitations of using manual methods to import Mac Mail to Outlook 365. Some of them are as follows:

  • You need to be familiar with the technical aspects of the entire migration process.
  • You may functional Gmail account and Outlook 365 added and configured on your machine to Migrate Apple Mail to Office 365 if your Mac version is older than X 0.14. 
  • Many users lose folder structure and email data when they migrate Mac Mail to Office 365 manually
  • You will not be able to access everything stored in the MBOX file of your Mac Mail, and can only move a limited essential files.
  • Manual methods to migrate Apple Mail to Outlook 365 can be time-consuming for larger mailboxes.

Method 4: Use Apple Mail to Office 365 Migration Tool

Selecting a manual method to move emails from Mac Mail to O365 account can be a tricky process, especially if you are not from a technical background. Therefore, it is better to opt for SysTools MBOX to Office 365 Migration Software Windows OS Based as it is easier to use, faster, and completes the migration process in a few minutes.

Free Download Purchase Now

Even most organizations and enterprises prefer this software solution to transfer large mailbox data. This utility will migrate/export/import emails from Apple Mail into Office 365, without compromising the integrity of your data.

How to Migrate Apple Mail to Office 365? Quick Steps

  1. Download, Install, and Run the Tool.
    open and run the tool to migrate apple mail to office 365
  2. Select MBOX and Microsoft 365 Platforms.
    select MBOX as the source and Microsoft 365 as the destination
  3. Add MBOX Files & Validate Permissions.
    add MBOX files and validate permissions
  4. Enter & Authenticate M365 Admin Credentials.
    add you Microsoft 365 account to migrate from Apple mail to Office 365
  5. Add Users, Validate Permissions & Start Import.
    Transfer emails from Apple Mail to Office 365

Key Benefits of Using Apple Mail to Office 365 Migration Tool

Using the Apple Mail to Office 365 Migration Tool allows you to migrate Apple Mail to Office 365 with attachments directly. You only need to provide the credentials of your Outlook Web Access Mailbox (OWA). Some of the benefits of this automated tool are as follows:

  • Facilitates bulk data transfer and maintains folder hierarchy throughout the process.
  • Provision to apply a date filter before you migrate Mac Mail to Office 365.
  • Incorporates an In-built filter to perform the selective conversion.
  • Provides the report in CSV format for future reference.
  • Supports and works efficiently on all versions of Windows.

Alternate Way: Migrate Apple Mail Email Accounts and Data to Office 365

This software is only available for Windows. Before using it, copy your Apple Mail .mbox files to a Windows system. Then, use this migration tool to import Mac Mail to Office 365 in a seamless manner. If you want a seamless migration without any hindrances, then you can go for the SysTools IMAP to Office 365 Migration Tool.

Conclusion

It is not an easy task to migrate Apple Mail to Office 365, and the process has to be performed efficiently to prevent loss of crucial files. Therefore, it is better to opt for an automated tool to export or import emails from Mac Mail inbox in MBOX format to Office 365 Mailbox, to ensure faster and secure conversion with 100% accuracy. Opt for a manual migration process (IMAP configuration) only if you are technically sound. We have explained both manual and automated methods to import Mac mail to Outlook 365, and you can pick the best one as per your requirement.

 
  author

By Tej Pratap Shukla

A versatile technocrat, always in the search for new and interesting areas related to technology. Works on multiple technical problems faced by users frequently. Provides the user-friendly solutions to deal with numerous technical issues.

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