Know 4 Best Ways to Export Office 365 Mailbox to PST Files

Rollins Duke
Published: August 31st, 2023 • 19 Min Read

Several Microsoft 365 (formally Office 365) users prefer to export Office 365 mailbox to PST file. There are various reasons why many business-level users and professionals want to export Microsoft 365 email to PST format. We will discuss the reasons in brief in the upcoming section. Let’s continue reading this informative blog post which will provide answers to some of the most commonly-asked queries on the Internet:

How to export PST from Office 365 primary and shared mailboxes?
How to export Office 365 mailbox to PST with PowerShell command?
Can I export Microsoft Office 365 mailbox to PST free of cost?
How to export Office 365 mailboxes to PST using eDiscovery?

The utilization of a safe email client and mail server is very significant for better work productivity. Both Microsoft 365 and Outlook are among the most popular products of Microsoft and are quite popular among users. However, end-users and administrators of Microsoft 365 generally do not take an email backup of mailboxes.

They have a firm belief that their data is safe in the cloud. However, it is generally suggested to export all Office 365 data to secure the account from being hacked by an anonymous person or group. You can easily export Office 365 mailboxes to PST file format if you are willing to switch to an Outlook desktop email client.

Exporting your Microsoft 365 mailbox to PST file can help you avoid, or at least mitigate, the damage caused by various problems arising from any sudden and unforeseen data loss/corruption situations.

Reasons to Export Microsoft 365 Mailbox to PST File

There are various scenarios under which users usually want to export Office 365 mailbox to PST file for desktop Outlook:

Sometimes, O365 cloud-based users want to access their data on desktop-based Outlook on a different computer. However, to do this, they need to export Office 365 mailbox to PST from webmail.
Working professionals never want to take any risk with their emails so they want to archive data in *.pst (Personal Storage Table) format. After that, they can use the output data in case of O365 data loss.
Many professionals want to export Office 365 archive mailboxes to PST before changing their jobs as they don’t want to lose any important data while job switching.
We all know that Microsoft 365 is a subscription productivity suite that provides limited quota space that depends on your subscription plan. But sometimes the email quota space is nearly full; however, users still do not want to upgrade to the M365 plan. Instead of upgrading their plan, users prefer to export their old data from Office 365 to the PST format that they can save locally on their computers. After completing the export process, they can now permanently delete emails from Office 365 to free up the quota space.

[1] Export Office 365 Mailbox to PST File via Automated Tool

Microsoft Office 365 Backup Software by BitRecover is a one-stop solution that allows you to perform a complete process to export Microsoft 365 email to PST file format. This Office 365 to PST Export Tool is an excellent and powerful software. All Windows and Mac OS users can easily install it on their computers. Let’s know about its complete working steps for exporting Microsoft 365 mailboxes to PST extension.

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How to Export Microsoft 365 Email to PST – Complete Steps

Read me first – Please download the demo version of the software. It is absolutely free of cost and allows you to export the top 25 Microsoft 365 mailbox items into PST format. You can evaluate the tool’s features with it. Once you are completely satisfied with the working of the tool, please upgrade its license keys.

Start Office 365 to PST Export Tool on your Windows and Mac Computer. Its welcome screen shows the “I am Admin” option, check this option if you want to export any or all user’s account data. Uncheck this option if you want to export only specific user account data.
Enter your Office 365 user account email address in the given field and click the Login button.
Thereafter, it will open Microsoft’s official login window for secure log in to your O365 account. Here, enter your email address and press the Next button.
Enter your Office 365 user account password and press Sign in to continue.
Office 365 to PST Export Tool is uploading all Office 365 email folders including Mailboxes, In-Place Archive, and Shared Mailboxes into the software panel.
After that, choose the required O365 items such as Emails, Contacts, Calendars, Tasks, Notes, etc. It also allows you to uncheck unnecessary folders to avoid export.
Now choose PST (Personal Storage Table) as a saving option from the listed options.
Choose the specific size for the resultant PST file according to your choices such as 2 GB, 5 GB, and 10 GB for different Outlook editions.
In case you are using a non-English version of Outlook, then the tool also allows you to change to your preferred language. Choose a language for the default PST folder names from the various available options such as English, Dutch, French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Italy, and Finnish.
Office 365 to PST Export Tool also offers various filter options to export PST from Office 365 accounts between a chosen date range. Advanced filters also allow you to export data based on various criteria, such as by sender email address, by receiver email address, by email subject, exclude specific folders, has a specific word, etc.
The tool automatically sets the desktop as the default destination path. However, you can press the Change button to browse a different destination path according to your choice.
Click the Backup button to start the process of exporting Office 365 mailbox to PST file without Outlook. Please wait for a few seconds/minutes. The time taken to complete the migration process will depend on the size of your exported data, systems configuration, and Internet speed.
A confirmation box indicating the completion of the process appears on your screen. Click the OK button.
Thereafter, the software automatically generates a detailed log report of your exported data. The log report contains information about exported items, source path, destination path, export status, etc.
Now, the software will automatically open the destination path where your resultant files have been saved.
Lastly, run desktop Outlook and import the exported PST files in Outlook as shown in the following screenshot.

