One-way migration: once an account has been switched to Zoho Campaigns 3.0, you cannot go back to the older version, and Zoho support cannot revert a completed migration.
Zoho Campaigns 3.0 brings AI-driven content generation with Zia across email, SMS, and WhatsApp, a redesigned campaign creation experience, WhatsApp marketing, enhanced automation, smarter reporting, and improved contact management. Zoho calls the current version Zoho Campaigns 2.0 and the new one Zoho Campaigns 3.0. Zoho expects backend-assisted migration for existing users to be available after 23 October 2026. This guide covers everything to do before and during the switch. It is based on Zoho's migration prerequisites guide, updated with Zoho's later clarifications, and our companion articles cover what has changed and what is deprecated in detail. For the overview and timing, see Zoho Campaigns 3.0 Is Coming to Existing Accounts. For help and support with any step, contact 1 Cloud Consultants at zoho@1cloudconsultants.com.
Updated 16 October 2026: Zoho has answered questions we raised about its two migration guides. This article now reflects that confirmation on inactive segments (120 days, marked Inactive), which syncs are removed (only custom view syncs), how each type of contact scoring migrates, when migration support opens, the difference between Admin and Workspace Admin, and the campaign types in 3.0. Where Zoho's PDF guide differs, we follow Zoho's later answer.
Starting the migration
Migration is opening out in two phases.
Phase 1: through the Zoho Campaigns team
Zoho expects backend-assisted migration for existing users to be available after 23 October 2026, and asks customers to raise a support request after that date to start the process. Every migration goes through Zoho in this phase.
- Complete everything in the migration checklist below that applies to your account, starting with the items marked Action required.
- After 23 October 2026, contact 1 Cloud Consultants at zoho@1cloudconsultants.com for help and support with your migration request.
- Zoho reviews your account and replies with what will be migrated and what will not.
- Based on your decision, Zoho enables the migration.
Phase 2: self-service
Zoho says self-service migration will roll out in phases and that it will share updates as the plan is finalised. No date has been given. When it arrives, only an administrator can start the migration, and it runs for the whole organisation at once. Individual users cannot migrate on their own, and partial migration is not possible. What happens next depends on the account:
- Ready to switch. The Switch to new version option appears in the older version. Nothing else is needed.
- Actions outstanding. An Action required alert appears at the top right and lists what applies to your account. Complete those and the switch option becomes available.
- Needs support. The actions are complete but the switch option is still hidden. Contact 1 Cloud Consultants at zoho@1cloudconsultants.com for help and support.
How the migration works
- A notification goes out to the users in the account.
- Anyone logged in at that moment sees a freeze page.
- Zoho Campaigns migrates the account data.
- When it finishes, the whole organisation moves to Zoho Campaigns 3.0.
Migration takes up to 30 minutes, though larger accounts take longer. Afterwards the navigation and layout change throughout, so the first few minutes may feel unfamiliar.
What keeps running
The freeze applies to the web interface only. It stops people working in the browser and nothing else.
- Scheduled campaigns go out on schedule.
- API calls keep working.
- Inbound syncs from connected apps keep running.
- Live signup forms keep collecting contacts.
- Webhooks keep firing, and the mobile apps keep working.
A migration during business hours will not cost you sign-ups or break an integration, but it will stop the team working in the browser, so schedule it for a quiet window.
What pauses
Workflows are paused until the migration completes.
- A contact who meets a trigger while a workflow is paused does not enter it. They are skipped, not queued.
- A contact already inside a workflow is held in place and resumes at the next component afterwards.
- A workflow connected to a signup form may be mid-migration, so someone signing up at that moment may not receive the campaign it would normally trigger.
- After migration, a workflow that uses score components may be paused, depending on the licence. Check these once you are on 3.0.
Migration checklist
Work through this module by module and act on whatever applies to your account.
Topics
- Action required: migrate to the new Topic Management. In the new system topics are associated with contacts rather than mailing lists, and unsubscribes move to the organisation level.
Integrations
- Action required: migrate integrations to the organisation level. For any service connected with multiple accounts, this step also asks which account to keep. The others are removed along with their syncs.
- Syncs. Zoho has confirmed that data syncs for modules such as Contacts, Leads, and custom modules migrate seamlessly. Only syncs built on custom views are removed during migration.
- Custom view syncs need rebuilding. They cannot be rebuilt the same way, and their configuration cannot be read afterwards. Note what each one pulls before you migrate, then rebuild it in 3.0 using Import from Custom View or a segment.
- A caution on Zoho's PDF guide. It says that when you switch, every sync configuration created before the integration migration is deleted and only ones rebuilt in the new setup move across. Zoho's later answer says only custom view syncs are removed. We follow the later answer, but it is still sensible to note your sync configurations before switching.
Roles and privileges
- Action required: migrate to the new user management setup.
- Note which users need to send campaigns, because the new setup has different default roles and changes some permission restrictions. Existing custom roles migrate with permissions similar to their old ones.
- Admin and Workspace Admin are different roles. The account-level Admin role carries broader administrative privileges across the whole account. When users are assigned to specific workspaces, you can give someone Workspace Admin privileges to manage those workspaces only.
| Previous role |
New role |
| Standard Admin | Admin |
| Standard User | Editor |
Warning for Standard Users: the Editor role is considerably narrower than Standard User. It cannot send campaigns, and it cannot create, edit, or delete contacts, lists, segments, or tags. Check user roles straight after migrating, and tell the people affected in advance.
