As a Microsoft Exchange Server administrator, you may have several tasks to perform. For instance, you would need to perform mailbox and user management, carry on server maintenance, work to secure the server, and more. Several advanced jobs, such as server installation, configuration, backup and recovery, compliance, and migration, are equally essential.
Among all these tasks, exporting mailboxes to a PST file is a frequently practiced job for various reasons. In this blog, we will talk about them in detail, followed by the methods to export Exchange mailboxes to PST via Exchange Admin Center.
Additionally, we will also discuss the role of professional EDB to PST converter software, such as Stellar Converter for EDB, in carrying out quick and hassle-free mailbox export to PST.
Reasons to Export Exchange Mailboxes to PST
When working with an Exchange Server, numerous factors can lead you to export mailboxes to a PST file:
- Server Decommission: When migrating to a different server or Office 365, you need to decommission the server. This will require exporting and archiving mailboxes for historical purposes.
- Mailbox removal of former employee: When the workers leave a company, the IT department has to remove their mailboxes to free space or to recreate the mailbox for a new employer. This needs the admins to extract data from the mailbox and archive it for later use.
- Mailbox size reduction: If the mailboxes are consuming too much space, the admin will have to reduce the size by removing unnecessary emails or archiving them to PST or another server.
- Extract data from a corrupt mailbox: A mailbox can go inaccessible, hang up because of storage limitations, or become corrupt. In such events, exporting to PST can help to recover data from the mailbox.
- Regulatory compliance: Several legal requirements require you to export selected mailboxes or extract specific emails to PST, or produce PST files for legal audits
Major Prerequisites to Export Mailboxes to PST through EAC
To perform this task through the Exchange Admin Center, you need to have the right role and permissions assigned. While you can use both Exchange Admin Center (EAC) and PowerShell commands, we will discuss steps to assign the required roles and permissions using EAC. Even if you are an admin, you will not have this permission by default.
1. Assign User account Permissions using EAC
- Open Exchange Admin Center (EAC) and log in with your credentials
- Click Permissions > Admin Roles
- Click ‘+’ button to create a new role
- Assign the Mailbox Import/Export role to the newly created role
- Add users to whom you want to assign this role.
To create a new Mailbox Import Export role and assign permissions to the user, you can also use the Exchange Management Shell (EMS). For this, open the PowerShell window and write the command below:
New-ManagementRoleAssignment –Role “Mailbox Import Export” –User “<Username>”
2. UNC file path set up to save the exported PST files
Next, you will have to save the exported mailboxes to PST. This requires the creation of a UNC file path or a shared file location.
- In your Exchange Server, create a folder in a selected location
- Right-click the new folder > Give access to >Specific people
- In the resulting Network Access window, select any one option from everyone or your username (recommended)
- Next, choose Read/Write permission > Share
- Notice the shared network path, it will be something like this: \\exsrv\d$\pst
Export Mailboxes to PST Using EAC
After fulfilling the necessary conditions, proceed to export the mailboxes to PST. You can do this by using Exchange Admin Center or Exchange Management Shell. We discuss the method involving EAC.
- Log in to EAC with Administrator credentials
- From the left pane, click Recipient
- In the resulting window on the right side, click Mailboxes
- Click three dots (…) and then click Export to a PST file
- On the first page of the Export to a .pst file wizard, select any of the two given options:
- Export only the contents of this mailbox
- Export only the contents of this mailbox’s archive
- Click Browse to select the mailbox whose content you want to export, and click Next
- On the next page, specify the UNC path and name of the target PST file, and click Next
- On the last page of the Export to a .pst file wizard, you will see the following option with a checkbox: Send email to the mailbox below when the .pst file has been exported. Do any of the following:
- Leave the checkbox selected and click Browse to add or remove recipients, or
- Clear the checkbox
- Click Finish
This will export the mailboxes and their contents to PST with the help of the Exchange Admin Center
Limitations of Exporting Mailboxes to PST using EAC
While this method is easier as compared to typing complicated PowerShell commands in the Exchange Management Shell, it does accompany several drawbacks:
- It does not provide the option to export selected mailbox content to a PST file
- You cannot check the progress of the export process
- The method does not export public folders
- This procedure is possible only in the case of a mounted Exchange database server
To overcome these shortcomings, using professional EDB to PST converter software, such as Stellar Converter for EDB, will be a wise move.
Mailbox Export to PST using Professional EDB to PST Converter Software
The exchange native tools, such as EAC or EMS, cannot help export mailboxes to PST in case of
- Insufficient permissions (Mailbox Import/Export role)
- Large mailboxes with size limits
- Mailbox database is dismounted or inaccessible
- No granular export
These built-in tools cannot export public folders either. To overcome these issues, Stellar Converter for EDB is an ideal third-party application. This professional EDB to PST converter software can export mailboxes from online or offline database files to PST without hassles. Here are some of the key features of the widely recommended software:
- Exports large EDB files to PST offline without any file size limitation
- Converts and exports multiple mailboxes from offline EDB to live Exchange Server
- Uses the Parallel Processing technique to process and save up to 8 mailboxes simultaneously
- Option to modify mailbox export priority order while exporting EDB to PST, Office 365, or Live Exchange
- Gives a detailed preview of Exchange mailboxes and items to save the desired ones in the desired format
- Free enhanced preview of all the mailbox items before exporting to PST
Conclusion
Exporting Exchange Server mailboxes to PST is a frequently practiced task. Admins perform this job to free the space in the Exchange database after an employee leaves the organization. Migrating to another server, reduction in mailbox size, regulatory compliance, and data extraction from a large EDB files are some of the other main reasons behind this task.
Admins use PowerShell commands in the Exchange Management Shell or Exchange Admin Center to export exchange mailboxes to PST. Both these methods require the admin to have the Mailbox Import Export role and permission assigned. Once done, you may proceed to do the export through EAC or EMS.
Using Exchange Admin Center is comparably an easier method, but it comes with certain limitations. For example, it is only possible for a mounted Exchange database server; you cannot export selected mailbox items to PST, etc.
A professional EDB to PST converter software, such as Stellar Converter for EDB, averts these issues, allowing you to perform hassle-free mailbox export to PST. Widely recommended by MVPs, this tool makes things easier and is convenient to use.