Expert Guide to Migrate Office 365 to On-Premise Exchange Server

  

Mark Regan
Published: June 20th, 2025 • 6 Min Read

Office 365 is very helpful in business productivity. But, some organisations are moving towards an on-premise Exchange environment. If you are also thinking the same. We are going to explore the methods that can easily migrate Office 365 to On-Premise Exchange Server.

In Microsoft 2025 policy, they introduced several changes and initiatives. The key highlight of the policy is that Exchange Server 2019 will be the last traditional version and any future updates require paid subscription. Also, Microsoft is now focusing more on Exchange Online than On-premise server. New security rules and increasing need for cloud connection even in your local setups makes the organizations use On-premise Exchange for more control over data and systems.

That’s why we are here to help anyone who wants to move their data from the Office 365 account to their On-Premise Exchange server.

Requirements Needed to Transferring Data

Before moving your Microsoft 365 tenant, you need technical and system requirements to meet your account.

• First you need a running and properly configured Exchange Server 2026 or 2019.
• You must have the office 365 credentials for Global Administrator.
• Make sure that you have the sufficient storage of your local mailbox.
• If you are doing hybrid or staged migration, use Azure AD Connect or directory sync to align user identities between cloud and on-premise server.
• Assign the mailbox rights and permissions to export the user data.
• Your DNS, firewall, and network settings should be properly configured.

After you fulfill these requirements, start the process of migrating Office 365 to On-Premise Exchange using the methods mentioned below.

Move Microsoft 365 to On-Premise by Hybrid Deployment

If your organization has a hybrid setup then this method is easy. For this, make sure Cumulative Updates and security patches are enabled, and verify your server meets Microsoft Hybrid Configuration Wizard. Once you fulfill these requirements, follow the steps below.

1. First, install the Azure AD Connect and enable Password Hash Sync or Pass through Authentication.
2. Also, confirm that each cloud mailbox has a corresponding On-Premise AD object.
3. Download the Hybrid Configuration Wizard.
4. Select Full Hybrid or Minimal Hybrid according to your need.
5. In the Exchange Admin Center, Go to the recipients.
6. Click on Migration and create a new migration batch.
7. Choose Move to this forest button.
8. Now, your data is moving from Office 365 to On-premise. You can track the process from the migration dashboard.
9. After the process is done, point your Autodiscover and MX records to your On-premise Exchange.
10. Keep the Azure AD Connect if you are using the identity sync.

Migrate Office 365 to On-Premise Exchange by MS Outlook

This method is suitable for small and medium sized organizations. Here, we export Office 365 mailbox to PST file. Then, move the PST file in On-Premise Exchange. Here are steps for the process.

1. Go to the Microsoft 365 Compliance Center.
2. Select the Permissions >> Roles >> eDiscovery Manager button.
3. Add your account to the eDiscovery Export role.
4. In the Content Search create a new search. In this add user/mailbox you want to export and use filters.
5. After the search is done, click on Export Results.
6. Download the Export Tool, apply the generated export key and download the PST file.
7. Move your exported PST file to a location that is easily accessible for the On-Premise Exchange Server.
8. With the help of Exchange Admin Center import the PST file in On-Premise Exchange Server.
9. Click Recipients, then Migration. Create a new migration batch and click Move to this forest.

Steps to Migrate Office 365 to On-Premise Exchange

1. First of all, download and run the software on your device.
   
2. After opening the tool, provide your Office 365 email address. Click on the Login button.
   
3. A sign in the window will appear. Enter the password to sign in to the software.
   
4. The tool now automatically fetches all your data. Click on any data to preview them.
   
5. From the saving option, choose Exchange Server.
   
6. Click on the I am Admin button. Provide the username, password and server name. Lastly click on Backup option.

Hence, the software securely moves your data to your Exchange server. Go to the server to verify it.

Tips After Migrating Data

By following these methods you can easily move your data from Office 365 to On-premise and also reduce the dependency of cloud services. But, this is not the end, after the procedure you should take precautions, such as.

• Verify all the data that is successfully migrated. Go to your Exchange server and open your emails and see if it is properly transferred or not.
• Update your DNS records or AutoDiscover to the On-Premise.
• If you need to cancel or downgrade your Office 365 license to reduce the costs.
• Always backup your data to prevent any deletion.
• Remove the Azure AD Connect if you are thinking of using full on-premise.

Conclusion

Not all, but there are some users who want to use their On-premise Exchange Server instead of Office 365. Whether it’s because of Microsoft ‘s latest policies or for personal reasons. To help you with this, we provided 3 different and reliable ways to migrate Office 365 to On-Premise Exchange. We explain all the methods in simple steps, so properly follow them and transfer your data without any issues.