How to Restore Office 365 Mailbox from Backup?

  author
Rollins Duke   
Published: June 21st, 2023 • 9 Min Read

This blog post discusses the reasons and the solutions you can use to restore Office 365 mailbox from backup, so keep reading this article! The arrival of cloud technology has enabled every company and individual to shift from an on-premises platform to a cloud platform. People now prefer digital technology accessible anywhere instead of in-house technology. And Office 365 by Microsoft is one such cloud-based service. If you have download Office 365 emails for offline use but don’t know how to restore it, then this blog is for you!

Read Also: Instructions to Restore Deleted Emails in AOL Account

Reasons to Restore Office 365 Emails

Many reasons necessitate restoring your Office 365 mailbox, and we discuss some of them in the following points:

  • On-the-go Access – The first reason to restore Office 365 mailbox from a previous backup is to ensure on-the-go access to the mailbox. In short, restore Office 365 emails to access it on your phone or a laptop while travelling.
  • Prevent Accidental Permanent Deletion – Another reason for restoring the Office 365 mailbox is to prevent it from accidentally getting permanently deleted. Explained simply, you can’t reinstate the Office 365 mailbox to your account if you accidentally delete it permanently unless you are a technical genius!
  • Protection from Viruses/ Malware – The third reason to restore Office 365 emails from backup is to protect it from viruses and malware. If your system encounters a virus/malware attack, the virus/malware can harm the mailbox and your computer.
  • Prevent Data Loss – The Office 365 mailbox backup sitting on your system may face the critical issue of data loss due to abrupt system shutdown or a complete system failure, prompting urgent restoration of the Office 365 mailbox back to your Office 365 account.

Whatever the reason is, the target is to avoid data loss. We have read the reasons for restoring the Office 365 mailbox, so let’s read the solutions you can use to reinstate this backup.

Solutions to Restore Office 365 Mailbox from Backup

If we discuss the solutions, you can restore Office 365 emails from a previous backup using manual or automated methods. We will discuss both in this article, so keep reading!

#1 Manual Methods to Restore Microsoft 365 Mailbox

The manual methods for restoring Office 365 mailbox from a previous backup involve three tools from Microsoft: The Import/Export feature (found in Outlook), the Network Upload Method, and the Drive Shipping Method. Let’s read about them all one by one.

Import/Export Wizard

The Import/Export Wizard in Outlook is the easiest way to import/export emails to Office 365. You can also import contacts and calendars using this tool.

Let’s see how to import your emails:

  1. Open the Outlook application and go to File in the ribbon on top.
  2. Select Open & Export and click Import/Export.
    open and export
  3. Once the Import & Export Wizard opens, choose Import from another program or file and click Next.
    import from other data file
  4. Select Outlook Data File and click Next.
    outlook data file
  5. Click on Browse to select the Office 365 mailbox PST file.
    select the pst file
  6. Select Do not import duplicates and click Next. Select the Include subfolders option to ensure the data hierarchy and click Next.
  7. Select Import items into the same folder option and choose the configured Office 365 account. Click Finish.

There are a few drawbacks to this method of migrating Office 365 mailbox emails, and they are:

  • You can restore only one mailbox at one time, making this process lengthy.
  • There is no guarantee of complete data restoration to Office 365.
  • This method doesn’t have any import reports.

Network Upload Method

The second free method to restore Office 365 emails from backup is the Network Upload method using Azure AzCopy. Follow this guide to use this process:

  1. Copy the SAS URL and install Azure AzCopy.
    download azure azcopy
  2. Upload the PST file you made to Office 365.
    select upload your data
  3. Create a PST Import mapping file.
    mapping file
  4. Create a PST Import job for Outlook in Office 365.
    import job
  5. Use Filters to import PST to Office 365 shared or primary mailbox.
    select filter option

Limitations of this method

  • The process is complex, time-taking and not available in some regions.
  • The process has to get repeated to export more email accounts to Office 365.

Drive Shipping

Another method you can use to restore Office 365 mailbox from backup is the Drive Shipping method which involves copying the Office 365 PST data onto a hard drive & shipping it to one of the physical locations of Microsoft. And another thing to note about this method is that only the admins and the companies migrating the email data should use it.

