Export Office 365 Mailbox to PST - Learn the Top 3 Ways

Overview

For a user working in an organization, there are number of emails which are drafted and received throughout the day. These emails carry the most crucial data which needs to be extracted for official purpose. Therefore, it needs to be saved to a personal folder which enables an easy access to the data in case of poor internet supply or when the server connectivity is slow. Hence, it is important to export mailbox from Office 365 to PST file, so that the data can be used for backup if any error occurs in future. This can be done either by using the manual method or automated method. In this blog, I am going to describe the 3 methods to export Office 365 mailbox to PST using eDiscovery export tool, PowerShell commands and Office 365 Export Tool.

Export Mailbox from Office 365 to PST Using eDiscovery & PowerShell

There are two manual ways, that you can utilize while exporting emails from Office 365 to PST file using eDiscovery export tool and PowerShell method. Let's understand a detailed step by step working of each way.

Method 1: Export PST from Office 365 Via eDiscovery Method

• First of all, log in to the Exchange Admin Center using the credentials of your Office 365 admin account.
  
• Navigate to Admin Centers and press the Security and Compliance button.
  

• Now navigate to Permissions and click on eDiscovery Manager.
  

Note: You must be a member of the eDiscovery Manager Role Group to get access to several other functionalities.

• Now hit the Edit icon to modify or add other important roles, that are essential for the eDiscovery group.

• By default, the role groups have some pre-assigned roles such as Case Management, Compliance Search, Export, Hold, Preview, Review, and RMS Decrypt.
• If you do not find the Export role, then follow Step 5 and add the role.
  

• Now navigate to More Resources and click on it. It will open all the Microsoft resources on a panel. Go to Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal and open it. Then find the Content Search option from the left panel and hit the New Search button.
  

Note: If the Content Search option is missing then you need to recheck the eDiscovery Permissions. Changing these permissions can take up to 24 hours to be visible.

• A window will open, and you can easily customize all elements of that Content Search. You can also assign a name and description to the Content Search. Likewise fill in all the required details including Location, that enable you to select the specific user accounts that need to be exported into PST files.
  

Note: Here you must be aware that selecting all the locations including SharePoint Online and Public Folders Database can delay the eDiscovery process of exporting pst files from the Office 365 account.

• In the Conditions tab, you can apply various kinds of filters including query language/region, keywords/phrases, and conditions, including those related to time, message fields & properties, etc. which allows you a selective PST export.
  

Note: Do not apply any conditions, filters, or keywords, if you want to export entire Office 365 mailbox data.

• Once, you have done with all the required customization, then hit on Submit and then Done to start eDiscovery immediately.
• This will start the eDiscovery search in the background, meanwhile, you can track the process by hitting the Search tab.
  

• Here you can see the status of eDiscovery Search such as in-process or complete. Once, it gets completed then hit the Action tab and opt for Export Results.
  
• Now in the below window, you get different settings that you can choose for specific conditions such as; if you need to export encrypted files then include this option. Moreover, you can also customize the entire exported results before downloading it. However, if you do not have any idea about these settings then the recommendation is to export this data with default settings.
  

Note: Make sure not to set Enable Deduplication option, if you need to Export the search results in a single PST file.

• Hit Export it will start instantly. The go to Export tab and reselect your search and track the status of this process.
  
• After successful completion of the process, click on the Close button.
• Once, the process is complete, hit the Download Results button. Also, make sure to copy the unique Export Key. You need to use this key in the ClickOnce extension when it will pop up the Export Tool.
  
• Now a pop-up will come and it will start the eDiscovery PST Export Tool. Now paste the copied Export Key and Define the destination path where the exported PST files will be saved. Lastly hit the Start to Export mailboxes data to PST files.
  

Limitations

• Due to its lengthy steps, naive users fail to adopt this method.
• Takes more time, as all the steps need to be performed by the user.
• This method does not allow a selective export option for the data items.
• Must be technically strong to export PST files from Office 365 account.

Solution 2: Export Mailbox from Office 365 to PST Via PowerShell Method

Step 1: Establish Connection using MS Exchange Server using Powershell

• To begin the process of export PST from Office 365, run the below command in PowerShell,

“$UserCredential = Get-Credential”

In this, enter the credentials of Office 365 account including username and password which is mentioned under Windows PowerShell Credential Request wizard

• Now, run the below-mentioned command

“$Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid/ -Credential $UserCredential -Authentication Basic –AllowRedirection”

• After that, run the following command,

“Import-PSSession $Session”

Step 2: Grant Access Right to Mailbox to Export Via Powershell

This example will provide techsupport@teamsystools.com full access to freshtechsupport@teamsystools.com mailbox:

“Add-MailboxPermission – User freshtechsupport@teamsystools.com -Identity techsupport@teamsystools.com -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All”.

