By default, ShareGate Migrate copies mailbox contents directly into the root of the destination mailbox.
With the destination folder option, you can land all copied content in a specific subfolder, keeping imported data separated from existing inbox content.
How it works
When you set a destination folder, ShareGate Migrate copies all source mailbox content into that subfolder, preserving the original folder hierarchy underneath it.
ShareGate creates the destination folder automatically if it doesn't already exist, and you can use nested paths with a forward slash (for example, Archive/AcmeCorp).
Note: If you also select Copy In-Place Archive, in-place archive content is migrated to the destination archive mailbox, not into the destination folder.
How-to
Follow the steps in the Copy mailboxes overview until you reach the Copy options step.
Under Destination folder, enter the path to the folder where you want the migrated content to land (for example, Migrated or Archive/AcmeCorp).
Continue with the remaining migration steps.
Note: Reserved folder names (Inbox, Sent Items, Drafts, Deleted Items) and special characters (\ / : * ? " < > |) cannot be used as the destination folder name. ShareGate validates the path before the migration runs.
Incremental copy
The destination folder option works with incremental copy. On follow-up runs, ShareGate copies new and changed items into the same destination folder.
If you change the destination folder path between incremental runs, ShareGate shows a warning and asks you to confirm before proceeding. Both sets of content coexist in their respective folders. The original run's data is not moved or deleted. To start clean, reset the destination mailbox before re-running.
For more information, see Copy mailboxes - Incremental.
Limitations
Inbox rules are not migrated. Rules that reference folder paths would behave unpredictably in a folder-targeted migration. You will need to recreate them manually at the destination.
The full mailbox is always migrated. You cannot select specific folders to copy. This option always migrates the entire source mailbox.
Exchange Online folder path length limits apply. If your destination folder path combined with the source folder hierarchy is too long, folder creation errors may appear in the migration report. Use a shorter destination folder name if this happens.