Admin guide for transitioning from Microsoft 365 to Zoho Mail
When you make a switch from Microsoft 365 to Zoho Mail, you need to setup your organization domain, add users, create groups and configure email policies for your organization. This transition guide will help you to navigate and explore the features of Zoho Mail's Admin Console.
Sign Up NowGet started with Zoho Mail Admin Console
Log into Zoho Mail Admin Console with your super administrator or administrator credentials. Once you have added and verified your domain, you can easily add/import users and groups, set email policies and migrate your organization data from your previous email service provider to Zoho Mail.
What is Admin Console?
The Admin Console in Zoho Mail serves as a control center for administrators to control their organization's email service. You can set up/host your domains, add your organizations, users, and groups, and manage and backup your organization's emails as an administrator.
Who can access Admin Console?
There can be one super administrator (owner) for an organization and multiple administrators and custom administrators. To learn more about each role/privilege click here.
To get yourself familiarized with Zoho Mail Admin Console, you can explore the following topics:
Prominent features you'll enjoy in Zoho Mail Admin Console
Zoho Mail's Admin Console has numerous features that you can manage with ease. The configuration you set in Admin Console determines your organization-wide email experience. Some of the prominent features are:
Seamless onboarding and Email hosting
It can be daunting when you think about setting up your domain with an email service. With Zoho Mail's Admin Console, you can add and verify your domain in four simple steps. Welcome Onboard!
Assisted migration with 24/7 support
Migration from Microsoft 365 to Zoho Mail can be achieved with minimal human intervention. We also provide assisted data migration support upon request. Zoho Mail offers extensive 24x7 customer assistance to help you with your queries. Know more about our assistance.
Subdomain stripping
Subdomain stripping will help you have distinct email addresses for various departments without having to create multiple aliases based on the subdomains. Once you strip the subdomain (i.e., the child domain) from the main domain, all the emails sent to the subdomain will get delivered directly to the main domain. Learn more
Email policies
Email policies help you define your organization's email preferences (both outgoing and incoming emails). An admin can create multiple email policies with different conditions and then assign them to users and groups. If you do not create a custom policy, Zoho Mail applies the default Business Policy to all users and groups upon creation. Learn more about configuring email policies.
Email forwarding restrictions
You can set up email forwarding restrictions from the Email Policy section in the Admin Console. These settings can be applied to the entire organization. If you wish to configure additional forward restrictions, you can select an individual user in the Users section and create a new outgoing forward restriction. Know more!
Email routing
Email routing refers to the process by which emails can be sent to other recipients in addition to the original recipient, or even routed to a completely different destination. You can configure the advanced email delivery options according to your requirements, to change the default email delivery behavior. Learn more about email routing.
Spam control
Spam control is the need of the hour for every organization that uses email. Zoho Mail's Admin Console provides ultimate spam protection using different methods. Phishing and malware detection, spam quarantine, spam process types, sender-based alerts, and allowed/blocked lists are just a few of the spam settings available. Explore the options to secure your organization!
Phishing and malware protection
Anti-phishing is a part of the spam control settings that can save your organization from spoofing and other fraudulent activities. Know more about phishing and malware protection.
eDiscovery
Zoho Mail's eDiscovery comprises data retention and backup. You can create, export, and delete multiple holds and investigations whenever the need arises. The backup option allows administrators to recover deleted emails based on the backup policy defined.
Admin reports
Admin reports are an essential part of any organization in which admins can get a consolidated view of the statistics related to their email usage. Explore the different reports in Zoho Mail.
Unique pricing
Zoho Mail offers different pricing plans to meet the demands of your organization. You can use the 15-day free trial to try our features before committing to one of our paid plans. If you are having trouble deciding on a plan for your company, we provide a customized mix-and-match plan that will be enabled by Zoho Mail's support team. Check out now!
Comparison between Microsoft's Exchange Admin Center and Zoho Mail Admin Console
If you have been using Microsoft Admin Center, this feature comparison will help you familiarize yourself with Zoho Mail Admin Console and get the most out of Zoho Mail.
