How to migrate to Gaggle Mail
Moving a group or mailing list to Gaggle Mail from another platform is a three-stage process, and every stage is self-serve:
Migration help is free on every plan. If you get stuck at any stage, get in touch. On the Enterprise plan we handle the whole migration for you.
Migrating from Google Groups? Use our Google Groups Migration Tool. It transfers your groups, members and message archives automatically, so you don't need to do the stages below by hand. See Migrating from Google Groups.
Stage 1: Create and set up your group
New to Gaggle Mail? Sign up on our homepage and you'll be asked to create your first group straight away. Every new group starts with a 30-day free trial.
Already have an account? Go to your Dashboard and click + Add new group. See How to create a group.
Migrating several lists at once? You can bulk-create groups from a spreadsheet and manage them together under an Organization.
Once the group exists, go to its Settings page and match the settings of your old list. Keep the old list's admin page open alongside so you can compare. The settings that matter most:
- Group email address – set the address members will send to. You can keep your existing list address by pointing your own domain at Gaggle Mail. See Group email address: Overview
- Who can join – invitation only, or online signups with or without administrator approval
- Who can send – administrators only, selected members, all members or anyone. See How to select who can send
- Where replies go – to the whole group or to the original sender. See Choosing where replies go
- Moderation – whether messages are held for approval before going out. See What is moderation
- Message archive – whether it's on, and who can view it. Turn it on before Stage 3
- Welcome and invite messages – customise what new members receive
- Appearance – branding, footer and description
Stage 2: Add your members
Export your member list from your old platform, then add members to your Gaggle Mail group in one of two ways:
- Individually – paste names and email addresses, one per line. See How to add and invite members
- In bulk – upload the CSV or XLSX you exported from your old platform, exactly as it is. No reformatting, no template: any columns, any order, any headings. Only an email address column is required; Gaggle Mail matches name and delivery columns automatically and can keep any extra columns as custom fields. You'll see a preview to check before anyone is added. See How to bulk-add members
When adding members you can choose whether to add them silently or send them an invitation. For a migration, most administrators add members directly and then send a first message introducing the new group.
Useful for larger migrations:
- Store extra information about each member with custom fields – extra columns in your export can be imported straight into these
- Doing it in stages? Upload a fresh export and choose Replace all members with this list to sync the group to it. See Replacing the whole member list
- Give existing list owners Administrator or Moderator roles
- Let members know in advance that messages will start arriving from a new address. See How emails are addressed and sent
Stage 3: Import your message archive
If your old list has an archive, you can bring it with you. Export the messages as an .mbox file, then upload it from your group's Settings page under Import Messages. Everything is included: all messages and attachments, with no limit on archive size, and the imported messages are fully searchable as soon as the import finishes.
Full instructions, including how to get an .mbox file out of LISTSERV, Mailman, Groups.io and others, are in How to import a message archive.
Switching over
- Pick a cut-over date and tell members what's changing and when
- Send a first message from the new group so members see the new address
- Set the old list to read-only or announcement-only, then close it once you're happy everything has arrived
Need help?
We've helped groups move from LISTSERV (L-Soft), Mailman, Groups.io, Google Groups, Yahoo Groups, Mail-List.com and plenty of home-grown systems. Some are easier to get data out of than others, so if you're not sure where to start, tell us which platform you're on and we'll point you in the right direction. It won't cost you a penny.
On the Enterprise plan, migration assistance is complete: send us your exports and we'll create the groups, load the members and import the archives for you.