How to move your company email to Zoho Mail without losing a message
When you move your company email, messages are lost only if the steps are done in the wrong order. The right order: create the mailboxes in Zoho Mail, copy the old messages, only then change the domain's MX record, and finally copy once more whatever arrived in the meantime. Until the MX record changes, your old email keeps working as normal.
Where messages go missing
Moving email feels risky because messages are everywhere: on the server, in Outlook, on phones. In reality, they go missing in four places, and always the same four:
- The MX record is changed too early. If you switch the MX record before the mailboxes exist in Zoho, new messages arrive at a server that is not expecting them and bounce back to the sender.
- Messages stored only on a computer. If Outlook was set up with POP3, messages were downloaded to the computer and deleted from the server. A migration tool that reads the server cannot see them.
- Forgotten addresses. office@, sales@, accounts@, or a former employee's address that someone else now reads. If they are not on the list, they will not exist after the move.
- The old SPF record. If the SPF record does not include Zoho, messages sent from the new mailboxes land in your clients' spam folders. They are not lost, but nobody sees them.
Every step below is there to close one of these four gaps.
What to prepare
Make a simple table. It takes an hour and saves you surprises.
| What | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| A list of every address: people, shared addresses (office@), aliases, forwards | Each becomes a mailbox, an alias or a group in Zoho |
| Where the domain's DNS is managed and who has the password | Without DNS access, you cannot verify the domain or change the MX record |
| How each person reads email: web, Outlook (IMAP or POP3), phone | Anyone on POP3 has messages only on their computer |
| How much space each mailbox uses | So you choose the Zoho plan with the right storage |
| Passwords or administrator access at your current provider | The migration tool needs to read the old mailboxes |
Do not end your contract with the old provider until the move is finished. Switch it off after you have checked everything, not before.
The steps, in the right order
- Verify your domain in Zoho Mail. Zoho gives you a verification record (TXT or CNAME) to add to your DNS. Your current email is not affected.
- Create the mailboxes, aliases and groups. One mailbox per person; shared addresses become groups or aliases, depending on how you use them.
- Copy the old messages. Zoho Mail has migration tools for Gmail and Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Exchange, and any server that supports IMAP. Folders are kept. Messages that exist only in Outlook (POP3) are exported to a .pst file and imported separately.
- Lower the TTL on the MX record a day in advance. TTL tells other servers how long to remember the old address. With a low TTL, the change is picked up faster.
- Change the MX record to point to Zoho. From this moment, new mail arrives in Zoho. Servers that still remember the old MX record keep sending some messages to the old provider for a few hours, and it is still running.
- Update SPF and add DKIM and DMARC, so that messages sent from Zoho do not land in spam.
- Copy once more after 24–48 hours. The second pass brings over messages that reached the old server during the switch.
- Connect phones and computers to Zoho: the Zoho Mail apps for phone and desktop, or Outlook connected to Zoho Mail.
- Switch off the old service only once you have checked that the old messages are in Zoho and that nothing new is arriving at the old provider.
What you see from step 5 onwards: no gap. The old email works right up to the switch, and the new email works from that moment.
DNS records, explained
DNS is your domain's address book: it tells the rest of the internet where to deliver your mail and how to check that a message really came from you.
| Record | What it does | What happens without it |
|---|---|---|
| Verification (TXT or CNAME) | Proves to Zoho that the domain is yours | You cannot create mailboxes on the domain |
| MX | Says where mail for your domain is delivered | Mail goes to the old provider or bounces |
| SPF (TXT) | Lists the servers allowed to send mail on behalf of your domain | Your messages land in spam or are rejected |
| DKIM (TXT) | A signature proving the message was not altered on the way | More messages in spam, especially at Gmail and Outlook |
| DMARC (TXT) | Tells the receiving server what to do with messages that fail SPF and DKIM checks | Anyone can send messages that appear to come from your company |
The Zoho Mail console shows the exact values for your account. Do not copy them from other websites: they differ by account region. Your domain stays with its current registrar; only the records change.
Calendar, contacts and Outlook
- Calendars are exported from Google or Outlook as an .ics file and imported into Zoho Calendar.
- Contacts are exported as .vcf or .csv and imported into Zoho Contacts.
- Outlook can stay. If your team is used to it, we connect it to Zoho Mail and people work as before.
- Signatures are set up once, the same way for the whole team.
Mistakes we see often
- The old provider is switched off on the day the MX record changes. Late-arriving messages are lost.
- Only personal mailboxes are moved, without office@ and the other shared addresses.
- The old SPF record is left unchanged, and quotes sent from the new mailboxes end up in clients' spam.
- Nobody asks who is on POP3, and someone's entire archive stays on an old laptop.
- A second SPF record is added instead of the existing one being edited. A domain may have only one.
What we do and what you do
If we handle the move:
- We verify the domain, create the mailboxes and shared addresses, set up MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC, copy the messages in two passes, and connect phones and computers.
- You give us the list of addresses and access to your DNS (or stay on the phone with us while we change it), then check a few mailboxes before switching off the old provider.
Zoho Mail Lite costs {pretLunarMailLite} MDL per user per month, or {pretAnualMailLite} MDL per year, incl. VAT. The other plans and their prices are on our subscriptions page.
Questions
Will I lose messages on the day the MX record changes?
No, as long as the old provider keeps running. For a few hours, some messages will still arrive there; the second copy brings them into Zoho.
How long does an MX change take to apply?
Usually a few hours. At worst, up to 48 hours, depending on the TTL and on servers that remembered the old value.
Do I need to transfer my domain to you?
No. Your domain stays with your registrar. We change only the DNS records for email, with your access or together with you. If you want a new .md domain, we register it in your company's name.
Can I move only part of the team?
Technically, yes: some mailboxes move to Zoho while others stay with the old provider for now, on the same domain. The setup is more delicate, so we discuss it beforehand.
What happens to large attachments?
They move along with the messages. The size limit for sending an attachment depends on your Zoho plan; you will find it in the plan description.
This guide is general information, accurate on the date it was updated. Manufacturers' prices and rules change, so check them before you decide.