How to Migrate Shared Mailbox to Office 365? Elucidated Step by Step Guide

Published By Mohit Jha

Approved By Anuraag Singh

Published On July 31st, 2023

Reading Time 8 Minutes Reading

Category Office 365

Summary: This article covers the easiest solution to the user’s query i.e “how to migrate shared mailbox to Office 365?” So keep yourself with us and continue the reading. Let’s start from the beginning!

What is Office 365 Shared Mailbox?

A shared mailbox is a mailbox that can be accessed by more than one user. It allows members of the tenant to view, read, and respond to messages. A shared mailbox email address is not associated with a dedicated user account, which means there is no user name and password associated with a shared mailbox.

Users do not need to assign any license to the shared mailbox because the user of Office 365 tenant uses their own account to access the shared mailbox.

Before proceeding any further, let’s get to know the user query:–

“Recently, our organization has acquired a company. Both organizations are using Office 365 tenant, now our concern is to transfer data from O365 (from the acquired company) including O365 shared mailbox data. But, after searching on the internet we don’t have to find any way to migrate shared mailbox data from O365 to O365. If there is an automated migration tool, please suggest it.”

What are the Different Ways to Move Shared Mailbox Data to Office 365?

Before knowing the procedure to migrate shared mailboxes between Office 365 tenants, you have to understand there is no direct way to do this migration. However, you can convert the shared mailbox to Office 365 user mailbox using Exchange Admin Center and using the PowerShell script. As Microsoft does not provide any inbuilt tools for this. 

How to Migrate Shared Mailbox to Office 365 Using PowerShell Script?

Another option is to convert shared mailbox to Office 365 user mailbox through PowerShell scripts. In order to do this, we have to use the “Set-Mailbox cmdlet” in which we are going to specify the respective email address as the mailbox identity. You can use the mailbox name as well. However, the email address makes it more unique and removes the chances of choosing the wrong mailbox. Which makes it an optimal choice for running in the script.

Follow the Below Steps Carefully to Use PowerShell to Convert Shared Mailbox to Office 365 User Mailbox:

Step  1. In the very first step, you have to connect it to Exchnage Online.

Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName xyz@office365tips.onmicrosoft.com

Step  2. Now run the below PowerShell scripts to convert shared mailbox to User Mailbox in Office 365.

Set-Mailbox -Identity xyz@office365tips -Type Regular

Step 3. Once you have run the above script, then you can verify the conversion. In order to check it, you have to run the Get-Mailbox cmdlet. Using the Set-Mailbox cmdlet, we can only convert the shared mailbox to the user mailbox but we can not get the information about the output or confirmation regarding the successful execution. Use the below PowerShell scripts to get the status of the mailbox.

Get-Mailbox -Identity xyz@office365tips.onmicrosoft.com | Select Name, RecipientTypeDetails

It will show the result as:

# Result

Name RecipientTypeDetails

—- ——————–

xyz-test UserMailbox

Limitations of Using PowerShell to Convert Shared Mailbox to Office 365 User Mailbox

Here are some of the noteworthy limitations that you can encounter:

1. Overall Complexity of the Process – It becomes technical and complex when the PowerShell involves. While dealing with this process, requires the admin to be technically sound to incorporate the PowerShell script into Exchnage Online. Mistype or incorrect PowerShell scripts can result in data loss or other issues. Which can not be undone later. 
2. Chances of Data Loss Risks in the Process – Executing the PowerShell script and selecting the respective shared mailbox email address, all these steps require human efforts. Which can also result in human error at the same time. Choosing the wrong shared mailbox can completely change the identity and permissions of the respective users.
3. Confusion in Permission Handling – Shared Mailboxes often have unique permission settings set by admins. Which allows specific users to access the respective mailboxes. While the shared mailbox to Office 365 user mailbox conversion, any confusion can lead to data duplicacy or a breach in data integrity throughout the process.
4. Only Conversion not Migration – Using this method, only administrators can convert mailboxes to user mailboxes. which eliminates the possibility of the coexistence of shared mailboxes. When a shared mailbox is converted to a user mailbox, that shared mailbox no longer exists.

