Applies to: All plans. Free, guided migration is included on Managed plans; on Self-Managed it is self-serve (we can advise over chat).
Before you start: You need your client area login (my.maxinodes.com), your new Professional Email seats already ordered (see How to add Professional Email to your hosting), and access to your old mailboxes — usually each mailbox's email address and password, plus your old provider's IMAP server name and port. For larger or admin-level moves, your old provider's admin login helps too.
Migrating means copying the mail you already have — folders and messages — from your current provider into your new resold Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace mailboxes at Maxinodes. Your mail will live in Microsoft's or Google's cloud (there is no cPanel webmail and no Maxinodes mail server). Below is the order of work and the all-important DNS cutover step.
On Managed plans, you don't have to do this yourself. Managed hosting includes free, guided migration: we create the mailboxes, copy your mail across, configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and coordinate the cutover with you. Skip to What we need from you and start a chat.
The migration in four stages
- Create the destination mailboxes. In the Microsoft 365 admin centre or the Google Workspace admin console, create one mailbox (seat) per address you're moving — using the same addresses as your old setup. See How to set up your first Microsoft 365 mailbox or How to set up your first Google Workspace mailbox.
- Copy the mail across (IMAP). With both old and new mailboxes live, copy the content. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace both provide a built-in migration tool in their admin consoles (look for the option labelled "Migration" or "Data migration") that pulls mail from your old server over IMAP. Run it while your old mail is still flowing so nothing is lost. Note that an IMAP migration copies mail and folders only — contacts and calendars are not moved this way and need to be exported and imported separately.
- Verify, then cut over DNS. Confirm the new mailboxes contain your mail, then point your domain's mail records at the new provider (see below). This is the switch that makes new mail start arriving at your new mailboxes.
- Re-sync and finish. After the cutover, run one final IMAP sync to catch any messages that arrived during the switch, then reconnect your devices to the new mailboxes.
Result: Your historical mail sits in your new mailboxes, and all new mail routes to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
The DNS cutover step
The cutover is a DNS change, and you make it in your client area DNS manager — not in the cPanel zone editor, which does not control live DNS here. Email routing is decided by your MX record, so changing it is what redirects incoming mail.
- Make sure your domain points at the Maxinodes nameservers at your registrar: ns1.maxinodes.com and ns2.maxinodes.com.
- In the client area, open your domain's DNS and replace your old MX record with your new provider's MX, then add the matching SPF, DKIM and (recommended) DMARC records. The exact values are tenant-specific and always come from the Microsoft 365 admin centre or the Google Workspace setup wizard — never reuse someone else's. See The DNS records your email needs (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
- Save. DNS changes are not instant — allow minutes, occasionally a few hours (up to ~24–48h worst case), governed by your record TTL. During that window, mail may briefly arrive at either the old or new provider, which is why you run a final sync afterwards.
Result: New mail flows to your Maxinodes-hosted Professional Email, and your inbox is complete.
What we need from you
To move your mailboxes (and especially for Managed guided migration), please have ready:
- Your domain and the full list of addresses (seats) to migrate.
- Whether you're moving to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
- Your old provider's IMAP server name and port, and each mailbox's login — or admin credentials for the old tenant.
- The rough size of each mailbox (so we can estimate copy time).
For the full list, see What we need from you to migrate (checklist).
Good to know
- Bring-your-own email is welcome. If you'd rather keep email at another provider entirely, you don't migrate to us — you just point your MX there. See Using your own email provider (BYO email).
- Domain-level forwarding is not a mailbox. Client-area/registrar email forwarding only relays an address to an existing inbox; it does not store mail. See How to set up email forwarding on a domain.
Troubleshooting this task
- New mail still goes to the old provider. Your MX hasn't propagated yet, or the old MX wasn't removed. Confirm the new MX in the client area DNS manager and wait out the TTL.
- Old mail didn't copy. The IMAP copy needs the correct old server name, port and per-mailbox credentials. Double-check them in your old provider's settings and re-run the migration tool.
- Some messages are missing after cutover. Run one more IMAP sync — they likely arrived at the old provider during the switch.
- I want you to handle it. Free migration is included on Managed. On Self-Managed it's self-serve, but start a chat and we'll guide you.
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