Migrate my Office 365 accounts

Migrating Office 365 accounts from GoDaddy to Microsoft 365 is usually a two-part process: moving your domain control and migrating mailbox data.

In general, you’ll need to:

Set up a new Microsoft 365 tenant

Add and verify your domain

Create user mailboxes in the new tenant

Migrate emails, contacts, and calendars

Update DNS (MX, Autodiscover) to point to Microsoft

Since GoDaddy tenants have certain limitations, many admins handle the data migration separately and then switch the domain.

For the mailbox migration, tools like EdbMails Office 365 Migration Software can help transfer mailboxes between tenants while maintaining data integrity and supporting incremental migration.

It’s a good idea to test with a few mailboxes first and plan the DNS cutover carefully to avoid disruption.

Migrating Office 365 accounts from GoDaddy to a standard Microsoft 365 tenant (often called defederation) is a common scenario. The process is not just a simple data move—it also involves separating your domain from GoDaddy’s control and reconfiguring it under Microsoft.

At a high level, the migration involves:

Creating a new Microsoft 365 tenant (if not already available)

Verifying and adding your domain to the new tenant

Creating user mailboxes in the destination

Migrating mailbox data (emails, contacts, calendars)

Updating DNS records (MX, Autodiscover, etc.) to point to Microsoft 365

One important point is that GoDaddy-managed tenants have certain restrictions, so direct tenant-to-tenant migration isn’t always straightforward. Many administrators choose to migrate mailbox data separately and then switch domain control.

For the mailbox migration part, you can use a professional solution like EdbMails Office 365 Migration Software, which supports Office 365 to Office 365 migration. It allows you to migrate multiple mailboxes, maintain folder structure, and perform incremental migration to avoid duplicate data. This can simplify the data transfer stage, especially if you're handling multiple users.

Before starting, it’s a good idea to:

Run a pilot migration with a few mailboxes

Lower DNS TTL values in advance

Ensure all target mailboxes are created and licensed

Plan the cutover to minimize downtime

Overall, the key is to treat this as both a domain transition + data migration process rather than just a mailbox copy. Proper planning makes a big difference in avoiding disruptions.

I've migrated a bunch of GoDaddy setups to direct Microsoft 365 and yeah it's more involved than a typical migration since you're dealing with federation.

The main thing is you can't just do a standard mailbox migration - you're actually defederating from GoDaddy's federated identity setup.

We put together a full walkthrough on this since it comes up constantly: https://mstack360.com/break-free-from-godaddy-defederate-to-microsoft-365-the-smart-way/

Basic process is backup everything first, convert federated domains to managed, do the actual migration, then update DNS. The timing matters a lot - GoDaddy federation adds some quirks around domain ownership verification that'll bite you if you don't handle it right.

There's also an FAQ here if you want the quick version: https://mstack360.com/godaddy-de-federation-from-microsoft-365-your-complete-faq-guide/

How many mailboxes are you moving? That'll affect how you approach the cutover timing.

To transition your Office 365 (Microsoft 365) accounts from GoDaddy to Microsoft, you must detach your tenant from GoDaddy’s environment and establish a new Microsoft 365 subscription directly with Microsoft:

Move my Microsoft 365 email away from GoDaddy | Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy - GoDaddy Help IE