Related: How to Move Office 365 Mailbox to Another User Account?

Convert Shared Mailbox to Office 365 Regular Mailbox Using New EAC

• Step 1. Login to the New EAC (Exchange Admin Center) and navigate to Recipients > Mailboxes. 
• Step 2. Here you will find the list of all the user mailboxes and shared mailboxes. Filter the list and set it to display only the shared mailboxes by clicking on the Filter button.
• Step 3. Choose the desired shared mailboxes that you want to convert into regular mailboxes. Click on the display name.
• Step 4. Navigate to more options pane, and then click on the Convert to regular mailbox option. 
• Step 5. It will open the mailbox conversion wizard. Click on the Confirm button to proceed further.

Easiest Solution to Migrate Shared Mailbox to Office 365 User Mailbox

Hence, it is suggested to perform this migration with the help of an automated and professional migration tool. We need to select the right software in which we can migrate Shared mailbox data to Office 365.

As per many experts’ recommendations, we would like to suggest you SysTools Office 365 to Office 365 Migration Tool. The advanced algorithm makes this software standalone, it will migrate shared mailbox data without affecting the structure and hierarchy of data folders.

Apart from shared mailbox migration, the tool supports the migration of users’ mailboxes and Office 365 domain data migration. This is one of the finest utilities to migrate Office 365 shared mailbox between tenants, which ensures a smooth and seamless data transfer experience.  

Download Tool Purchase Now

Know the Software Steps to Migrate Shared Mailbox to Office 365

This software automates all the manual processes into these few steps.

Follow the below-listed steps to do the same:–

Step 1. Download, install & launch the software, and select Office 365 as a source & as a destination.

Step 2. From the workload selection panel, you can select items that you want to migrate.  On this screen, you can apply the date-based filter option. After applying the options, click on Next.

Step 3. Now, log in with the source admin credentials such as Admin ID & Application ID. Then click on the Validate button to validate permissions in order to migrate shared mailbox to Office 365.

Step 4. After validating permissions, click on the Next button in order to migrate shared mailbox data between Office 365 tenants.

Step 5. Now, enter Office 365 destination Office 365 Admin ID and Application ID, then click on Validate button.

Step 6. After validating permissions, click on the Next button.

Step 7. Now, it’s time to create a mapping between the source & destination of O365 mailboxes. To create a mapping, the tool provides three options – Fetch Users, Import Users, and Download Templates. Select any one of these options and proceed to the next step.

Step 8. After validating permissions click on the Validate button to validate permissions in order to transfer shared mailbox data from Office 365 to another.

Step 9. Now, click on the Start Migration button to migrate shared mailbox to Office 365 without a license.

You may also love to know: How to Migrate Mailbox from On-Premise to Office 365? Learn the Expert’s Way

Advanced Feature That Makes It Prime Choice of Users

• It allows migrating email, contacts, calendars, tasks, and documents.
• Supports migration of Primary, In-Place, and Shared mailbox data.
• Offers a date filter for selective data transfer to the destination.
• Migrates Office 365 groups and groups members easily.    
• Comes with a feature to set the user account-level priority for migration.
• Three types of re-run migration, help in executing the process error-free.
• Works with Windows 11 / 10 (64-bit), and Windows 2012 / 2016 Server.
• Compatible with a variety of Office 365 subscription plans.

Conclusion

This problem-solving blog will help users who need a reliable answer on “how to migrate shared mailbox to Office 365?” In this blog, we have discussed both the methods, a technical and time-consuming manual method, and a quick and reliable automated solution for the same.

By using the above-mentioned tool, users can easily migrate shared mailbox to exchange online, with maximum data protection and integrity.

Also Read: How to perform Office 365 Tenant to Tenant Migration Step By Step?