A network-based solution that provides enhances management of migration and archiving operations may involve, as embodied in various systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media, performing a pre-transfer assessment on each of a plurality of accessed mailboxes designated for migration or archiving. Performing the pre-transfer assessment may include designating one or more emails for exclusion from the migration or archiving operation after applying transferability rules and exception rules to each email message contained in the assessed mailbox. The solution may involve notifying the user about the email messages designated for exclusion and performing one or more user selected actions on the email message or related attachment files.