After deciding to move from Google Workspace to MXroute, the next job was moving the old emails. I did not want years of email history to disappear just because I changed providers.
For this migration, I used Thunderbird. It can open two email accounts side by side, so I could copy messages from the old Google Workspace mailbox to the new MXroute mailbox.
In my case, there were around 4,000 emails to move. Not huge for a company, but still enough that I had to be patient and careful.
If you have not read the context yet, I wrote the reason for the migration here: why I moved from Google Workspace to MXroute. That post focuses more on cost and why Google Workspace no longer felt like the right fit for this particular email account.
Create the MXroute mailbox first
The first step is to create the mailbox in MXroute. I used the same username as the old Google Workspace email address.
For example, if the old email address is [email protected], I also create [email protected] in MXroute. It keeps the setup tidy and makes the Thunderbird configuration less confusing.
Make sure IMAP is enabled in Google Workspace
Before opening Thunderbird, make sure IMAP access is enabled for the Google Workspace mailbox. Without IMAP, Thunderbird cannot sync the messages from Google’s server.
Google’s current guidance is also worth noting: for Gmail and Workspace accounts, you should sign in with Google when the email client supports it. App passwords are still available in some cases, usually when 2-Step Verification is enabled, but Google says they are not recommended or necessary in most cases.
So if Thunderbird offers Google sign-in/OAuth, use that instead of typing your regular Google password into a generic mail setup screen.
Add the Google Workspace account in Thunderbird
Open Thunderbird and add the Google Workspace account first. Sign in normally with the Google account that still has access to the old mailbox.
Once it works, Thunderbird will start showing the inbox and folders from Google Workspace. Wait until the mailbox starts syncing before moving to the next account.
Get the mail client settings from MXroute
After the Google account is connected, open the MXroute panel. Look for the email client configuration. It usually lists the details needed by apps like Thunderbird.
The exact values can vary depending on the server, so do not guess them. Take the settings directly from the MXroute panel.
- email address
- email password
- server hostname
- recommended IMAP port
- recommended SMTP port
- SSL/TLS setting
If you are still comparing lighter email setups, I also wrote about using Cloudflare Email Routing. It is a different type of setup because it forwards mail instead of hosting a full mailbox, but it is useful as a comparison.
Add the MXroute account manually
This is the part I would not leave to Thunderbird’s automatic detection. Because the same domain was previously used with Google Workspace, Thunderbird may still detect Gmail settings when you add the email address.
Use manual configuration. Enter the MXroute hostname, port, security type, username, and password based on the panel.
If it works, Thunderbird will show two mailboxes for the same email address: one connected to Google Workspace and one connected to MXroute.
Create an archive folder in MXroute
Because I only wanted to keep the old messages as an archive, I created a backup folder in the MXroute mailbox. Then I copied the old messages into that folder.
If your old mailbox has many folders, it may be better to recreate the same folder structure in MXroute first. That keeps the archive easier to browse later.
I did not use many folders, so I copied everything into a backup folder first. It can always be reorganized later.
Copy email from Google Workspace to MXroute
Once both accounts are visible in Thunderbird, the process is simple: select messages from the Google Workspace mailbox, then copy them to the backup folder in the MXroute mailbox.
For thousands of emails, expect it to take time. In my case, around 4,000 messages had to be moved, so I let Thunderbird run until the copy process finished.
During the backup process, I still kept Google Workspace active for new incoming mail. The archive copy ran first. The DNS switch came later.
After the backup is finished
After the old messages were copied, I continued with the rest of the migration. One of the next tasks was moving Google Drive files from the work account to my personal Google One account.
I may write that part separately because it is a different problem from email migration.
What I changed from the Indonesian version
I updated the authentication note. The original Indonesian article only said to log in to Google Workspace in Thunderbird. The current Google help page is more specific: Gmail no longer supports older third-party apps that require sharing your Google username and password. OAuth or Google sign-in is the better route when Thunderbird offers it.
I also added SMTP and SSL/TLS to the MXroute settings checklist, because those are normally needed for a complete mail client configuration, not just IMAP.
After the migration, check SPF, DKIM, and DMARC too. I wrote about why DKIM records matter in a separate post.
Conclusion
Moving email from Google Workspace to MXroute with Thunderbird worked well for me. The process is not complicated, but the manual account settings need attention.
The most important part is to make sure both accounts are connected to the right servers. Do not copy messages before you are sure which mailbox is Google Workspace and which one is MXroute.
Once the archive is safely copied, you can move on to DNS changes and new incoming mail with less worry.