Follow these steps to restore Office 365 emails:

  1. Download the secure storage key and a PST Import tool.
    security and compliance
  2. Use the tool to copy the PST file into a hard drive.
    upload your data
  3. Create a PST mapping file.
    create mapping file
  4. Ship the hard drive to Microsoft with a tracking number.
  5. After Microsoft receives your hard disk and finishes working on it, start filtering the data and create an Outlook PST Import job.
    select filter option

Limitations of this method

  • You need to send the data to Microsoft on a hard drive physically.
  • The process is time-taking (1-2 weeks) and expensive ($2 per GB), which many companies can’t afford.
  • Network Upload and Drive Shipping methods are highly technical, and many Outlook users avoid them because they don’t have the expertise to use them.

#2 Automated Method to Restore Office 365 Data

The manual methods described above fall short of restoring the Office 365 mailbox because the Import/Export Wizard can import or export only a single PST file at a time, and the latter two methods are technical and involve expertise to use them, leaving no option for Outlook users to migrate emails manually.

Therefore, the best method to restore Office 365 mailbox from backup is to use an automated tool, ensuring no data loss. We are discussing one tool you can use for restoring your Office 365 mailbox – the BitRecover Cloud Backup & Restore Wizard.

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Features of the Tool

This tool has many features, and some of these are:

How to Restore Office 365 Emails from Backup?

  1. Install the tool on your system and open it after installation.
  2. Select Outlook (*.pst, *.ost) from the Desktop Email list in the left pane. (We are selecting this option since you have a backup of your Office 365 mailbox on your system.)
    start software to restore office 365 email
  3. Select Convert configured Outlook mailbox data if you already have an Outlook account configured on your system. Else select the Let me select my Outlook mailbox data option and add the folder or files having your Office 365 mailbox.
    add data to restore office 365 mailbox
  4. Select/deselect the required folders from the mailbox file from the file explorer view.
    select required folders
  5. Select the desirable file format for backing up your data. Since this blog is about restoring the Office 365 mailbox, we will select Office 365 as the saving option.
    select office 365
  6. Log in using your Office 365 credentials and select the Change Language box to choose the language of your Office 365 mailbox (for international users only).
    restore office 365 data from backup
  7. Check the Use Advance Settings for Selective Backup box to apply filters to restore selective mailbox data if required.
    filters to restore office 365 mailbox from backup
  8. Click Backup to start the mailbox restoration process.
    press backup button
  9. Office 365 restore mailbox process is running, please wait.
    restore office 365 emails
  10. Log in to your Office 365 account on the web browser in your system and confirm the mailbox restoration.
    login to office 365 account
  11. The tool automatically generates a report having detailed information about the mailbox restoration process.
    log report

Conclusion

Office 365 is the product family of productivity software & cloud-based services by Microsoft, having applications like Word, Excel, Outlook, etc. We discussed the reasons and the solutions to restore Office 365 mailbox from backup.

The manual method to restore Office 365 emails from a previous backup involves exporting Outlook emails through the Import/Export Wizard, Network Upload, and Drive Shipping methods. But the latter two require technical expertise, and the Import/Export wizard is preferable only when you have a single mailbox for migration. On the other hand, the automated method requires no technical expertise but just a few minutes to restore your Office 365 emails back to your account.

Frequently Asked Questions

Que 1 – Can I extract all email addresses from my Office 365 mailbox for business purposes?

Ans – Yes! You can extract email addresses from Office 365 mailbox in a text file. Select Extract Email Address from the Select Saving Option dropdown menu.

Que 2 – Can I restore selective Office 365 mailboxes using my Admin credentials?

Ans – Absolutely! You can restore even a single mailbox using your Office 365 Admin credentials.

Que 3 – I wish to restore emails from my Office 365 mailboxes’ Inbox and Sent Items folder only. Can I do so through the tool?

Ans – Yes! You can restore Office 365 mailbox emails even from specific folders only.

Que 4 – Can I restore an Office 365 mailbox from backup, I did two years ago through your software?

Ans – You can! Just upload the Office 365 PST file and select Office 365 as the data-saving source. Log in using your Office 365 credentials and restore your previous backup without worries.

Que 5 – I want to test the tool before purchasing it. How can I do so?

Ans – The tool has a trial version that can backup and restore twenty-five emails for your convenience. You can backup and reinstate your emails from desktop and cloud emails.