Features of Office 365 to PST Export Tool

This is a fully automated and reliable software application that allows you to export Office 365 archive mailbox to PST without PowerShell or eDiscovery. The tool only asks for your O365 account login details for the completion of the task. We never store any of the user’s personal details or account login information in our databases.
Microsoft 365 to PST Export Software preserves the complete integrity of the resultant data such as To, Cc, Bcc, From, Date, Time, Year, Subject, Signature, Attachments, Inline Images, Header, Hyperlinks, and all.
The tool is also authorized to export Microsoft 365 shared mailbox to PST. It is the perfect way to export Office 365 In-Place Archive to PST with complete information.
The tool exports PST Unicode character files from O365 In-Place Archive, Shared, and Single Mailboxes. Thereafter, users can use the resultant PST file with MS Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, and 2003.
One of the best features of this application is that it is capable to export Microsoft 365 mailbox to PST files using Admin credentials. Check the “I am Admin” option and choose specific user accounts to export O365 mailboxes to PST files. The software also offers the option to create a separate PST file for each O365 user account.
Experts never want to lose any crucial information while exporting Office 365 shared mailbox to PST, and we have kept this point in mind while developing the software. It is so designed that it keeps intact all the emails, contacts, calendars, tasks, and notes as well as all the embedded data.
Office 365 to PST Export Tool also allows the extraction of contacts, email addresses, and email attachments separately. After extracting crucial contact details, business users can easily send promotional, discount, and offer emails for marketing purposes.
Users can easily split PST files by defining the size of PST from the software panel. Set the size of the resultant PST file size like 2 GB, 5 GB, or 10 GB.

[2] Export PST from Office 365 Account by eDiscovery

Microsoft has never launched any official tool to export Office 365 mailboxes to PST format. Hence, M365 administrators started using eDiscovery content search facility as this is only manual method available in the online market to export Microsoft 365 group mailbox to PST.

Pre-Requirements to Use the eDiscovery

Discovery Management Group
Microsoft Windows 7 OS or New Version
Microsoft .Net Framework 4.5 or later edition
Latest Internet Explorer or Edge browser
EAC (Exchange Admin Center) permissions must be assigned to export O365 to PST

Steps to Export Office 365 Mailboxes to PST using eDiscovery

Login to your Microsoft Office 365 account using global admin credentials. Click on the Admin option for launching Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
Thereafter, choose Security & Compliance option under Exchange Admin Centers.
Click on the Permissions option to drag it to eDiscovery Manager as shown on the respective screen.
Attention: It is mandatory to assign the eDiscovery Manager role to access all the eDiscovery features
Check the eDiscovery Manager option. After that, click on the Edit icon for assigning important roles that are mandatory for the Discovery Management group.
By default, the role group is assigned to mentioned roles such as Compliance Search, Case Management, Export, Hold, Preview, Review, and RMS Decrypt.
In case the Export role is missing then click on the Edit button for adding the role group.
Thereafter, hit on More Resources and open Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal. Now choose Content Search >> New Search option.
Attention: If you are unable to see the “Content Search” option, then make sure that you have successfully set the required eDiscovery permissions. Moreover, if you have done any changes in eDiscovery permissions. It may take up to 24 hours to reflect.
After clicking on the New Search option, a new Wizard will appear. This wizard will allow you to customize all components of content search options. Users can enter the search name and description. The location option permits you to specify mailbox data that you want to export from Office 365 to PST format.
After that, choose Conditions and set filters to export Office 365 mailbox to PST eDiscovery. Set the required filters on the basis of Date, Sender/Author, Size (in bytes), Subject/Title, Retention Label, Message Kind, Participants, Type, Received, Recipients, Sender, Sent, Subject, To, Author, Title, Created, Last Modified, and File Type.
After setting and applying the desired filters, click on the Submit button to continue. Now, click on Done for closing the current window and start searching.
Now the search process is running in the background. Users can click on the Search option to check the search status.
Click the Actions button and select the Export Results option as shown in the following screenshot.
Under Export Results, choose the output option as All items including ones that have uncategorized format are encrypted or would not include for other reasons. Thereafter, click on the Export button.
After that, click on the Export tab and select search again to check whether the status is completed or not.
Once the export process is completed, you need to click on the Download Result tab. Do not forget to copy the Unique Key by clicking on the Copy to clipboard option. This is mandatory because the next step will ask for a unique Export Key.
Now, the eDiscovery Export Tool will start automatically after clicking on the Download Results. The eDiscovery PST Export Tool will ask you to paste the export key that will be used to connect to the source. Browse the destination path to store the resultant PST file. Click the Start button to export mailbox from Office 365 to PST by eDiscovery.

