# From Front Follow these steps to migrate your data from Front to Missive. The recommended approach is to set up Missive while your team keeps using Front, run both in parallel as you move users over, and only request your data export from Front once your team is fully operational in Missive. ## 1. Create Your Missive Organization {% stepper %} {% step %} **Create and subscribe** Create your Missive organization and subscribe to a paid yearly plan. {% endstep %} {% step %} **Invite users** Invite **all** team members to join. {% endstep %} {% step %} **Connect accounts** Connect **all** necessary personal and shared accounts (email, SMS, etc.). {% endstep %} {% step %} **Sync all history** Set each email account to sync **All history**. This ensures Front comments align with the correct emails in Missive. {% endstep %} {% endstepper %} ## 2. Stop Using Front Confirm your team is fully operational in Missive and no longer requires Front: * All your rules have been recreated * [Organization labels](https://missiveapp.com/docs/core-features/understanding-label-types) have been recreated * Contacts have been imported * Review the [import table below](#what-will-be-imported) to see what is and isn't imported Once confirmed, stop using Front and create all new content (comments) exclusively in Missive. {% hint style="warning" %} Any interactions performed in Front **after the export is generated will not be reflected** in Missive. The import includes only the data available at the time of export, so finalize your activity in Front before requesting the export. {% endhint %} ## 3. Request Export Data from Front Contact [Front's support](https://help.front.com/en/contact-us) to request an export of all your: * Shared inboxes * Private inboxes * Comments See [Front's export guide](https://help.front.com/t/182vg7/how-to-export-your-teams-front-account-data) for details. {% hint style="danger" %} Be sure to explicitly request an export that **includes attachments and EML files**. Without these, the data cannot be properly imported into Missive. {% endhint %} ## 4. Send the Export to Missive Once you receive the .zip file links from Front, forward them to [support@missiveapp.com](mailto:support@missiveapp.com?subject=Front%20Migration). To help manage data storage, we typically import comments and [Front-only emails](#front-only-emails) based on your team's operational needs - for example, the last 12 months. Please confirm how much history your team needs accessible within Missive. Our team will perform a volume analysis and follow up with an estimated timeline and associated costs, if any. All Front history will be preserved in the .zip export files. ## 5. What Will Be Imported? | Data Type | Imported? | Notes | | -------------------------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Users | No | Add users manually in Missive | | Contacts | No | Can be imported via CSV | | Tags | No | Not imported | | Rules | No | Recreate manually in Missive | | Canned responses/Templates | No | Recreate manually in Missive | | @mentions from Front | Partially | Comments are imported, but mentions do not share conversations | | SMS messages | Yes | Fully imported | | Chat comments | Yes | Imported only if there's a related email or SMS; visually distinct from Missive comments | | Snoozed conversations | No | Unsnooze all before export; otherwise they appear as archived in Missive | | Emails | Usually no | Emails sync from connected accounts. See note on Front-only emails below | | Front-only emails | Yes | Stored in a chosen Missive-connected account as archived messages | ## Imported SMS Messages SMS messages from Front are imported and appear in Missive exactly as if they were received directly - nothing indicates they came from a Front import. If you have a Dialpad or Twilio SMS account connected to Missive, imported conversations appear native to that channel. Your full SMS history is preserved, searchable, and visible alongside new SMS conversations in Missive. ## 6. We Check and Import the Data Our team processes the files and runs integrity checks. If everything looks good, we proceed to import data into the appropriate conversations **only after the above steps have been completed**. We only import comments from your Front account. Emails themselves will not be imported, except: * **Two-way sync accounts** (Gmail, Office 365): Emails won't be imported from Front's export. Connect the same email account directly to Missive so messages sync automatically. * **Front-only emails**: Emails that exist solely in Front will be imported directly from your export files. We import the most recent data first. Processing times depend on volume: | Step | Time Estimate | | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | | Initial import start | Within 2 business days | | Additional processing | 1 business day per 50,000 Front-only emails | *** ## Front-Only Emails Some emails may only exist in Front. This is common if you used Google Groups, Microsoft Shared Inboxes, or similar configurations that forwarded emails to Front but not to any of your email accounts. {% hint style="info" %} Missive does not offer a "forward to Missive" setup where Missive stores the only copy of your emails. Your emails should always live on a dedicated email server that you own - Missive is a collaborative layer on top. This means you will never face this lock-in situation when using Missive. {% endhint %} These emails may not exist on your original mail server and can only be retrieved from the Front export files. They will be: * Imported into a selected Missive-connected email account * Stored as **archived** messages since we can't determine their original status * Available to you even outside of Missive ### How to Connect Group Accounts in Missive To bring group emails into Missive, we recommend creating a "catch-all" account like `general@company.com`. With this setup, all aliases (`support@`, `marketing@`, `accounting@`, etc.) funnel into a single account. Missive can then route each alias to the appropriate team inbox. This approach makes migration smoother and reduces long-term overhead. Because communications stay centralized, you won't need to transfer emails when someone leaves the team. Alternatively, you can forward group messages (like `support@company.com`) to at least one email account connected to Missive. This allows Missive to receive and route group messages without requiring a separate shared account. ## Shared vs. Private Conversations ### Shared / Team Inboxes * Conversations from shared email accounts or team inboxes in Front remain shared in Missive * All comments and access rights are preserved for users who had access to the inbox ### Private Conversations (via @mentions or tags in Front) * Conversations originally private in Front but shared through @mentions or tags will **not** stay shared in Missive * After migration, these become private again for the original owner * Comments from mentioned/tagged users may still appear, but each user only sees their own private copy * To continue collaboration, manually re-share these conversations in Missive {% hint style="info" %} Comments from shared personal conversations in Front import as personal conversations in Missive. Re-share them with the correct teams or individuals to restore collaboration. {% endhint %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://missiveapp.com/docs/migration/from-front.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.