How to Migrate Email from cPanel to Office 365 Account?

5 min readMay 14, 2024

There are easy ways to migrate your email from cPanel to Office 365 if you know what to do. This guide will show you three good ways to move your emails, contacts, and files while keeping your work as smooth as possible.

Before We Begin

Gather Credentials: You will need to know the username and password for both your cPanel and Office 365 accounts in order to log in.
Find Out Email Box Size: Finding the best way to migrate will be easier if you know how big your cPanel mailbox is all together.
Make Backups: Before moving, you should always make a copy of your cPanel emails.

Choose the Best Way to Move cPanel to Office 365

Moving your emails from cPanel to Office 365 can be done in 3 possible ways:

When moving PST files by hand: This method works for files that are less than 1 GB in size. To do this, you need to use Outlook desktop to export your emails to a PST file and then load them into Office 365.
IMAP Sync: This way brings cPanel and Office 365 together in real time using the IMAP protocol. For ongoing email handling, it works great, but it might not be right for big migrations.
Email Migration Tools from outside sources: The transfer process can be automated with a number of paid and free tools. These tools can easily handle huge mailboxes, but they might need to be set up differently, which could cost extra.

Method 1: Moving PST files by hand

To get to cPanel: Use an online browser to log in to your cPanel account.
Find Email Accounts: Go to cPanel and find the “Email Accounts” area.
Pick an email account: Pick the email account that you want to move.
Click on “Check Email” to go to your cPanel webmail window.

Export to PST:

You can export emails from most webmail applications. Find a way to “Export” or “Backup” your mailbox. This will usually save it as a PST file.
Get the PST file here: Get the PST file and save it to your computer.
Setting up Outlook: You can get the Microsoft Outlook desktop app and install it on your machine.
Add an account: Open Outlook and set up your email account for Office 365.

Bring in PST:

Go to the “File” button in Outlook and choose “Import.” Pick the “Outlook Data File (.pst)” as the type of file to import, and then find the PST file you got from cPanel.
Pick Out Folders: Pick out which folders from the PST file you want to bring in, then click “Finish.”

Step 2: Sync with IMAP

In cPanel, turn on IMAP:

Find the “Email Accounts” area in your cPanel account. In the email account you want to move, look for a button that says “Enable IMAP Access.”
Setting up Outlook: Open the Outlook program on your computer.
Sign Up: Click “New Account” and pick “IMAP” as the type of account.

Type in Information:

Type in your cPanel email address, your username, your password, and the hostname of your IMAP server, which is usually “[invalid URL removed]”.
Set up the incoming and outgoing mail server ports that your web host tells you to (IMAP port: 993, SMTP port: 587 in most cases).
Check the settings: Always click “Test Account Settings” to make sure everything works right.
Synchronize Emails: Once you’ve confirmed, hit “Next” and “Finish” to finish setting up your account. Outlook will start to sync with your cPanel account to get your emails.

Method 3: Using tools from outside the company

Moving from cPanel to Office 365 can be done automatically with a number of ceritified third party tools. These tools can easily handle huge mailboxes, but they might need to be set up differently, which could cost extra.

Here are some well-known choices to think about:

WebbyAcad Email Migration Tool
Two CodeTwo Office 365 Moves
Veeam Tool for Moving to Office 365

Important Things to Think About When Migrating Emails

Size of mailbox: If you have a mailbox that is over 10 GB, you might want to use a third-party migration tool or ask your hosting source for help.
Internet Speed: If your internet link is slow, it can make the migration take a lot longer.
Partial Migration: If you only need to move a certain group of folders or emails, you can use any of the above ways and pick which folders to move during the process.
Downtime: During the migration, there may be a short time of downtime depending on the method picked and the size of the mailbox.

Here are some more tips to make sure your move goes smoothly:

Set up a maintenance window: To keep things as smooth as possible, schedule the migration for a time when there isn’t much email traffic, especially for IMAP sync.
Test Migration: Before moving all of your emails, you might want to do a test run with a smaller group of emails to see if there are any problems.
Check on Progress: To make sure everything is going well, keep an eye on the migration process, especially if you are using third-party tools.

For those who use a custom domain name for their cPanel email address, you may need to change your DNS MX records to point to Office 365 after the transfer. For help with this step, talk to your domain registrar or hosting company.

In conclusion

It doesn’t have to be hard to move your email from cPanel to Office 365. A smooth transition is possible if you pick the right way based on the size of your mailbox and your level of technical knowledge. For the best results, make sure you backup your data first, plan the move carefully, and think about adding extra security measures. If you run into any problems during the process, you can get more help from your web hosting provider or the instructions for the migration method you picked.