File Migration: What will and what won't migrate

Owned by Jim Luther
Last updated: Apr 15, 2024 by Dan Jakubiak
3 min read

As we phase out Google, the University will be migrating data stored on UConn Google Workspace accounts to Microsoft 365 OneDrive. This article covers what will and will not migrate, and for the limitations, offers available workarounds.

ITS will only migrate Google Drive files and student email. Other services will need to be exported by the user if they need the data.

Table of Contents

What will Migrate: Google Docs, Sheets, Slides

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.

Student Email

The Gmail Inbox of current students, who are not graduating, will be migrated into Outlook.

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.

Below is an example of a Google Doc that contains a link to a Google Sheet with more data. When ITS migrates the document to OneDrive or SharePoint, the link will not be changed, and will continue to link back to Google.

Mitigation: 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. To learn more, visit Google Shared Drives - Migration

Google Calendar - Students

Calendars in student 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 Size Limit

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 Calendar - Faculty / Staff

Faculty and Staff accounts will not have their Google Calendar migrated.

Google Drawings

Google Drawings cannot be migrated by ITS.

Google Forms

At this time, Google Forms cannot be migrated by ITS. We have created the following guide to manually convert Google Forms to Microsoft Forms: Converting Google Forms to Microsoft Forms

Google Maps data

Google Maps data cannot be migrated by ITS.

Google Photos

Google Photos cannot be migrated by ITS. We have identified two methods of exporting your Google Photos. Both are explained here: Migrating Google Photo Library

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 Aurora, a multisite WordPress service provided by ITS to the university community.

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