How to Backup Office 365 Mailbox to PST: Two Ways

Does Office 365 Backup Mailboxes?

Modern enterprises still rely heavily on email as a core component of their operational and communicative framework. With a global user base exceeding 3.9 billion individuals, email stands as an essential tool, and among business accounts, Gmail and Office 365 (now known as Microsoft 365) emerge as the prominent choices.

When sending and receiving important data and information using an email service, most employees do so without considering the significance of the content they're handling. Yet, a lack of a proper backup or recovery plan, email loss (accidental or not) exposes company's data at risk. It is easy to backup Gmail emails using Google Takeout or other tools, but is it possible to backup Office 365 mailboxes?

Microsoft 365 does preserve your emails to an extent, however, it does not equate to a proactive backup solution. Here, within this guide, we will show you how to backup mailbox to PST for Office 365 for backup easily.

Why Backup Mailbox to PST for Office 365?

Creating backups of Office 365 mailboxes by exporting them into PST (Personal Storage Table) files serves several benefits, such as data management, disaster recovery, and compliance. Here are some reasons why organizations might consider exporting Office 365 mailbox to PST:

• Data Safeguard - An Office 365 email backup in the form of PST files offers an additional layer of data security. This arrangement enables the retrieval of certain mailbox items or your entire mailbox, in case of accidental data loss, mailbox corruption, etc.
• Offline Access - PST files can be stored on your local computer or portable storage devices, enabling offline access to mailbox data. This can be useful when you are out of an internet connection.
• Migration and Transition - When migrating between different email providers or versions of Office 365, having PST backups can simplify the migration process. You can easily import PST files into the new email service, ensuring a seamless transition of mailbox data.
• Reducing Storage Costs - For organizations grappling with substantial data volumes, Microsoft 365 storage bears fiscal weight. Through the exportation of elderly or infrequently accessed data to PST files, the potential reduction of storage expenses.

How to Export Office 365 Mailbox to PST for Backup

There are 2 solutions that claim the successful export of PST from Office 365 for all mailboxes for backup. You can take a look at them.

Method 1: Export Office 365 Mailbox to PST using eDiscovery Tool

Within the Exchange Admin Center (EAC), the eDiscovery Export Tool presents a valuable capability. It can be used to export the results of an In-Place eDiscovery search to an Outlook Data File, that is, a PST file. There are three main processes for backing up mailbox to PST from Office 365. Let's take a look at them.

★Note:

Prior to proceeding, it's imperative to establish permissions within the Microsoft 365 Compliance Centre. Failure to configure the permissions will impede the creation of a content search, subsequently barring the export of O365 mailbox to PST.

Step 1: Assign eDiscovery Permissions in Microsoft 365

1. Sign in and access the Microsoft 365 compliance center. Select the Permissions option from the left menu. Then, expand the compliance center section and tap on Roles.

2. In the next step, search for eDiscovery. Upon locating the eDiscovery Manager role, proceed to select it.

3. Within the eDiscovery Manager role group, add your account to the eDiscovery Administrator list by clicking Edit and following the simple steps.

Step 2: Create Content Search in Microsoft Office 365

1. In the same portal, navigate to the Solutions category and select Content search. From there, proceed to click the + New search button.

2. Provide a Name and Description based on your preference.

3. Turn on the switch next to Exchange mailboxes in the Locations wizard. Then, click the Choose users, groups, or teams link to select your mailbox and hit Done.

4. Then, you will find a wizard to define search conditions. As we want to export the entire Office 365 mailbox, we will keep the Conditions screen empty.

5. On the Review your search window, confirm that all looks good and tap on Submit to start a new search creation.

Step 3: Export Office 365 to PST File Format

1. In the list of Content searches, locate and select the name of the search you conducted in the preceding step. Upon doing so, you will observe that the search status indicates completion.

2. Click on the Action button and opt for Export results. Select the desired output option, specifically Export Exchange content, and then proceed to click Export.

3. Revert to the content search list and click the Export button once more. Subsequently, select Download Report. Additionally, make sure to make a copy of the export key for reference.

4. Following this, proceed to install the Microsoft Office 365 eDiscovery Export Tool.

5. Paste the export key copied in the previous step. Furthermore, designate a destination for the PST file. Finally, click Start to commence the export process of the Office 365 mailbox into PST format.

Method 2: Export Office 365 Mailbox to PST using Outlook

Microsoft Outlook comes with multiple built-in options that allow users to configure Office 365 accounts into Outlook and backup mailbox for Office 365 by exporting O365 mailbox items into PST file.

Step 1. Launch the Outlook desktop app on your computer.

Step 2. Head to File > Add Account to add your Office 365 email address to it.

Step 3. Proceed to select the File > Open & Export Option. Choose the Import/Export option.

Step 4. Select Export to a file from the available list and click Next.

Step 5. Opt for the Outlook Data File(.pst) and then tap on Next.

Step 6. Select the mailboxes or folders you want to export. Remember to include subfolders if you want to export everything in the mailbox. Click Next.

Step 7. Choose a location to save the exported PST file, and finally click Finish to export entire mailbox to PST for Office 365.

Easier Way to Backup Office 365 Mailbox

No one wants to lose their data, and manual export Office 365 emails for backup needs extra time and effort. So, to save your time and effort and avoid any kind of hassle, you can use AOMEI Backupper Professional, reliable and easy-to-use Outlook backup software. Through this tool, you can create backups of your crucial Office 365 emails automatically.

🎉 It provides Outlook Backup function to backup all of your emails, contacts, notes, calendars, and tasks within Outlook to computer, local & external drive, network drive, or cloud drive.
🎉 Not limited to Outlook, it also allows you to backup Gmail, Hotmail, and any other email accounts added into Outlook client.
🎉 It enables you to backup your email data automatically using its Schedule Backup feature in daily, weekly, monthly, event triggers, or USB plug in.
🎉 It supports multiple Windows systems including Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP, Vista, etc. If you are a Windows Server user, try AOMEI Backupper Server.

Add your Office 365 account to Outlook, and get the Outlook backup software AOMEI Backupper installed on your computer. Then, follow these steps to back up your Office 365 emails effortlessly:

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Backupper, click Backup, and select Outlook Backup.

Step 2. Tap Add Outlook Data. In the popup window, select the mailboxes under your Microsoft 365 email account as the backup source.

Step 3. Determine a destination path to save the backup image. You have three options: Select a local path, Add Share or NAS Devices, and Select a cloud drive.

Step 4. For an automated email backup task, click Schedule Backup to configure the scheduling. Finally, click Start Backup to begin backing up Office 365 mailbox.

Conclusion

In the business world, the loss of important data and email may cast a pervasive impact on the entire organization. So in this regard, you need the most secure and reliable way to protect your emails.

In addition to manually backing up mailbox to PST for Office 365, using professional email backup software like AOMEI Backupper can help you back up essential emails and other folders more easily and efficiently. And it gives you the ability to backup Outlook emails to USB, external hard drive, and multiple locations.

What’s more, AOMEI Backupper is one of the best SSD cloning programs. You can use it to clone all partitions to SSD from HDD or SSD, for easy data migration. Why not try it now?