How to migrate from GoDaddy email to Microsoft 365 (step-by-step guide)

By Jeffry, CF IT Solutions · Last updated 2 October 2026

GoDaddy email works until it doesn't. Limited admin controls, higher renewal prices and a lot of upselling push plenty of small business owners to look for a cleaner setup.

These days most business email sold by GoDaddy runs on Microsoft 365, but through GoDaddy's own version of it. You log in to a Microsoft screen and use Outlook, yet GoDaddy controls the account behind the scenes. Moving off GoDaddy really means getting your business onto a Microsoft 365 account that you control directly.

There are two ways to do that, and they work very differently. Mixing them up is the most common reason these moves go wrong, so this guide covers both, what tends to go wrong, and when it's worth getting help.

Resold vs direct Microsoft 365

When you buy Microsoft 365 through GoDaddy, GoDaddy is the reseller and keeps a lot of the admin side locked down. You can't use every security and management setting, some third party apps are harder to connect, and you pay GoDaddy's renewal prices.

With a direct subscription, bought from Microsoft or through an IT provider, you get full admin access to your own account, your users, your security settings and your billing.

The two ways out of GoDaddy

Option 1: Defederation (keep your existing account). GoDaddy hands control of your existing Microsoft 365 account over to you. Your mailboxes, emails, calendars and files stay exactly where they are, so there's no data to copy. The work is in taking over admin access, swapping GoDaddy's licences for your own, and removing GoDaddy from the account in the right order.

Option 2: New account and migrate. You set up a brand new Microsoft 365 account and copy everyone's email across with a migration tool, then move your domain over to the new account. It's more work, but you start clean, which suits businesses that also want to rename users, merge accounts or tidy up years of clutter.

Both end in the same place: your business on Microsoft 365, under your control. Pick one and follow its steps. Don't combine them.

What you'll need before you start

• Full admin access to your GoDaddy account
• Access to your domain's DNS settings (at GoDaddy or wherever your domain is managed)
• A list of every mailbox, alias (like info@ or accounts@), shared mailbox and distribution group
• A plan for licences: which Microsoft 365 plan each person needs once GoDaddy's licences are gone
• A quiet time to do the switch, such as a Friday evening or weekend

Option 1 steps: defederation

Step 1: Back up and list everything

Even though the data stays in place, take a backup of important mailboxes first and write down every alias and shared mailbox. If something goes wrong part way through, you want a copy and a checklist.

Step 2: Get full admin access to the account

GoDaddy normally keeps the top level admin role. You need a global administrator login of your own on the account before anything else changes. GoDaddy doesn't give you a simple button for this, so it usually means working through GoDaddy's support process or using an IT provider who does these moves regularly.

Step 3: Buy your own licences before GoDaddy's are removed

This is the step that catches people out. When GoDaddy is removed, its licences go with it. If a mailbox is left without a licence, it can stop working and is eventually deleted after Microsoft's grace period. Buy direct Microsoft 365 licences for every user and assign them before you remove GoDaddy's.

Step 4: Remove GoDaddy from the account

With your own admin access and licences in place, remove GoDaddy's licences and its partner access, then cancel the GoDaddy email subscription so you're not billed twice. Check that every user still has a working licence afterwards.

Step 5: Reset passwords and sign devices back in

Users usually need new passwords once GoDaddy's sign in setup is removed. Expect each person to sign back in on Outlook, their phone and any other devices. Your emails, folders and calendars will all still be there because nothing was moved.

Option 2 steps: new account and migrate

Step 1: Set up the new Microsoft 365 account

Create a new Microsoft 365 account and buy licences for everyone. To start with it will use a temporary address like yourcompany.onmicrosoft.com, because your real domain is still attached to the GoDaddy account and a domain can only be in one Microsoft 365 account at a time.

Step 2: Create users and copy their email across

Create each user in the new account, then use a migration tool to copy mailboxes from the GoDaddy account to the new one. Microsoft has its own cross tenant mailbox migration option, and third party migration tools are common for small businesses. Copying in the background first means the final switch is quick.

Step 3: Move the domain to the new account

On switchover day, remove your domain from the GoDaddy account, then add it to the new account. Microsoft gives you a TXT record to add to your DNS to prove you own it. Then give each user their proper email address.

Step 4: Update DNS records

Point your MX, SPF and autodiscover records at the new account, as listed in the new account's domain settings. This is what sends new incoming email to the new mailboxes.

Step 5: Final sync and sign devices in

Run a final copy to catch anything that arrived during the switch, then have everyone sign in to Outlook and their phones with their new account. Keep the old account until you've confirmed nothing is missing, then cancel the GoDaddy subscription.

The parts most people get wrong

Mixing the two methods

Setting up a new account and then asking GoDaddy to defederate the old one leaves you with two accounts and your data in the wrong one. Decide on one method before you start.

Letting licences lapse

In a defederation, removing GoDaddy before your own licences are assigned can disable mailboxes. Licences first, removal second.

iPhones holding on to old logins

iPhones often keep asking for a password or quietly stop fetching mail after the change. The reliable fix is to go to Settings, then Mail, then Accounts, delete the account from the phone and add it again as Microsoft Exchange.

Forgetting aliases

If you only move the main addresses and forget that people also receive mail through info@ or accounts@, those addresses stop working. Check your list from the start.

Expecting DNS to change instantly

When MX records change, it can take a few hours for every mail server to catch up, so some new messages may land in the old mailboxes in the meantime. Keep access to both until things settle.

Should you do it yourself or get help?

Doing it yourself can work if:

• You only have 1 or 2 mailboxes and not much history to keep
• You're comfortable editing DNS records and don't mind things taking a few hours to settle
• Your business can cope if email is patchy for an afternoon

It's worth getting help if:

• You have 5 or more staff who rely on email all day
• You use shared mailboxes, shared calendars or SharePoint
• You can't afford missed enquiries on Monday morning
• You'd rather not spend hours on hold with reseller support

Want it handled for you?

I'll work out which method suits your business, plan the switch for a quiet time, look after the licences and DNS, and get everyone signed back in on their computers and phones. You deal with me the whole way through.

Call Jeffry on 0406 160 140 or send a message.