Import Google Ads to Microsoft Ads: a Canadian checklist

Key takeaways

• Microsoft Advertising’s Google import copies campaigns, keywords, ads, extensions and many settings, but you still need to set up billing, check targeting and confirm conversion tracking yourself.
• By default, bids and budgets below Microsoft’s minimums are raised, and broad match negative keywords become phrase match negatives. Review both before you go live.
• Scheduled imports can unpause campaigns and overwrite budgets you changed in Microsoft Ads. Decide early which platform is the source of truth.
• For Canadian accounts, check currency (CAD), French and English campaign languages, and UET consent mode before you spend a dollar.

If you already run Google Ads, the fastest way to start on Microsoft Ads is to import Google Ads to Microsoft Ads with the built-in tool. It takes minutes. The trouble starts after the click: budgets that quietly went up, negatives that changed match type, and a weekly sync that undoes your edits. This checklist walks you through the import settings to choose, what to check before launch, and how to keep the two accounts from fighting each other.

How do you import Google Ads to Microsoft Ads?

Go to Import in Microsoft Advertising, sign in to Google, then pick Quick import (default settings), Smart import (set name, schedule, bids, budgets and status) or Advanced import (choose campaigns and ad groups, adjust bids and budgets, and associate UET tags). Results appear on the Import schedule and history page.

According to Microsoft’s import help page, the three options work like this:

Option	What you control	Use it when
Quick import	Nothing; Microsoft’s default settings apply	A small, simple account you will review line by line afterwards
Smart import	Import name, schedule, bids, budgets and entity status	You want the whole account but need to control spend and status
Advanced import	Which campaigns, ad groups and items; bids, bid strategies and budgets; UET tag association	Most agency and in-house accounts, especially larger ones

A few details that catch people out:

• Quick import switches to Smart import automatically if your manager account holds more than one Google Ads account or a Google Merchant Center account.
• You can import up to 10 Google Ads accounts at once from a manager account. Microsoft recommends one Google Ads account into one Microsoft Advertising account, since combining them raises the risk of hitting account keyword limits.
• If you select every ad group in a campaign, only active ad groups come across unless you tick Show paused ad groups.
• If you use Google 2-step verification, you may need an app-specific password. If the direct sign-in still fails, Microsoft suggests importing from a file instead.

For most accounts, use Advanced import. It lets you leave out campaigns that don’t belong on Microsoft and link your UET tag.

What settings should you choose before you start the import?

Decide four things before clicking Start import: currency handling, what to do with bids and budgets below Microsoft’s minimums, whether to pause new campaigns for review, and whether removed Google items should be deleted. Each default can raise spend or switch campaigns on before you’ve checked them.

Currency

If your Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising accounts use different currencies, the import offers to convert bids and budgets, or you can opt out and adjust them by hand. For a Canadian business billed in Canadian dollars, keep both accounts in CAD so a $5 CAD bid stays a $5 bid. If you inherit a Microsoft account in US dollars, turn on conversion and spot-check the results.

Bid and budget minimums

Microsoft has its own minimum bids and budgets. By default, anything below the minimum is raised, which can increase spend. If you opt out, campaigns below the minimum aren’t imported at all. Microsoft’s import options reference lists the same behaviour, and also an option to adjust all bids and budgets by a percentage on the way in.

Practical tip: don’t copy Google budgets one for one. Set Microsoft budgets from your own plan, using the percentage adjustment or Advanced import.

Status and deletions

The import options include pausing newly imported campaigns for review, and deleting items you’ve removed in Google Ads. Pausing new campaigns is off by default. Turn it on for a first import: it gives you time to work through the checklist below before anything serves.

What doesn’t carry over cleanly from Google Ads?

Most campaigns, ads, keywords, extensions and settings import, but not everything lands the same way. Broad match negatives become phrase match negatives, video files don’t import, targeting options differ, and Quality Score works differently. Billing never imports. Review every campaign after the import and fill the gaps.

• Broad match negative keywords become phrase match negatives, because Microsoft Advertising doesn’t use broad match negatives. Phrase negatives only block queries that contain the words in that order, so some queries you blocked in Google may slip through. Recheck your core negative keyword lists after import.
• Video files can’t be imported because of YouTube’s terms of service. Upload videos yourself if you want those campaigns to serve.
• Targeting: location, time-of-day and other targeting work differently between the platforms, so Microsoft tells you to review them. The import maps unsupported locations to a supported parent location by default, so a tight radius or small region can end up broader than you meant.
• Quality Score is calculated and used differently, so habits built around Google’s Quality Score may not transfer.
• Billing isn’t part of the import. Microsoft’s import tool page notes you must add billing information separately.

Microsoft also says plainly in its Google Ads Import guide that not all information is imported and you should review campaigns afterwards.

Does conversion tracking import from Google Ads?

Conversion goals can be imported, but they won’t record anything until the Microsoft UET tag is live on your site. Conversion goals in Microsoft Advertising rely on Universal Event Tracking. Install the tag, link it to your goals, and test it before you switch on any conversion-based bidding.