| Microsoft Exchange Admin Center | Zoho Mail Admin Console |
|---|---|
| Pricing Plans and Storage | |
Default mailbox plans are available. | Mix and Match plan Besides the standard Mail plans, Zoho Mail offers a mix-and-match plan. With the help of the Zoho Mail support team, a customized plan can be activated to meet your organization's requirements. |
Every user gets the default 1TB of storage for business accounts. | Add-on storage Administrators have the option to purchase additional storage as an add-on and assign the storage to users based on usage. |
| White Labeling | |
White labeling helps you create a custom URL and logo for your organization. | Custom URL and logo Zoho Mail provides white labeling options to create a custom URL and custom logo for your organization based on requests received from a super admin. |
| Organization Dashboard | |
The Home page displays cards with an overview of the organization's email statistics. | Comprehensive dashboard The Admin Console dashboard displays your organization's details (e.g., the number of users and licenses) along with other organizational information (e.g., email traffic status, users summary, storage reports, etc.). |
| User Roles and Privileges | |
Admin roles in the Exchange admin center section allows you to define roles and privileges for administrators. | Multiple roles and privileges You can assign different administrator roles for various departments and purposes from the Roles and Privileges section of the Admin Console. You can also define the roles of users from the User Settings page. For more details, see roles and privileges. |
| Data Migration | |
The Migration page allows data transfer from your previous email provider to Outlook. | Email, Calendar and Contacts migration You can migrate your email, calendar, and contacts data from your previous email service provider to Zoho Mail through various migration options. Round the clock migration support. We provide 24/7 migration support to help you with hassle-free migration and minimal disruption. For more details, click here. |
| Email Policies | |
You can configure mailbox policies with the help of Mail flow settings. | Extensive email policies The Email Policy section in the Admin Console helps you to define multiple policies and associate the policies to one or more users or groups in the organization. Navigate to Mail Settings > Email Policy > Policy to set and apply email policies. |
| Email Routing | |
Email routing is done via connectors in Microsoft Admin Center. | Email routing With the email routing feature you can route emails to different users or configure different delivery options (split/ dual) according to your organization's requirement. To configure email routing navigate to Mail Settings > Email Routing |
Co-existence/ email delivery can be configured using connectors and then associate a connector with Rules. | Advanced delivery options Co-existence options provided in Zoho Mail Admin Console are Split Delivery, Dual Delivery, and Custom Routing. You can choose the delivery type that suits the needs of your organization. |
| Email Aliases | |
Adding an email alias is done through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center from the Users page. Multiple factors intervene in the addition of an email alias, such as the time taken for aliases to get populated and the domain provided. | Multiple email aliases Adding an email alias in Zoho Mail is a simple and quick process. You can configure multiple email aliases for an user. To set an alias, navigate to Users > select the user > Mail Settings > Email Alias |
| Distribution Lists | |
Groups/distribution lists are created from the Exchange admin center under the Recipients section. | Streams enabled groups Admins can create a streams-enabled or email-enabled distribution list (DL) from the Admin Console. Learn more about distribution lists. To create a group, navigate to Groups > Create Group Personal groups Individual users can also create groups without email from their mailbox. Click here to learn more. |
| Security and Compliance | |
Spam control settings can be configured from the M365 Defender. | Spam control settings Administrators can configure all of their organization's spam control settings in one place. To configure the spam control settings, navigate to the Security and Compliance > Spam Control in the Admin Console. |
Security and Compliance configurations can be made from the Compliance Admin Center. | Security settings Administrators can configure suspicious log-in alerts and S/MIME for their organization users by navigating to Security and Compliance > Security |
Microsoft secure score measures the organization's security posture. | Security and Compliance Score Organizations using the Zoho Workplace plan get a dedicated Security Score Dashboard that provides real-time protection scores for your organization. |
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) can be achieved by setting up policies in Microsoft Purview. | Outbound gateways In Zoho Mail Admin Console you can configure outbound gateways and use 3rd party solutions to prevent inadvertent data loss. Navigate to Mail Settings > Email Routing > Outbound Gateway |
| Org Extensions | |
Microsoft provides integrated apps. | Org and other apps You can enable/disable extensions from the Admin Console. Administrators can approve/deny the use of organization extensions or marketplace extensions (free and paid). Navigate to Other App Settings > Integrations and Extensions to enable the extensions for your organization users. |
| eDiscovery and Retention | |
Data retention is available as eDiscovery (premium) under Microsoft Purview. | Email retention, backup, investigations and holds eDiscovery in the Admin Console helps you with your organization's email backup and retention configurations. You can create and review investigations, holds, etc., from the eDiscovery section. |
| Reports and Logs | |
The mail flow reports and migration reports sections allow you to view and manage various email statistics. | Admin reports Zoho Mail's Admin Reports section provides an overall view of your organization's email statistics. User account reports, user and domain based email statistics, group reports are some of the report types that are available. Learn more. Audit logs and email logs The Audit Logs and Email Logs allow you to track all the activities related to the domains added in Admin Console. Learn more. |