Compatibility concerns

Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 handle files, email, and folders differently. It is important to understand these differences so you know what may change and what may need adjustment before the migration.

Native Google formats

Google-native files such as Docs, Sheets, and Slides are automatically converted to Microsoft formats (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) during migration. Formatting transfers accurately, but comments and the revision history will not be copied.

Migration of files in some native Google formats, including Google Keep, Google Maps, and Google Forms, is not supported because either Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 does not provide a way of processing the content properly.

For example, Google Workspace provides APIs to programmatically access and export Google Forms data, whereas Microsoft 365 currently does not offer a public API for programmatically importing or recreating forms in Microsoft Forms.

For more information regarding what can and cannot be copied, see the following article: Selecting data types.

Path length and folder hierarchy

Microsoft 365 enforces a strict path length limit of 400 characters in OneDrive and SharePoint. For this reason, deeply nested folders or very long file names from Google Drive may need to be shortened or reorganized before migration.

The only reliable way to find deeply nested folders is to calculate the full path length for each file using a Google Script at script.google.com. If that is not possible, users should be instructed to review their folder structures and flatten them when folder names are too long, or there are more than 5-6 levels of nesting.

If the path length is too long for OneDrive, VaultMe for Admins will flatten the folder structure and move deeply nested folders up one level. Any changes to the folder hierarchy will be reflected in the migration report.

This limitation applies only to files and folders, not to emails.

Special characters

Google Drive allows certain special characters in file or folder names that Microsoft 365 does not support, such as: \ / : * ? " < > |. Files containing these special characters will not be copied, so these characters should be replaced before the migration to avoid compatibility issues.
To find the files containing problematic characters, the user or the administrator can use Google Drive's search bar. Here's an example of a search query: name contains "|".

Special characters in Gmail label names (for example, slashes or quotation marks) may also cause inconsistencies during migration. Consider reviewing and renaming Gmail labels that contain special symbols before migration. Going through each label manually is recommended in this scenario.

Emails and labels

Gmail organizes messages using labels, and a single email can have multiple labels. Outlook uses folders, where each message can belong to only one folder.

VaultMe for Admins does not duplicate messages; instead, it uses its own internal prioritization rules to determine the most suitable destination folder for each message during the migration.

For example, if a message in Gmail has both the Inbox label and a custom label, the message will be placed in the corresponding custom folder in Outlook and will not appear in the Inbox.

This approach helps avoid inflating the size of the destination mailbox and the confusion caused by multiple copies of the same email message.

To avoid these changes, users can reorganize emails with multiple labels in Gmail before the migration so that each email message has only one label.

Calendar and contact data

Calendar events and contacts are transferred accurately, but some visual details, such as color coding or calendar overlays, may appear differently in Microsoft 365