Orientation: Scope, Independence and Who Runs the Move

You already know Google's tools well. This course does not teach you to use a computer again. It teaches you to remap habits you already have: for each thing you do in Google, you learn the Microsoft 365 way to do it, and where the two don't match. This first level sets three things up before you move anything:

1. What the course covers.
2. Which kind of move you are making.
3. A dated log for checking facts that change.

What This Course Covers

The course goes app by app, and every lesson follows the same pattern:

• A mapping table: your Google habit on the left, the Microsoft 365 equivalent on the right.
• "Where the match breaks" notes: places where the two suites behave differently, so a habit you carry over could catch you out.
• Actions: numbered steps to try in your own account.

Across the 18 levels you will map mail, files and sharing, documents, spreadsheets, slides, meetings and chat, calendar, tasks and notes, automation and AI assistants. You will also cover what moves across and what does not, working with people who still use Google, a first-week plan and a day-30 check. The course ends with a challenge: move a small project across and write down what you would keep, change and check.

Scope: this course is for one person or a small team moving their own work. It does not train IT administrators to migrate a whole company.

This Course Is Independent

This course is independent of both Google and Microsoft. Neither company sponsored, endorsed or reviewed it.

• It gives no verdict on which suite is better. Each has strengths, and the right choice depends on your situation.
• People arrive here by choice, through a new job or because their company changed suites. The course treats all three the same.
• When a feature differs, the course says how it differs, not which version wins.

Do this now: write one sentence explaining why you are moving, for example: "My new employer uses Microsoft 365." You will use it at the day-30 check.

Which Kind of Move Are You Making?

Moves fall into two kinds, and the tools and the person in charge are different for each.

About the company route: according to Microsoft's Migration Manager overview (page dated 25 September 2026), Migration Manager moves Google Workspace files, metadata and permissions into OneDrive and SharePoint. On the Microsoft side the person running it needs one of these roles: Global admin, OneDrive/SharePoint admin or Microsoft 365 Migration Administrator. On the Google side they need a Google Workspace administrator account. Ordinary users do not have this access, which is why IT runs these moves.

About the personal route: Google Takeout exports a copy of your data. Google's help page says that downloading your data does not delete it from Google's servers. Level 2 covers what each route moves.

Where the match breaks: in a start-up, the founder who set up Microsoft 365 is often its admin. That person can use the admin tools for a small team, so in that case "IT" may simply mean you.

Decide Your Route: Steps

1. Find out who owns your Google account. Is it personal (gmail.com) or managed by an organisation?
2. Find out who owns the Microsoft 365 tenant you are moving into. Is it yours, your team's or your employer's?
3. Check whether you hold an admin role in that tenant.
4. If your company is running a tenant move, don't copy company data across yourself. Ask IT:
   • What will they move for me, and when?
   • What will they not move, so that I need to handle it myself?
   • When does my Google access end?
5. Write your answer down: "personal", "small team (I am admin)", "small team (someone else is admin)" or "company tenant move run by IT".

Set Up Your Verification Log

Plans, tools and limits change on both sides. One example: Microsoft's page currently says that Migration Manager Lite, a simplified version for smaller businesses, is switched on by default for tenants with fewer than 300 Microsoft 365 licences. A number like that can change in a later update. Never act on a limit, price or feature from memory, from an old blog post or even from this course. Check the vendor's current page and write down the date you checked.

Steps

1. Create a table in Excel, Word or OneNote. Building it in a Microsoft app is good first practice.
2. Add these columns:
   • Date checked
   • Vendor (Google or Microsoft)
   • Item checked (plan, tool, limit or feature)
   • What the page says
   • Page URL
   • Page's own "updated" date, if it shows one
   • Affects me? (yes or no)
   • Recheck by
3. Use primary sources only: the vendor's own help, admin documentation or official announcements.
4. Add your first entry now. Open Microsoft's Migration Manager Google overview, record the roles it lists, and add today's date and the page's date.
5. Add one entry for Google, for example the Google Takeout help page.
6. Before you act on an entry, check it again if its "Recheck by" date has passed.

You will add to this log in every lesson that follows.

Key Takeaways

• The course maps your Google habits to Microsoft 365 app by app, with a table and "where the match breaks" notes in each lesson.
• It is independent of Google and Microsoft and gives no verdict on which is better.
• A personal or small-team move is run by you. A company tenant migration is run by IT, using admin tools such as Migration Manager and Exchange admin center migration batches.
• Migration Manager needs admin roles: Global admin, OneDrive/SharePoint admin or Microsoft 365 Migration Administrator.
• Google Takeout exports a copy and does not delete your Google data.
• Keep a dated verification log and check vendors' current pages before you act.