How to Export Office 365 Archive Mailbox to PST File Efficiently? Guided Explanation

In this article, we will discuss what is archive mailboxes and how to export Office 365 archive mailbox to PST files for all users. We will put lime-light on the user confusion between archiving and archive mailbox (In-Place Archive) and their uses.

What is Archive Mailbox in Office 365?

Archiving is a process of moving data into a repository that can be used as a backup as a separate mailbox. This repository is available alongside with primary mailbox (Inbox) that can be used for storing emails separately from one another.

In Office 365, we call this mailbox Archive Mailbox (also known as In-Place Archive). It is an additional mailbox for storing emails separately from Inbox emails. After enabling the archive mailboxes, any user can access them for saving their inbox email inside it.

The Benefit of an archive mailbox is that it provides you the central location for storing emails that are no longer needed direct access. Moreover, this way user can keep their Inbox (primary mailbox) clean and easily accessible.

Benefits of Exporting Office 365 Archive Mailbox to PST

The following are the list of benefits that the user gets by exporting the O365 archive mailbox to PST:

• It reduces storage requirements in Office 365
• Prevents from losing data of the user
• Increases server performance
• Easy to restore data when needed
• Eliminates mailbox quotas
• Provides easy search capabilities

Methods to Export Office 365 Archive Mailbox to PST

There is no direct method provided by Microsoft to O365 mailboxes, whether it is a primary mailbox or any other user-generated mailbox like the Archive mailbox. However, by using some indirect methods such as Outlook and third-party tools, users can export Office 365 archive mailbox to PST.

Method #1: Export Complete Archive Mailbox to PST – Automated Solution

As we have explained above Office 365 doesn’t yet provide any method to backup Office 365 mailboxes, therefore, users need to take the help of an automated tool like Office 365 Export Tool. This tool is specifically designed for such an export procedure. Moreover, it also allows you to select Archive Mailbox from Office 365 account and export it into the PST file format without any hassle.

Features Provided By Automated Tools

• Exports Archive Mailbox, Inbox, and other mailbox data.
• Capable to export contacts, calendars, and tasks from the O365 account
• Allows to export Shared mailbox data to PST format
• Provides date-range filter of selective data export
• Dual-Login options: With Admin & Without Admin Credentials
• Provides split PST option to create small-size exported files
• Maintain hierarchy of exported archive mailbox or other mailboxes

Steps to Export Office 365 Archive Mailbox to PST:

Step 1. First, download and install the tool for the export process.

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Step 2. Login into the tool using an Admin or User account.

 

Step 3. Select the User account for the export process (Available when login via Admin).

Step 4. Choose the Email format as “PST” & Set Split PST (optional).

Step 5. Select the Category as “Archive Mailbox” & Set the date-range filter.

Step 6. Choose the destination location for the exported archive mailbox PST file.

Step 7. Click on the Start button to export Office 365 archive mailbox to PST. 

Method #2: Use Outlook for Exporting Archive Mailboxes From Office 365

Another method to export Office 365 archive mailbox to PST is with the help of a desktop Outlook Application. If you don’t have MS Outlook installed on your system, then simply prefer an automated solution as solution.

Manual Working Steps to Export Archive Mailboxes using Outlook:

Step 1. Open the MS Outlook application on your desktop.

Step 2. Go to the File tab and click on Add Account option.

Step 3. Enter the details of Office 365 account and configure it.

Step 4. After the configuration is finished, Go back to the File tab and click Open >> Import/Export

Step 5. Choose the “Export to a file” option from Import/Export wizard

Step 6. Now, choose the “Outlook data file .pst” option from the list.

Step 7. Select the Office 365 Archive mailbox from the list >> Next

Step 8. Browse the location for the exported file, & click on the Finish button

Conclusion

In this guide, we have explained the two possible solutions to export Office 365 archive mailbox to PST. Both methods work perfectly, however, the automated method is best suited for organizations to export multiple users’ archive mailboxes. Whereas the manual method is suitable for a single user only.

Although there is an alternate approach for exporting Office 365 mailboxes using the eDiscovery tool. But this method is quite tedious for any Office 365 user who doesn’t have a good command of the Admin center working. It’s better not to follow such a method, which may corrupt the exported file in the process.