Backing up data from any resource whether online or offline is essential. Whether you are working as a leader, an employee, or an administrator, everyone requires assistance in organizing their data or ensuring its permanent security.
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is the most renowned and
popular platform for storing entire mailboxes or data in the cloud. However,
users occasionally find the need to save their backups not only in PST format
but also in other formats of their choice.
So, how many methods are available for exporting Office 365
mailboxes to PST and other formats? In this post, we will discuss all the
aspects that will assist you in saving your mailbox to a local drive.
Why is it essential to back up Office 365?
This question typically arises when you haven't even given a
backup plan a second thought. While Microsoft serves as a highly reliable,
secure, and safe platform for data storage, but trouble rarely knocks before it
arrives.
Saving or backing up Office 365 data helps you achieve the
following:
- Recover emails or any other valuable items that have been accidentally deleted
- Safeguard records (archives) for auditing purposes
- Migrate or merge data from one platform to another
- Access your mailbox via Outlook, Thunderbird, or other email clients
Method 1: eDiscovery Tool
eDiscovery tool is a well-know method to save Office 365
mailbox in PST format. The following steps are done by the administrator or
assigned member:
Part 1
- Login to Microsoft 365 admin center.
- Click on "Show All"
- Choose "Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal"
- Go to "Settings", click on "Roles and Scops" then choose "Role Groups"
- Search for "eDiscovery Tool", select and click Edit.
- Add user to Discovery Manager that allow to view and edit only access case, Next.
- Add user to Discovery Administrator that allows to view and edit all cases, Next.
- Review the details and click on Save button.
Part 2
- Scroll right side menus and click on eDiscovery Tool
- Click Create Case
- Open the case > Go to Add resource
- Click search user which mailbox you want to export.
- Select mailbox(es) > Apply filters if needed
- Run the search
- Click Export Results
- Choose PST format
- Download using eDiscovery Export Tool
This method is a Microsoft approved way to export Office 365
items to PST format. But it also requires administrative access to load and
download data.
Method 2: Outlook Export
This method is bit friendly for individual user who want to
access their data in Offline mode and save the items in PST format.
Part 1:
- Open your Microsoft Outlook (Classic).
- Click on the File tab > Go to Add Account
- Type your Office 365 account address and then click Connect.
- Now authorize your Office 365 account. Type the password and click on the Sing-in button.
- Once it is successfully logged in, wait for the syncing to complete.
Part 2:
- Once it is done, click on File tab.
- Go to open & export, choose Import-Export option
- Select Export to a file
- Choose Outlook Data File (.pst)
- Select mailbox/folders that you want to export as PST.
- Choose save location
- Click Finish.
That's it. No admin and dashboard access require to save
your mailbox in Outlook PST.
Method 3: PowerShell
This method is highly advance and helpful IT admin to export
single or multiple user mailbox to PST format at once.
- Open PowerShell as Administrator.
- Once open, run the below command to connect and authorize Office 365 account as admin.
Connect-ExchangeOnline
- Connect Microsoft Purview to create jobs
Connect-IPPSSession
- Get all user's mailbox
$mailboxes = Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited
-RecipientTypeDetails UserMailbox
- Create Export Job for all users
foreach ($mb in $mailboxes) {
$name =
"Export_" + $mb.Alias
New-ComplianceSearch -Name $name -ExchangeLocation
$mb.UserPrincipalName
Start-ComplianceSearch -Identity $name
# Optional: wait
before export (or handle separately)
Start-Sleep
-Seconds 10
New-ComplianceSearchAction -SearchName $name -Export
}
New-ComplianceSearchAction -SearchName "AllMailboxesExport" -Export
Change highlighed areas with your requirement then execute
on PowerShell. Once you can run all the command successfully, go to eDiscovery
tool and search the jobs then export to PST format.
Method 4: Third-party Tools
Above manual methods are helpful to export mailbox in PST.
But they require specific permissions, involve multiple steps, and demand a
certain level of expertise in handling migrations. If you are not particularly
familiar with Microsoft 365, utilizing a third-party solution is the most
highly recommended approach for you.
MailsDaddy Office 365 Backup tool is designed to
simultaneously migrate data from one or multiple users into PST, EML, and MBOX
file formats. This application offers several advanced options, such as data
filtering, folder exclusion, and the ability to export data from specific
users. Its Graphical User Interface (GUI) is also quite intuitive, allowing
even non-technical users to easily perform the conversion from Office 365 to
PST format. The trial edition of this software allows you to migrate up to 20
emails per folder.
Conclusion
In this article, I have discussed various methods and
scenarios for saving Office 365 emails, contacts, calendars, and tasks in the
PST format. While the manual method is somewhat technical, it remains effective
for exporting data; conversely, a third-party tool offers a faster and simpler
alternative for accomplishing the same task.
