Forum Discussion
How to convert from a GoDaddy Office 365 Email Essentials account to a full M365 Business Standard?
I am currently supporting a client who is using a GoDaddy Office 365 Email Essentials account, that they purchased along with their domain registration.
They now have need of the full suite of services offered with a Microsoft 365 Business Standard account. However, it's my understanding that the GoDaddy tenants are a specialized product that isn't truly a native Microsoft 365 account. Is this true? If so what would the requirements be to migrate the user's account to a full Microsoft 365 Business Standard account?
2 Replies
You're spot on — GoDaddy’s Microsoft 365 setup is technically a Microsoft tenant, but it’s managed through GoDaddy’s federation, which limits admin access, available features, and support for advanced configurations.
The good news: You don’t need to migrate in the traditional sense (no PST exports or tenant-to-tenant moves). Instead, your client can go through a process called defederation.
This allows you to:
- Purchase Microsoft 365 Business Standard licenses directly from Microsoft
- Remove GoDaddy’s federation and delegated admin control
- Update DNS records
- Keep all data, users, and services intact with no downtime
Once done, the tenant becomes fully native and is managed directly in the Microsoft 365 admin center — no more GoDaddy limitations.
We’ve handled this process for clients in similar situations and documented it here if it helps:
Let me know if you need a quick checklist or run into any snags — happy to share what’s worked for us.
Ahmed Masoud
There's no direct migration path afaik, but if you want a proper answer best talk with GoDaddy support.