Step 3: Open MS Outlook for a New Account

Now, you need to open Outlook as freshtechsupport@teamsystools.com and ensure that techsupport@teamsystools.com is available in the mailbox in the left pane. Sometimes, the permission takes seconds or even minutes to get applied.

Step 4: Check Configuration Settings

Now, check whether Outlook is ready to be configured to download all the emails within the limited time.

• Click File menu and select the Info page >> Account Settings.
• Then, click Account Settings again and select the account.
• Click the change button and ensure that Use Cached Exchange Mode option is enabled.

Step 5: Export Mailbox to PST via Import/Export Wizard

• Launch Import/Export wizard to export techsupport@teamsystools.com to PST file. For that, click File menu>> Open & Export >> Import/ Export option.
• Select Export to a file from the given list options and click Next.
• After that, select Outlook Data file (.pst) option and click Next.
• Select techsupport@teamsystools.com from the given list and click Next. Ensure that Include Subfolders checkbox is enabled.
• Mention a new name to the file and a storage location to store the PST file i.e., c:\tmp\outlook-archive- techsupport@teamsystools.com -20160209.pst.
• From the Option section, select either Do not export duplicate items or Replace duplicates with items exported option and click Finish to export mailbox from Office 365 to PST.
• Now, enter the password for the PST file if required else leave it blank if the policy allows to do it and click OK.
• MS Outlook will remain inoperative until the export is under process. Thus, wait until it gives control to access the file.

Step 6: Ensure that Export Process is Completed

To verify that the Office 365 mailbox export process is completed, check the mailbox size on the Server and compare it with the exported PST file size. To do the same, follow the below steps,

• Firstly, right-click on the mailbox from the right pane and select Data File Properties options.
• Go to General tab and click on the Folder size button.
• Now, select Server Data tab and note the value mentioned as Total size.
• Finally, check the properties of the exported PST file. Ensure that the size of this file is comparable to the Total Size value which is mentioned by Outlook.

Step 7: When Office 365 Export Process Completes

After you successfully export Office 365 mailbox to PST, you have to remove all the permissions which were granted initially through Powershell. Run the below command to do the same,

“Remove-MailboxPermission -User freshtechsupport@teamsystools.com -Identity techsupport@teamsystools.com -AccessRights FullAccess”

Step 8: Exit PowerShell Session

Finally, the Powershell session needs to be closed down after the permissions are removed. Follow the below command to execute the same,

“Remove-PSSession $Session”

Solution 3: Try Alternate Method to Export Mailbox from Office 365 to PST

A user can export PST from Office 365 account effectively by using the manual methods which are clearly mentioned above. Though the manual method is cost-free, it does not provide a complete solution to export Office 365 mailbox to PST file. Some of the consequences associated with the manual methods include data loss, file corruption. Inconsistency in the exported PST file, etc. To resolve all these drawbacks, it is recommended to use Office 365 mailbox export tool.

This tool is enriched with multiple features which provides an easy interface to all its users. It allows to export Office 365 mailboxes into multiple file formats such as PST, EML, MSG. All the data items are extracted which includes emails, contacts, calendar, tasks, etc. It provides a two-mode export option i.e., Export O365 archive mailboxes or in-place archive mails. It provides a unique feature i.e., Login for Admin option which allows to connect with different Exchange online accounts.

Download Now Purchase Now

Detailed Steps to export Office 365 Mailbox to PST file format:

1. From the above link, download and launch the tool on your system.
   
2. To login with Admin account, click on 'Is Admin' checkbox and provide admin id and password.
   
3. In the next window, select the user account whose mailboxes need to be exported.
   
4. Choose the email-format as "PST" and use split pst option to get variable size pst files.
   
5. After that, select the checkbox of the category of items to export and also set date-range filters.
   
6. Finally click on "Export" button to initiate the export process.
   

That's it! All it requires these above few steps to export emails from multiple Office 365 accounts into PST file format. No requirement to go through the hassle to understand big technical functions of ediscovery or Powershell command. Moreover, no requirements for project creation whatsoever, simply export all mailboxes from Office 365 user account to PST format in few clicks.

Also Read: How to Upload PST to Office 365 without Outlook

Conclusion

One can easily export mailbox from Office 365 to PST either by using manual method or automated method. Though the manual method is cost-free, it offers limited features which is not much reliable. Also, using the manual method can lead to various drawbacks which are mentioned above. Hence, it is advised to download and install the third-party tool. It is a professional tool which is highly demanding in the market. It is an effective tool to export Office 365 mailbox to PST and 2 other file formats. Moreover, this tool is also compatible with the latest version of Windows OS including Windows 10.