Error: Following Address Replacement, New Owner Email Address for Item Does not Exist in the Destination Domain, or Does Not Have Drive Enabled.

Updated November 27, 2025 11:23

Platforms

Google Workspace to Google Workspace only

Issue

During a Google Drive to Google Drive migration (specifically when migrating a subset of users), the migrating user fails, and the following error message appears:

Migration failed: Destination: Unexpected exception processing import. 

Message is: Destination: Following address replacement, new owner email address [owner@destination.com] for item [ItemID][(Item Name)] does not exist in the destination domain, or does not have Drive enabled. 

Please check you have provided the correct address replacements for all email addresses, including aliases. 

You could use the option 'Allow Alternate Item Ownership', but this will result in a change of ownership.

Cause

This error occurs when CloudM Migrate encounters a folder within the migrating user's "My Drive" that is owned by a different, non-migrating user (e.g., owner@source.com) who is not the primary user currently being migrated.

The tool attempts to preserve the original ownership structure by mapping that owner to their equivalent account in the destination (e.g., owner@destination.com). The error is triggered because:

The destination user (owner@destination.com) does not exist (has not been provisioned).
The destination user exists but does not have the Google Drive service enabled.
The source user (owner@source.com) was not included in your user list or address replacements, so CloudM cannot determine who the new owner should be.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, choose one of the following methods depending on your data governance requirements.

Method 1: Provision the Missing User (Recommended)

To preserve exact data ownership, ensure that the original owner of the item exists in the destination environment.

Create the user account (owner@destination.com) in the destination Google Workspace.
Ensure the user has a valid license and that the Google Drive service is enabled.
Re-run the migration for the affected items.

Method 2: Use Address Replacements

If the original owner no longer exists or should map to a different user (e.g., a manager or an archive account), use Address Replacements.

Navigate to Configuration General Address Replacements.
Add a replacement mapping the source email (owner@source.com) to a valid existing destination email (validuser@destination.com).
Save your configuration and re-run the migration.

Method 3: Enable 'Allow Alternate Item Ownership'

If strict ownership preservation is not required, you can allow CloudM Migrate to assign ownership to the user currently being migrated (the user whose My Drive the item resides in).

Navigate to Configuration Destination Google Workspace Advanced Settings.
Locate the Google Drive section.
Enable the setting Allow Alternate Item Ownership.
- Note: This results in a change of ownership. The item will now be owned by the user migrating the file/folder, rather than the original creator.
Save your configuration and re-run the migration.