Contents Ignored During Google Workspace Migration: Complete Troubleshooting Guide
Understand why emails, contacts, calendar events, and files appear as "ignored" in your Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 migration reports. Learn what this means for your data integrity and when action is required.
What Are Ignored Items in Google Workspace Migration?
During Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 migration, certain items appear as "ignored" in your migration reports. These are items that were intentionally skipped by the migration engine for valid technical reasons, not due to errors or failures.
Understanding ignored items is crucial for migration planning and ensuring data integrity during your Google Workspace migration project. Unlike failed items, ignored items typically don't require manual intervention.
Key Points About Ignored Items
- • They are intentionally excluded by migration logic
- • No data loss occurs - items are preserved in the source system
- • Different from failed items which indicate actual problems
- • Help maintain data quality in the destination system
Ignored vs Failed Items: Understanding Migration Status
Migration Item Status Explained
Critical Distinction
Gmail Messages Ignored During Migration
Common scenarios when Gmail messages are ignored during Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 migration:
Date Range Filters
Emails outside the specified migration date range (From/To parameters in your migration project settings). This helps control migration scope and reduce processing time.
Trash and Deleted Items
Messages in Gmail Trash when trash migration is disabled in project settings. These items are typically not needed in the destination system.
Calendar Invitations in Gmail
Meeting invitations stored in Gmail folders are ignored because they exist as separate calendar events and are migrated as appointments instead.
System Messages
Automated Gmail system notifications, delivery reports, and server-generated messages that don't contain user data.
Google Contacts Ignored During Migration
The Cloudiway migration platform processes all Google Contacts but strategically excludes suggested contacts to maintain data quality and prevent address book clutter in your Microsoft 365 environment.
Understanding Google Suggested Contacts
Suggested contacts are automatically generated entries created by Gmail when you exchange emails with someone. These contacts typically contain minimal information:
- • Only email addresses (no names, phone numbers, or other contact details)
- • No meaningful organizational information
- • Temporary interaction data with no relationship context
- • Automatically generated without user intent to save as contact
Why they're ignored: Microsoft 365 automatically recreates these suggestions as you communicate, and empty contacts would create unnecessary clutter in your Outlook address book.
Contact Migration Best Practice
Google Calendar Events Ignored During Migration
Several scenarios can cause Google Calendar appointments to be ignored during migration:
Declined Meetings
Calendar events that the user explicitly declined or rejected. These don't appear in the user's active calendar.
Cancelled Events
Meetings cancelled by organizers before the migration. These are no longer active calendar items.
Date Range Limits
Events falling outside your specified migration date window (From/To parameters in project settings).
Empty All-Day Events
Generic all-day calendar entries with no meaningful content, descriptions, or attendees.
Calendar Migration Tips
- • Adjust date ranges in migration settings to include more historical calendar data if needed
- • Review declined meetings to determine if any should be manually recreated
- • Clean up Google Calendar before migration to reduce ignored items
Google Drive Files Ignored During Migration
Certain Google Drive file types cannot be downloaded, converted, or accessed via API, making them technically impossible to migrate to Microsoft 365:
✗ Cannot Be Migrated (Always Ignored)
- Google Forms - No export functionality available via API
- Google Sites - Cannot be downloaded as files, exist as web applications
- Google My Maps - Proprietary format with no export option
- Corrupted files - Damaged or inaccessible items in Google Drive
- Third-party app files - Files created by unsupported Google Workspace apps
✓ Successfully Migrated
- Google Docs → Microsoft Word documents (.docx)
- Google Sheets → Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx)
- Google Slides → Microsoft PowerPoint presentations (.pptx)
- PDF, images, videos → Preserved exactly as-is
- All other standard file types → Transferred without conversion
Google Workspace Native Files Migration
Manual Workarounds for Ignored Files
- • Google Forms: Export form responses as CSV and recreate forms in Microsoft Forms
- • Google Sites: Save site content as PDF or HTML files before migration
- • Google My Maps: Export data as KML files and import into alternative mapping solutions
How to Analyze Ignored Items in Migration Reports
Follow these steps to review ignored items in your Cloudiway migration reports and understand their impact:
Access Migration Dashboard
Log into your Cloudiway platform and navigate to your specific migration project dashboard
Open Reports & Statistics
Navigate to "Reports & Statistics" section for comprehensive migration analytics
Review Ignored Items Section
Examine the "Ignored Items" breakdown by category (emails, contacts, appointments, files)
Analyze Detailed Logs
Check item-specific logs for detailed ignore reasons and validate they align with expected behavior
What to Look For in Reports
- • Total ignored count vs total processed items
- • Ignore reasons for each category
- • Patterns in ignored items (dates, file types, etc.)
- • Comparison with failed items to prioritize troubleshooting
Best Practices for Managing Ignored Items in Migration
✓ Pre-Migration Preparation
- • Clean up source data: Remove unnecessary Google Contacts and calendar events
- • Set appropriate date ranges: Configure migration windows to match business requirements
- • Document critical Google Forms/Sites: Identify items requiring manual migration
- • Review trash policies: Decide whether deleted items should be included
💡 During Migration Analysis
- • Review ignored items list: Confirm they align with expected behavior
- • Focus on failed items: Prioritize troubleshooting actual errors over ignored items
- • Document business impact: Note any business-critical items that were ignored
- • Validate settings: Ensure migration parameters match project requirements
🔧 Post-Migration Actions
- • Manual Google Forms export: Save form data as CSV and recreate in Microsoft Forms
- • Google Sites backup: Save important site content as PDFs or HTML files
- • Contact cleanup: Review and organize migrated contacts in Microsoft 365
- • Calendar validation: Verify important meetings were migrated correctly