File Migration: What will and won’t migrate
ITS will migrate: Your Google Docs, Sheets and Slides to Microsoft 365.
Google’s proprietary formats aren’t compatible with anything other than a Google Workspace Drive. When migrating from Google Workspace, files will be converted to their equivalent Microsoft Office format.
.gdoc → .docx (Word)
.gsheet → .xlsx (Excel)
.gslide → .pptx (PowerPoint)
However, we have identified the following interventions that users will need to take in order to ensure documents look and behave the same way that they did before the migration.
- Metadata
- The “Created” date of files migrated into Microsoft will reflect the date the file was migrated from Google. However, the “Modified” date will remain accurate.
- Hyperlinks to other Google Docs
- If your Google Doc, Sheet, or Slides contain hyperlinks to other documents in your Google Drive, these will need to be changed to the new document’s location in OneDrive or SharePoint.
- Users will need to open the migrated document and edit the hyperlink to point to the appropriate document in OneDrive or SharePoint.
- Google Shared Drives
- The contents of Shared Drives will be migrated.
- Google Calendar
- Calendars in Google accounts will be migrated.
What will not migrate In Google Drive & Shared Drives
Sharing Permissions
Sharing permissions for Google drives, folders, and files cannot be migrated by ITS. Users will need to re-share files with other users after the migration as needed.
ITS can assist users with recreating sharing permissions for their department based on ITS data security best practices.
Shortcut Files
Shortcut files in Google Drive cannot be migrated by ITS.
Files Over 15GB
Microsoft 365 supports files up to 250GB in size, but the migration tool can only handle files under 15GB. Therefore, ITS cannot migrate files equal to, or larger than, 15GB. To migrate files over this size, individuals should download them from Google Drive and upload them in OneDrive.
Google Drawings
Google Drawings cannot be migrated by ITS.
Google Forms
At this time, Google Forms cannot be migrated by ITS. However, you can export a Google Form to a PDF format and import the PDF into Microsoft Forms. While the conversion is not perfect, it can save time by not having to completely recreate the form from scratch.
- How to convert Google Forms to Microsoft Forms
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- Navigate to forms.google.com and log in.
- Open the form you would like to export.
- In the upper right corner, click the ellipses and select Print
- On the print options screen, select Save as PDF or Print to PDF. This option goes by different names depending on the web browser used.
- Make sure to uncheck the option for Headers and Footers. This option may be hidden under a “More Options” or “More Settings” menu.
- Click Save/Print to save the PDF to your computer. A new dialog box should appear where you can name the file and select where to save it on your computer.
- Import the PDF into Microsoft Forms
- Navigate to forms.office.com and log in.
- In the top left corner of the screen, select Quick import.
- In the “Import your file” overlay, click the box to Upload from this device.
- Navigate to the location on your computer where you saved the PDF and select it. Microsoft Forms will ask you to select the format for the new form.
- Once the form is imported, you can select whether to import another or start reviewing the current form. It is recommended that you review the form to ensure that it was imported correctly and there are no formatting errors. Be sure to review each question on the form, as different input types (short answer, long answer, multiple choice) will not translate correctly and may need to be fixed manually.
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Google Maps data
Google Maps data cannot be migrated by ITS.
Google Photos
Google Photos cannot be migrated by ITS.
Google Sites
Google Sites cannot be automatically migrated, as there is no Microsoft equivalent to this product. We can help your group transition to SharePoint or Teams if an internal site is needed.
