Complete guide to export Office 365 mailboxes to PST file

With Microsoft Office 365, one can access their mailbox items anytime and anywhere. Many users have switched to this email application because of its advanced and overwhelming features that make it unique among several other applications. Through this article, we have focused on how users can export Office 365 mailboxes to PST format as Office 365 does not provide any backup option.

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Due to many reasons & situations, users need to export Office 365 emails into PST file. This will create a backup of Office 365 mailboxes on local system in PST file format to access in Outlook application. As we mentioned above, no direct solution is provided by Microsoft that can export Office 365 data items into PST file. However, using eDiscovery procedure, users can get mailbox items into Outlook PST format. In this post, we will discuss about eDiscovery process and an automated tool in detail to export O365 mailboxes to PST file.

Table of Contents

Why users want to export Office 365 mailbox items?

Users need to export Office 365 mailbox items in different scenarios –

Office 365 account may be hacked by hackers
Accidental deletion of O365 account items can loss data
Permanently delete account of an ex-employee
For legal/audit purpose, users need to export the data

Exporting data from Office 365 to PST is a smart solution as this will help users to avoid or overcome above situations.

Export Office 365 mailboxes to PST file via eDiscovery Process

To export O365 mailboxes into PST file, there are two methods available. One is manual solution using eDiscovery process and other is an automated solution.

eDiscovery service is provided by Microsoft under Office 365 Security and Compliance Center. This tool is actually not for exporting data. It is for searching the content in Exchange Online mailboxes, SharePoint, Office 364 group, etc. for business conversations.

However, this can be used as an indirect way to export Office emails to PST file on local machine. By using this, first search the content in O365 account and then download eDiscovery PST Export Tool. This will save the searched data into Outlook-supported file format.

Steps to export Office 365 emails into PST file using eDiscovery

Open this link – https://protection.office.com and log in to Office 365 account. Then, go to Microsoft 365 admin center.
Click on Security and Compliance option under Admin Center.
Select the Permission option and drag to eDiscovery manager.

Note: only members of eDiscovery Manager Role group can access the various features of eDiscovery.

Now, check the box beside eDiscovery and click on Edit to add the role group.
Click exit role group if export role is missing
Once the role is assigned, go to Search and Investigation. Now, select Content Search option.
Click on New search option.
Click on Add condition for accurate search in Office 365
For export process, select a specific location and modify.
Choose emails or specify mailboxes using Choose Users group.
You can also export mailboxes from SharePoint and Public folder by selecting Public folder option.
Search options will provide filters, you can use them. But to export your mailbox data of Office 365 to PST, no need to add any condition or keyword. Click on save and then on run button.
Once you click on save button, the content search will start in the background.
Now, go back to your saved searches and select the folder name to export O365 mailbox data to PST. Here, you can check the status of your searches using More option and choose the Export option.
Select any output option as per your needs from Export result window.
Now, click on Export button.
Once the export process is completed, click on Download result to download the content search result.
The exported search will store on Azure Storage.
Download the export link from Export result to your computer.
Copy the Export key.
Click on download result from the Export PST window.
Click on download result and it will redirect you to install MS eDiscovery Export Tool.
After installing the tool, paste the Export key.
Now, browse the location to save the content search and click on Start button to export Office 365 mailbox to PST.

Drawbacks of eDiscovery Export Tool

There are multiple disadvantages of the above mentioned process. Here are major ones –

Due to lack of pre-requisites requirements, eDiscovery failed to start.
This service works only with Windows 7 and above versions.
Updated Microsoft .Net framework is required.
Proper technical knowledge is needed to use this service.

Flexible solution to export Office 365 mailbox data to PST file’

By facing various challenges with eDiscovery process, users search for alternate solution to export Office 365 mailbox data into PST file or to create backup of Office 365 email data. For this, try Mailvita Office 365 Backup Tool. This is an easy and smart solution for Mac and Windows users to export O365 mailboxes to PST and various other file formats. The software offers 5 easy steps to export O365 to PST file.

Install and Launch Office 365 to PST Export Tool on Mac/Windows machine.
Enter login details of your Office 365 account.
Select desired or all folders of Office 365 account.
Choose PST format and a location to save the data.
Hit the Backup button to start the export process.

Conclusion

This post offered a complete guide to export Office 365 mailboxes to PST files using eDiscovery service and Office 365 to PST automated tool. eDiscovery service is lengthy and needs technical experience to understand it. However, for easy export of mailboxes from Office 365 account to PST file, go for a professional solution.