Exporting Exchange Online mailboxes to PST format using RecoveryManager Plus

Email has been the cornerstone of enterprise communications. Organizations using Exchange Online often need to manage and archive their email data for compliance and legal requirements. One effective method for achieving this is to export Exchange mailboxes to PST files.

Why export Exchange Online mailboxes to PST format?

Exporting Exchange Online mailbox data to PST format is important for a number of reasons. Some of the most common reasons include:

• Compliance and legal requirements: PST exports help organizations archive email data systematically, making it easier to retrieve information during audits and legal inquiries.
• Accessing archived data: PST files allow you to access archived mailboxes that you no longer need to access on a regular basis.
• Mailbox size management: Exporting older emails to PST format helps manage mailbox size and improves performance, ensuring users can access necessary information without reaching storage limits.
• Reclaim unused licenses: Retaining mailboxes in Exchange Online requires a paid license. Exporting mailboxes to PST files facilitates reclaiming licenses from former users while retaining access to mailboxes.

How to export Exchange Online mailboxes to PST format using RecoveryManager Plus

The following steps illustrate how you export entire mailboxes or specific mailbox items in your Exchange Online environment to PST format.

1. Log in to RecoveryManager Plus as an administrator.
2. Navigate to the Exchange tab > Export.
3. Click the New Export Job button located in the top-right corner of the screen.
4. Select Microsoft 365 in the Exchange Type drop-down.
5. Select the Microsoft 365 tenant that contains the mailbox that you wish to export to PST format from the Tenant drop-down box.
6. Provide a name for the export job in the Export Job Name field.
7. Select the mailboxes you wish to export by clicking the icon in the Select Mailboxes field. You can select all the mailboxes by selecting the check box adjacent to the Display Name text. To search for individual mailboxes, use the icon. After you have selected all the mailboxes that you wish to export to PST format, click OK.

   Note: You can also import a CSV file with the list of mailboxes to be exported by clicking the icon. In the pop-up that appears, click Browse and select the CSV file which contains the mailboxes to be exported.

8. In the Mailbox Folders to Exclude drop-down, select the folders that you wish to exclude from being exported to PST.
9. Select the Repository in which the exported PST file is to be stored.
10. Click Advanced Settings to configure the following additional settings.
• To split the PST file into multiple smaller files to overcome the import limit of Outlook, select Enable split PST and provide the maximum size for each file in the space provided. The application supports splitting PST files to a maximum of 50GB.

  Note: The individual PST files might slightly exceed or fall short by a maximum of 10% of the specified file size.

• To add a layer of security for your PST file, select Secure PST with a password and provide a password.
• To export items created or modified in a specific time range, select Export items in range and set the time from the calendar.
11. Click Export to start the process.

Benefits of using RecoveryManager Plus to export mailboxes to PST format

• Bulk export: Simplify the process of exporting multiple mailboxes at once using a CSV file, making it easy to manage large volumes of email data.
• Split PST files: Export the contents of a mailbox to multiple PST files, each with a maximum size of 50GB, to overcome the Outlook import limit.
• Password protection: Secure PST files with a password, providing an additional layer of security for the exported data.
• Flexible export: Choose to export entire mailboxes or specific items based on your needs.