Microsoft introduces tool to help you switch from Gmail to Outlook [Poll]

Taking its feud with Google a notch higher, Microsoft has released a tool that aims to make it easier for users to switch from Gmail to Outlook. No, this isn’t a part of a Scroogled campaign, but a real tool that will help you migrate all your Gmail data to Outlook.

In a blog post, Naoto Sunagawa for Microsoft cited growing frustration with “outdated” email services as the reason why the company chose to introduce this tool. He wrote that discontent with Gmail seems to be on a rise currently. Citing a study by market research firm Ipsos, Sunagawa says that one in four consumers would switch email providers if it was easy to do so.

Will this make you switch?

With this tool, users will just have perform a few steps and let Microsoft do the dirty job of transferring your data from Gmail. All the user needs to do is connect their Gmail account to their Outlook id using OAuth. Check out all the steps you will need to go through on Outlook’s help site over here.

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Outlook promises that the structure of your inbox will remain untouched, as will the read and unread status of your mails. The new tool will even let you maintain your Gmail address as a send-only account so you can keep sending mails using your @gmail.com address if you wish to, from Outlook. Once you activate the tool, Outlook will update your account in the background and it may take a while, depending on the size of your Gmail inbox.

If you’re still unable to see the tool and eager to switch over to Outlook from Gmail, you will just have to be a little more patient as Microsoft is rolling out in stages. While clealry, this move is aimed at getting disgruntled Gmail users on board, there is still the matter of other Google services that one relies on for work and play. Since these are linked to the Gmail account, it becomes easier to manage all the services. Will Microsoft’s tool shake that reliance? Let us know.