It’s been free since 2006: Google Apps, G Suite, and currently renamed to Google Workspace. But now, Google is forcing users to pay up, or move out. Maybe they were giving a subtle signal when they called it G Suite legacy free edition?
However, it is largely just an annoyance: small businesses are likely able to just move everything to Gmail and remain on a free account. No need to beg Google to let you keep the free account. Or maybe you are already paying for a Google Workspace account and don’t need to. Perhaps it’s time to move away from Google entirely, but if you want to keep things mostly the same, here’s how to move to Gmail for free:
1. Moving email:
Create a free Gmail account. For example: alice@example.com might create alice_example@gmail.com. Google does not have a good email migration tool. However, you can use Gmail > Settings >Accounts > Check mail from other accounts.
1. 1. Import emails
To import to Gmail, you will need to enable POP or IMAP on your G Suite account and enable “less secure apps”. You read that right… Google only has a “less secure” way to import emails 🤦♂️. To enable this, go to myaccount.google.com and search for “less secure”. Please use the HTTPS / SSL / TLS encrypted option when you configure the import in Gmail. It seems to import about 1,000 emails per hour, so it might take a while to finish. Also beware that Google may filter some emails (such as if they claim the file attachment is suspicious).
1. 2. Forward emails
Your domain provider should have free email forwarding. This allows for mail sent to alice@example.com to be delivered to alice_example@gmail.com. Here are the instructions to do this if you have NameCheap. This step requires you to change your domain records with your domain registrar (ex: NameCheap / GoDaddy / etc), so you will want to ensure everything else is working before completing this step. You can also configure Gmail to reply as alice@example.com in Gmail > Settings > Accounts. If you do this, the @gmail.com becomes effectively hidden from everyone else.
2. Move Google Drive files
Unfortunately, you will not be able to transfer ownership. Your best alternative is Google Takeout to download the files. Takeout will ensure no files are missed in the export. Then you can import the files into your Gmail drive.
3. Move calendar
3.1. Download calendar
Go to G Suite Calendar > Settings > Settings for my calendars (choose the calendar you want to export) > Export calendar to download your calendar.
3.2 Upload calendar
Go to Gmail Calendar > Settings > Import & Export > Import. This will allow you to upload the calendar file.
4. Move contacts
Contact export from G Suite. Contacts import into Gmail. (the buttons are on the bottom left of the page).
5. Move other features
Most other features will follow a similar export/import process. Of course not all features are available on Gmail. However, the steps above should get you most of the way there.
Moving away from Google
My top tips:
- Use Brave Browser. It has the same engine as Google Chrome, but without Google spying. You can also opt-in to certain advertisements and earn crypto rewards.
- Use Brave Search or Duck Duck Go for search. This replaces Google search which is littered with biased and “personalized” results from endless pilfering of your tracking information.
