Use Label handling in the Copy Options step to choose how ShareGate Migrate converts your Gmail labels when you copy from Gmail to Exchange Online. Two modes are available: Convert to Outlook Categories (the default) and Convert to Outlook Folders.
Choosing a label handling mode
Outlook Categories converts each Gmail label to an Exchange category. Every email migrates once, no matter how many labels it carries, so mailbox size and migration time stay the same as your source mailbox. This is the recommended mode for most migrations.
Tip: In Categories mode, use Outlook's Category filtering to view emails by their original Gmail labels. You can also use this filtering to manually move emails into folders after the migration, if you prefer a folder-based view.
Outlook Folders converts each user-created Gmail label to an Exchange folder. ShareGate Migrate copies an email into every folder that matches one of its labels, so an email with three labels ends up with three copies at the destination. Choose this mode if you want a browsable folder tree that mirrors your Gmail labels, and your labels are few and shallow enough that the extra copies stay manageable.
Note: Because Folders mode duplicates an email into every folder matching its labels, it increases destination mailbox size and migration time compared to Categories mode. The increase depends on how many labels your users apply to their mail.
How labels convert in each mode
Only user-created labels change between the two modes. System labels, Gmail category labels, and flag labels behave the same in both, as shown below.
Label type | Categories mode | Folders mode |
User label (e.g. Work) | Applied as an Exchange category. One copy of the email. | Becomes an Exchange folder. A copy of the email is placed in it, not also applied as a category. |
Nested user label (e.g. Work/Projects/Q3) | Applied as a single category using the full label name. | Becomes a nested folder: Work, then Projects, then Q3. |
Gmail category label (Social, Promotions, Updates, Forums) | Applied as an Exchange category. | Applied as an Exchange category. No folder. |
Starred | Flagged in Outlook. | Flagged in Outlook. No folder or category. |
Important | Marked with Importance: High. | Marked with Importance: High. No folder or category. |
Snoozed | Copied without its snooze schedule. | Copied without its snooze schedule. |
Inbox | Lands in Inbox. | Lands in Inbox. |
Sent | Lands in the Sent Items folder. | Lands in the Sent Items folder. |
Draft | Lands in the Drafts folder. | Lands in the Drafts folder. |
All Mail / Archive | Lands in the Archive folder. | Lands in the Archive folder. |
Spam, Trash, Chat, Personal category | Not migrated. | Not migrated. |
Read or unread state | Carried over on the email. | Carried over on the email. |
Nested labels in Folders mode
Gmail label nesting, like Work/Projects/Q3, is a naming convention rather than a real folder hierarchy. In Folders mode, ShareGate Migrate turns that nesting into an actual Exchange folder tree.
Parent folders are created before their children, so Work, then Projects, then Q3 are created in order. Each folder is named after only its own segment, not the full path.
Gmail sublabels are independent. An email labeled only Work/Projects/Q3 doesn't also carry Work or Work/Projects, so it lands only in the Q3 folder.
Parent folders like Work and Projects are still created as empty containers when no email carries that exact label. An empty parent folder doesn't mean mail is missing.
Switching modes between incremental runs
You choose the label handling mode on each run. It's not locked to a project, so a later run can use a different mode than an earlier one.
Categories, then Folders: categories from the first run stay in place. The second run adds label folders and copies matching mail into them.
Folders, then Categories: label folders and their copies from the first run stay in place. The second run applies categories to the single, original copies.
Renaming a Gmail label between runs doesn't rename the destination folder or category. Names are fixed once created.
Note: It's highly discouraged to change the label handling mode between incremental runs. Switching doesn't fail and doesn't remove anything from earlier runs, but it leaves both organizational systems side by side at the destination. To migrate cleanly in a different mode, reset the destination mailbox before re-running.