The import options include conversion goals by default. But Microsoft’s conversion goal setup page is clear that goals need UET on every relevant page, such as your thank-you or order confirmation page. Microsoft provides a UET Tag Helper to test it.

Two more things to know:

• Creating a conversion goal turns on Microsoft Click ID (MSCLKID) auto-tagging. Leave it on. Turning it off blocks offline conversion imports and reduces tracking accuracy.
• Remarketing audiences need a UET tag associated with the import, which is why Advanced import is worth the extra minute.

The Canadian consent step most people miss

UET has a consent mode that controls whether it reads and writes cookies, using an ad_storage value of granted or denied. Microsoft enforces consent mode for visitors in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. Everywhere else, including Canada, UET assumes granted if you don’t set anything.

So if your site has a consent banner, for example one set up for Quebec’s Law 25, it won’t control UET unless you wire it in. Microsoft’s best practice is to pass granted or denied on every page, based on the visitor’s choice. Our guide to conversion tracking in Canada, consent and CASL covers the wider picture.

How do scheduled imports work, and when should you turn them off?

Scheduled imports re-run the Google import daily, weekly or monthly and copy only what changed in Google Ads since the last run. They’re useful when Google is your master account. But they can reactivate paused campaigns and reset budgets and bids to match Google, wiping out edits you made in Microsoft.

Microsoft’s help page warns about this directly: if campaign status, budgets or bids change unexpectedly, check for an active scheduled import. Pause or edit the schedule on the Import schedule and history page. The import options also let you choose which updates sync, such as budgets, bids, bid strategies, status and URLs, so you can keep structural changes in sync while managing budgets in Microsoft.

Your situation	Suggested approach
Google is the master; Microsoft is a small add-on	Weekly scheduled import, with budget and bid updates switched off
You optimize Microsoft separately	One-time import, then no schedule
New products or landing pages change often	Scheduled import for new items only; review the import log each time

One more catch from the API guide: when Microsoft adds support for a new item type, it’s included in your existing scheduled imports until you opt out. Read the import log after each run rather than assuming nothing new came across.

What should you check after importing into Microsoft Ads?

Work through the import summary first, then budgets, bids, targeting, negatives, conversion tracking and URLs, in that order. Fix campaign-level errors before ad group errors. Don’t enable campaigns until billing is set up and the UET tag fires correctly.

1. Read the import summary. Download the error file and fix higher-level errors (campaigns) before lower-level ones (ad groups). The update count can look higher than the real number of changes; change history shows what actually changed.
2. Add billing. It isn’t imported.
3. Check budgets and bids. Compare them with your plan. Look for anything raised to Microsoft’s minimum. If you need to size budgets from scratch, the free Campaign Planner can help.
4. Confirm bid strategies. Conversion-based strategies need working conversion goals. If tracking isn’t ready, start on a simpler strategy. Our notes on broad match and Smart Bidding apply here too: automated bidding needs conversion data to learn.
5. Review locations and schedules. Check that provinces, cities and radius targets match what you intended, especially if any were mapped to a parent location.
6. Check languages. Campaign and ad group languages are part of the import. If you run separate English and French campaigns, confirm each kept the right language and that French ads sit in French campaigns. Our bilingual Google Ads guide covers the structure.
7. Recheck negatives. Look at any broad match negatives that became phrase match and add variants where needed.
8. Test conversion tracking. Confirm the UET tag fires, goals record, and consent signals pass.
9. Check URLs and tracking templates. Make sure UTM parameters identify Microsoft as the source, not Google, so your analytics don’t credit the wrong platform.
10. Upload video and review Performance Max. Microsoft’s import supports Performance Max assets, audience signals and search themes, according to its February 2025 product blog, but check every asset group before it serves.
11. Decide on the schedule. Turn the scheduled import on or off based on the table above.

Frequently asked questions

Can I import Google Ads campaigns into Microsoft Ads Editor?

Yes. Microsoft says the Google import is available both in the online interface and in Microsoft Advertising Editor. Editor is handy for large accounts, since you can review and bulk-edit imported campaigns before posting them live. Whichever route you use, work through the same post-import checklist.

Will a scheduled import overwrite changes I make in Microsoft Ads?

It can. Scheduled imports can reactivate paused campaigns and reset budgets and bids to match Google Ads. If you plan to manage budgets or status in Microsoft, turn those updates off in the import settings or pause the schedule. Check the Import schedule and history page whenever something changes unexpectedly.

Do I need a separate Microsoft Ads account for each Google Ads account?

Microsoft recommends importing one Google Ads account into one Microsoft Advertising account. Combining several Google accounts into one Microsoft account raises the risk of hitting account-level keyword limits. Agencies managing several Canadian clients should mirror their Google structure, with one Microsoft account per client.

Sources: Microsoft Advertising Help: Import campaigns directly from Google Ads; Microsoft Advertising API: Google Ads Import; Microsoft Advertising API: GoogleImportOption data object; Microsoft Advertising: Import ad campaigns quickly and easily; Microsoft Advertising Help: How to create a conversion goal; Microsoft Advertising Help: Setting up UET for consent mode; Microsoft Advertising blog: Unlocking the power of Google import tools (February 2025)

Platform details as of November 2026.