Switch from Google Workspace to Tuta: step by step
How to move your mail, contacts and address from Google Workspace to Tuta without losing anything. Most moves take an evening to set up, then a few weeks of forwarding.
Watch out for
- Tuta has no IMAP either, so mail has to go in as files through its desktop app, on the Legend and Unlimited plans.
Before you start
- Check where your address lives. Google Workspace runs on your own domain, like you@yourname.co.uk, so your address comes with you: you'll change a few DNS settings.
- Check the space you need. See how much mail you have in Google Workspace, and compare it with Tuta's plans (the cheapest is Revolutionary, About €3 a month, yearly, with 20 GB).
- Read the small print. Tuta's page covers exporting, cancelling and refunds under "Before you sign up".
Open your Tuta account
Sign up on Tuta's website (Free plan), and turn on two-step sign-in straight away. You'll find the link on Tuta's page: Tuta.
Bring your mail across
Export, then import. First save your mail as files: Google asks you to save your users' email and documents before you cancel. Google Workspace's guide ↗
Then bring them in: Tuta imports .eml and .mbox files in its desktop app (Settings, then Email import), on the Legend and Unlimited plans.
Your old mail stays where it is while it's copied, so nothing is lost if you need to start again.
Move your contacts and calendar
Export your contacts as a .vcf file and each calendar as an .ics file from Google Workspace, then import them into Tuta. Most providers have both options in their contacts and calendar settings.
If you use your own domain
Your address moves with you. Do this after your mail has been copied:
- Add your domain in Tuta's settings, and create the same addresses there.
- A day before, lower the TTL on your domain's MX records (to 300 seconds, say), so the change takes effect quickly.
- Replace the MX records with Tuta's, and swap Google Workspace's entry in your SPF record for Tuta's.
- Add Tuta's DKIM record, and keep your DMARC record.
- Check the result with a free DNS checker before you rely on it.
Not sure what these mean? See my email glossary.
Check everything arrived
- Compare the number of emails in each folder on both sides.
- Send a test email to your new address from another account, and reply to it.
- Check that mail forwarded from Google Workspace is arriving, and isn't going to spam.
Close Google Workspace, when you're ready
Wait at least a month, until nothing new arrives there. On a free account you can leave it open with forwarding on instead. Before you close a paid account, download a last copy of your mail.
- Cancelling: An admin cancels the subscription in the Google Admin console. If you bought through a reseller, cancel with them.
- Refunds: Cancelling an Annual/Fixed-Term Plan early still charges the rest of the contract. On the Flexible Plan, charges stop when you cancel.
From Google Workspace's page: Google Workspace.
I checked the providers' help pages on 24 October 2026. Menus move, so if a step doesn't match what you see, tell me and I'll update it.
Moving to Tuta from somewhere else? Gmail to Tuta · Outlook.com to Tuta · iCloud Mail to Tuta · Proton Mail to Tuta · Fastmail to Tuta · mailbox.org to Tuta · All switching guides