What the Editor role loses
| Module |
Standard User could |
Unavailable in Editor |
Assign instead |
| Regular and Advanced Campaigns | Create, Modify, Delete, Export, Access | Export, Launch | Manager |
| SMS | Create, Modify, Delete, Access | Launch | Manager |
| Workflow | Create, Modify, Delete, Access | Launch | Manager |
| Signup Forms | Create, Modify, Delete, Access | Launch | Manager |
| Contacts | Create, Modify, Delete, Export, Access | Create, Edit, Delete, Export | Manager |
| Mailing Lists | Create, Modify, Delete, Access | Create, Edit, Delete | Manager |
| Segments | Create, Modify, Delete, Access | Create, Edit, Delete | Manager |
| Tags | Create, Delete, Access | Create, Delete | Manager |
| Library | Create, Modify, Delete, Access | Export | Manager |
| Reports | Export, Access | Export | Manager |
| Custom Fields | Create, Modify, Delete, Access | Create, Edit, Delete | Admin |
| Webhook | Create, Modify, Delete, Access | Create, Edit, Delete | Admin |
| Sender or Reply to Address | Create, Delete, Access | Nothing | Not applicable |
- To grant narrower privileges than Manager carries, create a custom role and set its privileges instead.
- The Self and Others distinction is removed. A user with access to a module can see other users' records as well as their own, at minimum privileges. Standard User could see only its own records in every module.
- "Advanced" campaigns in the table refers to the older advanced campaign types, such as Surveys, Webinars, Events, and Ecommerce, which are no longer separate types in 3.0.
SMS
- Action required: move phone numbers into the Mobile Number field. Zoho Campaigns 3.0 reads numbers from that field only. If numbers are spread across several fields, pick one, because only a single field can be mapped.
- For a US long code, complete the 10DLC registration process and assign the long code.
- For an India sender, complete the PETM process (DLT registration for India).
Contact scoring
Record your current scoring configuration first. Zoho has confirmed how each of the scoring types migrates:
| Scoring type |
What happens |
| Engagement scoring | Existing engagement scores migrate seamlessly. |
| Custom scoring | Rules with multiple conditions joined by AND or OR are not migrated. Rules with a single condition can be migrated. |
| Field-based scoring | Migrates as Fit Score. |
| Campaign-based scoring | Deprecated in the Email Campaigns module. Use the Response Action component to assign extra scores based on responses to specific campaigns. |
Segments
- Note the Bulk Segments in use and the conditions they are built on. Only the parent condition is migrated.
- Segments that have been inactive for more than 120 days are marked Inactive, as Zoho has confirmed. Zoho's PDF guide quotes six months, which its later answer corrects. An inactive segment must be reactivated before it can be used in a 3.0 campaign, so check the ones you still need.
Campaign drafts and scheduled campaigns
- Save the content of any unsent Coupon, Forms, or mail-in campaign draft. These drafts are not migrated.
- Make sure you have no scheduled campaigns of the Coupon or Forms types, which are deprecated in 3.0. The migration cannot proceed while a scheduled campaign uses a deprecated type, and a notification goes out beforehand if any are outstanding.
Switching to the new version
In Phase 1, the switch is enabled through the Zoho Campaigns team, and you can contact 1 Cloud Consultants at zoho@1cloudconsultants.com for help and support with the request. In Phase 2, it becomes available once the Action required list is clear. Then:
- Select I agree to switch to the new version.
- Open the Terms and Conditions link and read it first, because the terms have been modified for the new version as some features are changing. Then select I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions of the new version.
- Select Switch to new version.
Alert: this starts the migration for the entire organisation. There is no way back, and support cannot revert a completed migration.
Some accounts need help before they can switch, even with every action complete. Contact 1 Cloud Consultants at zoho@1cloudconsultants.com for help and support getting the switch enabled.
Troubleshooting
| Problem |
What to do |
| The Action required alert is clear but the switch option is missing | Contact 1 Cloud Consultants at zoho@1cloudconsultants.com for help and support. |
| A contact signed up during the migration but received nothing | A workflow connected to a signup form may have been mid-migration. Contacts who met a trigger while a workflow was paused are skipped, not queued. |
| A workflow has not resumed after migration | Check whether it uses score components, which may stay paused depending on the licence. |
| A user cannot send campaigns after migrating | Standard User maps to Editor, which has no Launch privilege on any module. Assign Manager, Workspace Admin (to manage assigned workspaces), or a custom role with the privileges needed. |
For anything not covered here, contact 1 Cloud Consultants at zoho@1cloudconsultants.com for help and support.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the migration reversible? No. It is one-way, and Zoho cannot revert a completed migration.
- How long does it take? Up to 30 minutes, longer for larger accounts.
- Will scheduled campaigns still be sent? Yes. The freeze applies to the web interface only.
- Do workflows keep running during migration? No. They are paused until their own migration completes.
- Can some users stay on the older version? No. Every user moves to 3.0 together.
- Is any action required from users? No, but tell them about the role change in advance, because anyone who held Standard User becomes an Editor.
- Is WhatsApp setup part of the migration? No. WhatsApp is the channel 3.0 adds. Connect your WhatsApp Business account once you are on 3.0.
Need help? As a Zoho Partner serving the UK and Ireland, we can audit your Zoho Campaigns account against this checklist, rebuild custom view syncs and workflows, and plan the switch for a quiet window. Email
zoho@1cloudconsultants.com or
book a discovery call with 1 Cloud Consultants.