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Switch to Patra

Switch to Patra one safe step at a time.

Set everything up next to your current email. Nothing changes until you point your MX record to Patra, and each person can bring their old mail with them.

Start free Read the setup guide

Five steps. Your mail keeps flowing.

  1. Step 1: Start free and add your domain

    Your current email keeps working as before.

  2. Step 2: Add the DNS records

    Add the records your admin console lists, starting with the signing key and the email policy. They don’t change where your mail goes. How to add them.

  3. Step 3: Add your people

    Create mailboxes one by one or from a CSV file; a Google Workspace user export works as it is. Each person chooses a password with their setup link. Add and manage users.

  4. Step 4: Switch your MX record

    When everyone is ready, replace your old MX records with Patra’s. New mail starts arriving at Patra. Go live.

  5. Step 5: Set up devices and bring your old mail

    Each person follows their phone and computer setup page. Once the switch has settled, they import their old mail. Keep your old account open until everyone has finished. Move your old mail.

Why the MX record goes last.

Your MX record tells other mail servers where to deliver mail for your domain. Changing it last means your team keeps receiving mail at your current provider while you set up Patra.

After the switch, some servers keep using the old record for a while, usually a few hours and occasionally up to two days. That’s why each person imports their old mail after the switch, while the old account is still open.

How to switch your MX record

Moving from your current provider.

Moving from Google Workspace

Add your people from a Google user export, and bring mail and folders across.

  1. Add everyone at onceExport your users from the Google Admin console and upload the file to Patra’s bulk add. Each person gets a setup link.
  2. The import needs an app passwordGoogle lets the import sign in with an app password, which needs 2-Step Verification. Some Workspace accounts can’t create one. If yours can’t, ask your Google admin, or drag your mail across in a desktop mail app.
  3. Folders and labelsYour folders and labels come across, and a message with several labels is copied into each of them. Mail you archived without a label isn’t in any folder, so give it a label first. Using Gmail in a language other than English? Read the import guide before you start.
  4. After the switchGoogle may keep delivering mail between your colleagues inside Google. Once everyone has moved, close your Google Workspace account, or ask your Google admin to turn off Gmail for your users.

Moving from Microsoft 365

Microsoft doesn’t let other services sign in with a password, so mail moves through a desktop app.

  1. Move mail with a desktop appAdd your Microsoft 365 account and your Patra address to a desktop mail app, such as Outlook or Apple Mail. Then drag your folders across.
  2. Add your peopleCreate mailboxes one by one, or upload our CSV template.
  3. Clear Microsoft’s records at go-liveDelete the MX record that ends in mail.protection.outlook.com, and the autodiscover record that points to Microsoft, so Outlook finds Patra’s settings.
  4. After the switchMicrosoft 365 may keep delivering mail between colleagues internally. Once everyone has moved, remove your domain from Microsoft 365 or close the account.

Moving from Zoho Mail

Turn on IMAP in Zoho, then each person imports their own mail after the switch.

  1. Turn on IMAP accessDo this in Zoho Mail settings. If two-factor sign-in is on, create an app-specific password.
  2. Pick your Zoho regionChoose it in the import list, or choose “Another provider” and enter the IMAP server shown in your Zoho settings.
  3. Switch at go-liveDelete Zoho’s MX records (their names start with mx.zoho, mx2.zoho and mx3.zoho) and add the MX record from your Patra panel.

Moving from your web host’s email

Email that came with your hosting or domain (cPanel, GoDaddy, Hostinger, Titan) moves in a few steps.

  1. Import from your hostThe import has ready-made settings for GoDaddy, Hostinger and Titan. For other hosts, choose “Another provider” and enter your host’s IMAP server, often mail.yourcompany.com.
  2. GoDaddy with Microsoft 365?If your GoDaddy email is “Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy”, follow the Microsoft 365 steps.
  3. cPanel: stop local deliveryAfter the switch, set Email Routing in cPanel to Remote Mail Exchanger, so your web server sends mail for your domain to Patra.
  4. Website forms and toolsIf your website or another service sends mail as your domain, tell us and we’ll allow it for your domain. Add that service to your SPF record too.

Moving from any other provider

If your provider allows IMAP access, the import can bring your mail.

  1. Any IMAP providerYahoo Mail, Fastmail and many others work, using an app password where the provider requires one.
  2. Email forwarding only?If your domain only forwarded mail, there’s nothing to import. Switch your MX record when you’re ready.
  3. ContactsExport them as a vCard file from your old service, then import them in Patra webmail. They live in webmail and don’t sync to phone apps.

Product names are trademarks of their owners. Patra isn’t affiliated with them.

What moves, and what you set up again.

What comes across to Patra, and how
HowWhat
With the importMail, with its folders. Sent, Drafts, Junk and Trash go to the matching folders, and Gmail labels become folders.
With a fileContacts (a vCard file), imported in webmail. They live in webmail and don’t sync to the contacts app on your phone.
Set up againFilters, signatures, out-of-office replies and group members. Shared mailboxes become groups or aliases. Files kept in online drives aren’t part of Patra.

Moving a bigger team? Write to us and tell us what you use today.

hello@trypatra.com

Questions, answered.

Something else? Write to hello@trypatra.com.

Will we lose mail during the switch?

No mail is lost because of the switch. Until a sending server sees your new MX record, it delivers to your old provider; after that, to Patra. Keep the old account open, and start each import once the old provider has stopped receiving new mail, usually a few hours after the switch and occasionally up to two days. Mail that reaches the old account after an import has finished isn’t copied by running it again, so move any of it by hand. See Move your old mail.

Do we have to move our domain or website?

No. Your domain stays where it is, and your website isn’t affected. You only add and change a few DNS records.

How long does an import take?

It depends on how much mail there is. It runs on our side, so you can close the page, and we email you when it’s done.

Can an admin import mail for everyone?

No. Each person starts their own import from their setup page, because it needs their old account’s password.

What about mail sent by our website or other tools?

If they send as your domain, tell us and we’ll allow them, and add them to your SPF record.

When can we close the old account?

When everyone’s import is done and mail is arriving at Patra. Then close the old account, or at least remove your domain from it.

Bring your team to your own domain.

Free for 14 days. No payment needed to start.

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