Important Note

eDiscovery Export Tool supports only Microsoft’s Edge Browser, hence make sure you are trying to export PST from Office 365 using Edge. You may face a problem while completing the “Content Search” as discussed in Step 7.

However, there are separate browser extensions available for Chrome and Firefox. Thus, Chrome and Firefox users can add below mentioned extensions to use the eDiscovery Export Tool without reporting any error or warning.

For Mozilla Firefox: Breez ClickOnce
For Google Chrome: Cegid Peoplenet ClickOnce launcher

eDiscovery Export Tool Limitations

The tool does not allow you to export Microsoft 365 email to PST format if you perform any steps in the wrong way. It is also difficult to assign the required permissions for the completion of the task.
This is a highly technical and administrator-level task. Hence, it is not advisable for non-technical users to use eDiscovery to export Office 365 Mailbox to PST file. Moreover, it is a very time-consuming and lengthy task.
This method does not permit users to export selective folders from O365 to PST format. There are no advanced filter options available for completing the export process.
Sometimes, the eDiscovery method may fail to export Office 365 emails to PST format due to corrupted messages in the search content.

[3] Export Microsoft 365 Email to PST with Outlook

Phase 1: Configure Office 365 Account to Outlook Desktop

Run Microsoft Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, and 2010.
Thereafter, choose File >> Add Account option to continue.
Enter your email address and select the Advanced options.
Check the box Let me set up my account manually and choose Connect.
After that, select POP3 as the account type.
Enter POP3 settings i.e., POP Settings, SMTP Settings, Port Number, etc.
Fill your password and choose Connect to continue.

Phase 2: Export PST from Desktop Outlook

Firstly, start MS Outlook and select File >> Open & Export >> Import/Export.
Thereafter, choose Export to a file and press the Next button.
Select Outlook Data File (.pst) and choose Next to continue.
Check the required email folders to export and hit on the Next button.
Click Browse to set the destination path, enter the file name, and choose Finish.
Lastly, get the exported PST file from selected destination path.

Note: You can directly go to the default storage location of the Outlook PST file. Then get the recently configured email account PST file.

Outlook 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013: C: \ users \ username \ Documents \ Outlook Files

Outlook 2010 and 2007: C: \ users \ username \ AppData \ Local \ Microsoft \ Outlook

Limitations

Microsoft Outlook desktop version should be installed locally on your computer.
This is also considered a lengthy process as users need to complete two phases.
Non-technical users may face problems while configuring Outlook profiles.
This is a time-consuming method as it takes a lot of time while exporting Microsoft 365 emails into PST.
This is not suitable for enterprise-level use because it allows exporting Office 365 mailboxes to PST one by one.

[4] Export Office 365 Mailbox to PST via PowerShell

In this section, we will learn how to export Microsoft 365 mailbox to PST via PowerShell. Suppose, you want to export mailboxes from [email protected] to PST, and then import the exported emails to [email protected] which is configured in Outlook. Here, the account that has admin rights is [email protected]. Follow the below-described steps to export PST from Office 365 via PowerShell.

Step 1: Establish Connection Using Exchange Server via PowerShell

Firstly, run the following command to export Microsoft 365 mailboxes to PST using PowerShell.
“$UserCredential = Get-Credential”
In this command, enter the credentials (email address and password) of Office 365 admin account in displayed windows i.e. [email protected].
Now, run the below-mentioned PowerShell command to continue
“$Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid/ -Credential $UserCredential -Authentication Basic –AllowRedirection”
Thereafter, run the below-mentioned command.
“Import-PSSession $Session”

Step 2: Grant Permission to Assess Mailbox for Export via PowerShell

Now, provide the permission to [email protected] to access [email protected] mailbox.

“Add-MailboxPermission – User [email protected] -Identity [email protected] -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All”.

Step 3: Launch MS Outlook for New Account

To successfully complete this step, start the MS Outlook email client as [email protected]. Make sure that the source account [email protected] should be available in the left pane mailbox. Sometimes, it takes only a few seconds or minutes to apply the permissions.

