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Microsoft Exchange Server is an essential mail server for organizations to manage day-to-day emailing and other organizational activities. All the Exchange mailboxes and items such as emails, contacts, calendars, and notes are stored in EDB file format. So, the EDB files are very crucial for the functioning of the server.
The Exchange Administrator can create a new database in Exchange Admin Center with some simple steps –
However, the Exchange database often get corrupt due to various reasons like virus infections, hard drive failures, dirty shutdown errors, or system failures. Although it’s very rare, it can damage your Exchange database and make mailboxes inaccessible. Therefore, the EDB file must be repaired immediately, or you should extract Exchange database from the EDB file. You can Run ESEUTIL for EDB Repair.
Recommended: Get Kernel for Exchange Recovery tool to repair inaccessible EDB file and extract your complete data from EDB file to PST.
In this post, we will talk about the manual as well as automated approaches to extract Exchange mailboxes data from EDB files. But, before that, let’s have a look at the below points to understand why you need to extract Exchange mailboxes from EDB files.
In the above scenarios, it is crucial to extract exchange mailboxes from EDB file. Below are some of the most effective methods to extract exchange database from EDB files.
Generally, there are three manual methods to extract Exchange mailboxes from EDB file. Here, we will talk about all three methods:
Both the ExMerge utility and EMS PowerShell cmdlets have some drawbacks, such as one can only be used for Exchange 2003, has a lengthy procedure, etc. So, to overcome these limitations, there is one more method to extract EDB files to PST via the Exchange Admin Center.
However, this method can only be used to extract Exchange mailboxes from EDB for recent Exchange versions like Exchange Server 2013, 2016 and 2019. Follow the below steps to know how to extract EDB file via the Exchange admin center.
The mailboxes have been extracted to the desired location. Once the export process is finished, you’ll receive a confirmation message in the specified PST mailbox. But there are some drawbacks of using the Exchange Admin Center to extract EDB file to PST, such as:
Seeing all these limitations on manual methods, users often get confused about how to extract EDB files to PST. Well, we have an automated solution for your conversion.
It is another free method to extract Exchange mailboxes from EDB files. Using Exchange Management Shell, you can extract EDB file to PST in Exchange Server 2007 and later versions. EMS uses PowerShell cmdlets to free convert EDB file to PST. Here we will discuss how to extract EDB file to PST in Exchange Server 2016.
Go to Exchange Management Shell and use PowerShell cmdlet “New-MailboxExportRequest.” Use the below syntax for PowerShell cmdlets.
Here, use the mailbox name that you want to extract and enter the specific location where you want to extract EDB file. For example,
Exchange Management Shell works as an EDB Extractor and allows you to save it to PST. But, there are some limitations to it, such as:
ExMerge, the Microsoft Exchange Server Mailbox Merge Wizard, extracts the mailbox data from one Exchange Server’s mailbox and merges it into another mailbox running on a different Exchange Server. It copies the data from the mailbox as a separate PST file, then merges the data into another mailbox.
Use ExMerge can function on both single and multiple mailboxes, and it is smart enough to filter the mailbox content by various criteria. The tool will check the folders for duplicate items and skip them.
Download the free tool from the following URL –
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=2743
The user interface of the tool is a wizard-like interface and shows multiple options on the single screen. Here is the process:
Limitations of ExMerge tool
It is a significant utility that allows users to extract Exchange data from EDB files to PST. Not only that, it is enriched with some fantastic features that enable users to extract EDB to PST based on specific requirements. Now, let’s see how this tool works to understand its functionality better.
This way you can easily extract EDB files to PST using smart converter software for Exchange database files.
Extracting Exchange mailboxes data from EDB files is very crucial for organizations, as it allows them to save their Exchange data from any type of data loss. Also, extracting EDB file to PST allows you to migrate EDB mailboxes to Office 365 or keep the PST file as a backup. But there are some limitations for manual methods. So, you should use converter tool that enables users to easily convert EDB file to PST.
By using Exchange Admin Center, one can easily extract the data from the EDB file and restore it live Exchange Server to access it. But if the user does not know the commands, it will be better to use a third party tool to extract the data from the EDB files and to use them as necessary.