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Office 365 is one of the most secure cloud platforms available today. It offers more than 99% uptime and complete security its data. Also, for additional security, users can retain the important data up to the required time. Moreover, Microsoft is one of the most trusted names for security.
Though cloud was thought earlier to be secure, it is not so now. Cloud platforms are affected by downtime issues, ransomware, user errors, and many other issues. Considering all these, Office 365 users prefer to back up their data using various methods. Here, we will learn more about backup and restore Office 365 data.
The users may find any of the following reasons for the Office 365 mailboxes export to PST file:
Likewise, there are reasons to migrate Outlook PST files to Office 365 cloud environment as well. Some of them are listed below:
Thus, the need for export and import is discussed. Now, the focus is on how to perform the processes. In general, there are two ways to perform the import/export to Office 365 migration.
The users are most inclined to manual ways to import or export as these ways are absolutely free of cost. So, first, look at the manual solutions for the import/export.
There are basically two manual methods to backup Office 365 to Outlook PST files.
Note: The in-built eDiscovery option in Office 365 is available in all Exchange plans including Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016, Exchange 2019, and in selected Office 365 plans.
To export Office 365 mailboxes to Outlook PST file, follow the steps as given:
Now move on to the next manual procedure to backup Office 365 data to PST file.
The pre-requisite for this type of migration is that all the Office 365 mailboxes must be configured with a Microsoft Outlook account i.e. Office 365 account must have full control permissions on mailboxes to be exported.
After assigning the permissions, wait for some time till the mailboxes are visible on the Outlook account. Now, perform the following steps to perform the export process.
In the next step, you are asked to choose the folder items to move. Select the desired items or folder (public folder, mailbox) and click Next. The export begins to start then.
After discussing manual methods, it seems not so tough to export Office 365 data to PST. But hold on, the user should consider the limitations aspect for the manual solutions too.
Here are listed some of the limitations for the manual method to export Office 365 to PST files.
Manual method using eDiscovery tool
Before coming to any conclusion, let us have a look at the manual ways to import Outlook PST data to Office 365.
While talking about the manual methods to import PST to Office 365, the users can take advantage of the following method.
Office 365 provides a new feature to import unencrypted PST files to Office 365 cloud environment. Before executing the manual process, the user must assign the Mailbox Import Export role to the user account. Follow the instructions below to assign the role.
Open Exchange Admin Center > Click Permissions > Click Admin Roles > Double Click Organization Management > Click + Roles > Select Mailbox Import and Export > Click Add > Click OK > Click Save.
You can also create a New role group and then assign your account permissions.
Sign in the Office 365 with the global admin account and perform Select Data Management > Click Import > Click Go to the Import Service > Click Upload Files Over the Network. After this, download the Azure AzCopy tool by clicking on Download Tool. Now, install the Azure Copy tool.
In Import Data to Office 365 window, click the key icon and click Copy key. Click Show URL for PST files. Save this key and URL to a secure location.
After downloading the Azure Copy tool and acquiring the key & URL, open the command prompt as the administrator. Open the directory where the Azure copy tool is installed. Run the following command to upload the PST files.
Run the following command to start uploading the PST Files
Create the CSV file for mapping PST file to Office 365 by clicking on Mapping Template File from Microsoft to download the sample CSV file. Provide the required information and save the PST Mapping file.
Now again go to the Upload files over the network page, provide the project name. Click + to add the mapping file. Add the mapped CSV file, validate it and finally click Finish. The import will start now. Once completed, close the application.
So, we have discussed a manual solution to import PST data to Office 365. The PST can be transferred through this method but still has certain limitations.
Drawbacks
The manual solutions are free but do not fulfill the complete requirement of the users. Keeping in mind the drawbacks of manual solutions for both import and export, you can use a professional 2-in-1 Kernel Office 365 Backup & Restore tool. This intelligent software performs both backup (export Office 365 to PST) and restore (PST to Office 365) for Office 365 at a single platform and within 4-5 steps only.The tool has a secure, reliable approach for both the procedures it executes.
A- You can backup or restore a single mailbox of Office 365. You can also create a New role group and then assign your account permissions.
B- Similarly, you can Backup or Restore multiple mailboxes with much less effort.
Analyzing the manual solutions makes us understand that these methods definitely have no cost but are completely trustable. These methods perform Backup and Restore Office 365 data but take much time along with having complexity. For a better and instant solution, the user can go for a third-party professional tool Kernel Office 365 Backup & restore. The choice is in the hands of the users only.
Tested the manual and automated process. Both are good, but for the convenience I like to recommend use automated tool, because its user interface, functionality and processing speed very good.
Backup with manual process is a very time-consuming task. I like to prefer the third-party tool instead of the manual ones. Because it saves a lot of time, and I think time matters more than money.
Thank you Megha for that blog post. It assists me to restore Office 365 data from a previous backup. I love recommending this tool to other users. Excellent toolkit for even non-technical users like me.
Taking backup of Office 365 data in very important, but there are few good tools are available for this. I feel very lucky as I choose this tool for backup Office 365 data.