Step 4: Check Outlook Configuration Settings

This is the time to check whether Outlook is configured successfully or not for exporting emails with the right settings.

Select Menu >> Info Page >> Account Settings.
Choose Account settings and select the account.
Press Change and ensure that “Use Cached Exchange Mode” should be enabled.

Step 5: Export Mailboxes to PST by using the Import/ Export Wizard

Select File >> Open & Export >> Import/Export option.
Choose the Export to a file option and hit the Next button.
Thereafter, select the Outlook Data File (.pst) option and press the Next button.
Choose [email protected] including the subfolder and hit the Next button.
After that, set the destination path and enter the name of the exported PST file.
You can also enter the password for the exported PST files, if required. You can also leave it blank.
The PST file is exported successfully from the Office 365 account.

Step 6: Make Sure Export Process is Completed Successfully

After exporting Office 365 mailbox to PST with PowerShell, it is advisable to make sure whether the export process is completed successfully or not because sometimes, users may lose some items. Users can check the mailbox size on the server and after that compare it with the exported PST file size.

Follow the mentioned steps:

Right-click on the mailbox and choose the Data File Properties option.
Thereafter, go to the General tab and hit on the Folder size.
Choose the Server Data tab and note the total size.
Check the properties of the exported PST file. Make sure that the size of the exported PST file and the server mailbox is almost similar. This ensures that all the data items from Microsoft Office 365 have been successfully exported to the PST file format.

Step 7: Remove Permissions Using PowerShell Command

Now, you must remove all the permissions that you have assigned through the PowerShell command. Run this command in PowerShell.

“Remove-MailboxPermission -User [email protected] -Identity [email protected] -AccessRights FullAccess”

Step 8: Exit Windows PowerShell

As the process of exporting Microsoft 365 mailbox to PST file has been completed, it is time to close the PowerShell session. Use the following command to close the PowerShell session:
“Remove-PSSession $Session”

False Impression About PowerShell Method

First of all, PowerShell does not provide any direct option to export PST from Office 365 account. Thus, there is no specific PowerShell command using which Microsoft 365 users can export their mailboxes, i.e., New-MailboxExportRequest.

Export Microsoft 365 mailbox to PST file by eDiscovery is the only valid and authenticated method that is officially recommended by Microsoft Corporation to export your O365 mailbox to PST. Only highly technical users or MVPs may have the capability to export Office 365 emails to PST using the PowerShell cmdlet command.

The PowerShell command mainly allows you to synchronize Office Outlook 365 with desktop-based Outlook. Thereafter, download Office 365 emails in desktop Outlook by using the “Send / Receive” option. Users can later use the Import/ Export facility to export Office 365 mailboxes to PST.

Drawback of the PowerShell Method

Only users having admin credentials can use PowerShell Method to export Office 365 email to PST format.
The data integrity will be changed during the export Office 365 mailbox to PST PowerShell.
It is mandatory to have technical knowledge about PowerShell automation commands otherwise you cannot perform this technique.
It requires desktop Outlook configuration for completing the process to export online archive Office 365 to PST.

Regularly Asked User Queries

Ques 1: Which is the best technique to export Office 365 to PST for Outlook?

Ans: We have explained the top 4 techniques to export Office 365 mailbox to PST. However, it is advisable to use the third-party software to carry out this migration as it is a risk-free and easy-to-use solution to export Office 365 mailbox to PST from webmail.

Ques 2: Can I export Office 365 shared mailbox to PST using your software?

Ans: Yes, this is an excellent software to export Office 365 shared mailboxes to PST easily

Ques 3: Is Office 365 mailbox to PST tool compatible with Windows 11 OS?

Ans: Yes, Office 365 to PST Export Tool is compatible to work with the latest Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022 editions.

Ques 4: Does the software allow batch export mailboxes from Office 365 account to PST?

Ans: Yes, you can choose multiple mailboxes at once to perform batch export of Office 365 emails.

Summing Up Together

In this article, we have dealt with the issue of exporting Office 365 mailboxes to the PST format and discussed the top 4 techniques to accomplish this task. We have also explained the working procedure, benefits and limitations of all these techniques. As you can see, all the manual techniques are very time-consuming and involve a highly-technical procedure. Moreover, there is always the risk of data loss or corruption involved in using manual methods. To avoid all these problems, we suggest you to go with the Office 365 to PST Export Tool—a professional and reliable solution highly recommended by experts to carry out O365 to PST migration. In case you have any other queries regarding the suggested solution, please feel free to contact our technical support team at all hours.