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“In this part, we’ll discuss different methods to backup Office 365 mailboxes. There are both manual and automated ways to perform this, and we’ll take you through the steps of both the methods.”

1- Office 365 Mailbox Backup Plan Part-1
2- Office 365 Mailbox Backup Plan Part-2

How to Back Up Office 365 Data?

So, you’ve learned a lot about Office 365. Now, let’s talk about how to backup Office 365 manually. There are some simple methods that can be used to backup Office 365 mailboxes:

1. Using Cached Exchange Mode

   By enabling the Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook, users can backup Office 365 mailbox data in an OST file. Follow the below steps to know more about it:

   • Open MS Outlook and go to the File tab.
   • Now, select Account Settings; a new wizard will appear on the screen. Navigate to the Email tab in the opened window.
   • Select the Exchange Account and click Change.
   • The Exchange Server Settings window will appear on the screen. Enable Use Cached Exchange Mode and apply the changes.

   With Cached Exchange mode, Outlook creates an offline Outlook data file (OST) on the local system to facilitate offline working in Outlook. When Office 365 is down, you can use the data in this OST file.

2. Import/Export Option to Export Outlook Data

   If you want to create a backup in PST format, you can use the Import/Export option of Outlook. For this, you need to have Office 365 account configured in Outlook. Follow the below steps to know more:

   • Open MS Outlook and go to the File tab.
   • Now, click Open & Export and select the Import/Export option from here.
   • In the opened wizard, select Export to a file and click Next.
   • From the opened menu, select Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next.
     
   • Select the location where you want to save this file and click Finish.
     

Note: You can also set a password to this PST file to protect it from unauthorized accesses.
You can learn more about backing up email, contacts, and calendar to a PST file on Microsoft official site.

Unlike OST files, PST files are portable and serve as a real backup for Office data. These PST files can be imported back to Office 365 when there is a requirement.

Third-Party Tool – Kernel Office 365 Backup & Restore

As you know, manual methods to backup Office 365 mailboxes are complicated and don’t guarantee a hundred percent backup of data. So, third-party solutions are recommended to backup Office 365 mailboxes. And when choosing a third-party software, Kernel Office 365 Backup & Restore always stands out from the crowd. It has some great features, such as:

• Backup Exchange/Office 365 data as per requirements
• Restore data from Exchange/office 365 mailboxes to PST format.
• Performs well with on-premises/hosted Exchange & Exchange Online.
• Advanced options to filter mailbox based on date, item type, etc.
• Maintain the original folder hierarchy of the mailboxes.
• Supports all Office 365 plans and PST (Outlook) versions

Determining Office 365 Backup Scope

When backing-up Office 365 data, there are certain things that a user should keep in mind.

Types of Office 365 Backup

If we see from the technical point of view, Office 365 backup can be done in two ways using this tool:

• Full Backup: A full backup is performed to create a complete backup.
• Incremental Backup: It saves only the changes that were made after the last backup. An incremental backup (done after a full backup) helps you save storage space.

For a better understanding, let’s have a quick look at the working process of this software.

1. Download Kernel for Office 365 Backup & Restore and install on your system.

   

2. On launching the tool, select the Backup option.
   
3. Add the office 365 account credentials by selecting the Add button. Select List all the mailboxes to display all mailboxes added to the Office 365 account.
   

   Note: If you want to back up multiple mailboxes, then you need an Office 365 account with administrative privileges.

4. The mailboxes will be added to the software; click Set Filter and Migrate.
   
5. Now, select the type of data—mailbox/archive mailbox/public folder—that you want to backup and click Migrate.
   
6. Set filters according to your requirements in the Filter Selection window and click “Start migration.”
   
7. Select the specific file format in which you want to save the recovered data and click OK.
   
8. Select the location where you want to save the backup file and click OK.
   
9. Once the backup is complete, you’ll receive a notification on your screen. Click OK to end the process. You can save the report to CSV format.
   

This way, you can easily backup Office 365 mailboxes to any desired location on your system. And this is the easiest way to backup Office 365 mailboxes.

Conclusion

Over the past few years, there is a significant increase in the number of businesses that moved from on-premises Exchange environments to Office 365. However, Office 365 is vulnerable to data loss issues. So, creating regular backups for your mailboxes is necessary. In this article, we have covered every aspect of Office 365 backup, i.e., everything from manual backup methods to professional Office 365 backup tools.