How to Export Exchange Online Mailbox to PST? Complete Guide

  

Mark Regan
Published: April 30th, 2025 • 7 Min Read

As you know, the PST file is proprietary file formats of Outlook. Where it stores your complete data on your local computer. Therefore, if you want Exchange Online data offline available. PST file format is a great way to do that. However, the process of exporting your data is complicated. Because of the compatibility, Exchange Online is a cloud-based program whereas the PST file is used for local hard drives. But, don’t worry, we will provide you with methods that can easily download your emails.

Preparations Before Exporting Exchange Online

Before we go through the solutions, there are some points that you must consider before you go through the procedure. Carefully follow these options to get your detailed reasons.

• Get all the permissions from your Admin for exporting the data.
• Check if you have sufficient storage space to store the file.
• You may need an Outlook application to download your emails.
• Create a copy of the data, to prevent any unforeseen incidents.

By following these prerequisites, we are now ready to start the process of downloading Exchange Online to PST.

Export Exchange Online Mailbox to PST with Outlook

If you connect your desktop Outlook with an Exchange Online Account. Then, with the help of the import/export option, you can easily convert your data. Here are the steps for this process.

1. First, run Outlook on your device. Click on the File option.
2. Select the Add Account button and then enter your Exchange Online email address (Office 365 email ID).
3. Provide the necessary details and connect your account.
4. After that, Click on the Open & Export button from the File menu.
5. Select the Import/Export. Choose the Export to a File option.
6. Click on the Outlook Data File (.pst). Choose your connected Exchange Online mailbox.
7. Select a location path and save the PST file.

This method is suitable for small-scale businesses. There is another manual solution, but it has two parts. The first one is to get permission for the content search.

Get Permission for Content Search

1. In your Microsoft 365 Admin Center, click on the Compliance option.
2. Select the Settings and choose the Role Groups option.
3. Then, Role & Scopes and Permissions.
4. Open your Microsoft Purview Roles. Select eDiscovery Manager.
5. Click on the Edit button. Press the Next option and choose users.
6. Search your account and add it to the list. Save the changes.

After that, we now use the eDiscovery export tool to convert your data. So, download the tool in your Microsoft Edge browser and follow the next step.

Export Exchange Online by eDiscovery Tool

1. Open Microsoft 365 Compliance Center and click on eDiscovery.
2. Select the Content Search option and click the + button to new search.
3. Provide a name and description from your content search. Press the Next button.
4. Turn on the Exchange Mailboxes and click on Choose users, groups, or teams.
5. Choose the mailbox that you want to download. Find and select your user and hit the Done button.
6. If you want to export a complete mailbox, skip the above two steps. Then, click Next.
7. Review your content search and press the Submit button. Click the Done option.
8. In the Content search that you have just added. Select the Actions button and choose Export results.
9. In the Output option, click all items, including ones that have an unrecognized format. Choose One PST for each mailbox option.
10. Lastly, click on the Export button. Once the program exports your file, download the results.

So, by following these two steps you can get your Exchange Online data in PST format. All the above solutions are free to use, but there are some issues that you may encounter while you export your data.

Limitations of Manual Solutions

• The eDiscovery tool can only be installed in the Edge browser. So, if you have another web browser, you can use this method.
• In the Outlook procedure, you are unable to save bulk mailboxes at the same time.
• There can be difficulties in connecting your Exchange Online account.

Therefore, there are several drawbacks to these methods which you may encounter. To overcome this, there are automated solutions which are much easier and quicker solutions.

Steps to Export Exchange Online Mailbox to PST

1. Download the software, then enter your Microsoft 365 email address >> Password. Click on the I am Admin button and press the Login option.
   
2. The tool fetches all your data. Preview them by clicking the file.
3. Select the Exchange Online mailbox and choose the PST file from the Saving option.
   
4. Click on the Change button to select a location. After that click on the Backup option.
   

Here are the different ways to save your Exchange Online to your PST format. Having your Office 365 Exchange data in your local drive will provide you so many benefits. Which we will explain below.

Benefits of Converting Exchange Online to PST

• The PST file is stored in your local drive. So, by exporting your Exchange Online data you can make your important information offline available.
• You can prevent accidental deletions or data loss by backing up Exchange Online mailbox.
• If an employee leaves, you need to store their data for legal and future reference.
• You can easily access your Office 365 Exchange data on different platforms.
• If you are switching your Microsoft subscriptions, then it is important to securely store your data before closing the current plan.

To Conclude

After reading this article, you can now easily export Exchange Online mailbox to PST. Here we provide all the possible ways to convert the data. In the manual options, you can save your data by using two solutions: Outlook and eDiscovery export tool. Both are free but you may have problems exporting them. But, don’t worry, there is an automated solution that can easily download your files without any issues.