Move a workspace from Google to Nextcloud

Take it out

1. 1

   Step 1

   Take a copy before you cancel the subscription

   Google Takeout is the account export. Use it for Drive, Calendar, and Mail while the Workspace subscription still opens. This guide did not run a Takeout. Download the archive and keep it outside Google before you remove users.

2. 2

   Step 2

   Turn Docs into files

   Docs, Sheets, and Slides need to be Microsoft Office or PDF files if ONLYOFFICE or Collabora is going to open them on Nextcloud. A native Google file left in Drive is not a Nextcloud document.

Put it in

1. 1

   Step 1

   Stand up Nextcloud, then the office app

   File sync is the core app. Browser editing of those Office files needs Collabora or ONLYOFFICE on the same server. The calendar app is part of the hub. Talk is the meeting app. The desktop and phone clients talk to that server.

2. 2

   Step 2

   Put mail somewhere that is actually a mail server

   Nextcloud Mail reads mail. It does not host the domain's mailboxes. mailcow is one server that does, and it is a separate install with its own DNS records. Point the domain at the new mail host only after a test account sends and receives.

3. 3

   Step 3

   Copy the files with the desktop client

   After the export is on disk, the Nextcloud desktop client can upload the tree. Shared drives and admin roles do not come across as Google left them. Recreate the shares.

What you lose

• One admin console

  Google's user list, Vault, and device management do not move. Nextcloud has its own user screen. It is not a copy of the Admin console.

• Meet recordings and Gemini

  Meet recordings are Drive files only if you already saved them. The Gemini features bundled into the 2025 Workspace price are not part of Nextcloud.

• The Gmail address during the cutover

  People will keep mailing the old domain. Leave the old mail host up, or forward, until the new server accepts mail for every address you still publish. This guide did not test a live cutover.