Backing up Office 365 mailboxes is something every organisation wants to implement, and most of them miss out on shared mailboxes until there is a problem. Unlike standard user mailboxes, shared mailboxes cannot be accessed directly and usually do not have their own credentials, meaning that they are used for general purposes by many people. That's why you need a solid plan to backup Office 365 shared mailboxes.
However, there are many Office 365 shared mailbox limitations, such as the fact that they don't back themselves up. So, what happens if your data gets corrupted, deleted, or lost unexpectedly? Go through the blog to know all details about backing up Office 365 shared mailboxes.
What is an Office 365 Shared Mailbox?
In Office 365, shared mailboxes are centralized email inboxes that multiple users use to communicate without separate usernames and passwords. Microsoft 365 shared mailbox is a popular option for many businesses that want to provide their employees with the ability to read and write messages from the same address without having an individual license for each person.
For example, the support team uses the shared mailbox support@company.com so that all team members can see the same message and reply to them in order to deliver a better customer experience.
Is There a Manual Method to Backup Microsoft 365 Shared Mailbox?
Yes, to backup Office 365 shared mailboxes, you can manually download Office 365 shared mailboxes by using the native eDiscovery Content Search and Export feature in the Microsoft Purview compliance portal to save mailbox data into PST. But it only works on a small scale. For a large dataset, you’ll need to use a powerful backup solution.
Backup Office 365 Shared Mailboxes via Kernel Office 365 Backup Tool
Kernel Office 365 Backup and Restore allows you to back up multiple shared mailboxes at once into various file formats. It is the best Office 365 backup tool that lets you apply date filters and run incremental backups, so you don’t need to back up the entire mailbox every time.
- Backup bulk data, including emails, shared calendars, contact lists, etc.
- Run multiple backup instances simultaneously.
- Split large-sized mailboxes into multiple PSTs of different sizes.
- Backup data selectively from Office 365 emails with helpful filters.
Multiple output formats such as PST, MSG, PDF, DOC, EML, etc.
Steps to Download Office 365 Shared Mailboxes Data
Here is the stepwise procedure to backup O365 Shared mailboxes to a specific secure file format:
- Download and install Kernel Office 365 Backup and Restore software in your system.
- Open it and click on the Backup button.
- Click on the +Add button to configure single/multiple Office 365 accounts to backup.
- Choose the Login Types (Modern Authentication or Basic Authentication).
- Enter your Office 365 credentials, Tenant ID, Clent ID, and Client Secret Value, Also, check the List all Mailboxes using above credentials option. Tap on Get User Mailbox(es).
- All your Office 365 mailboxes will be listed. Select the Shared Mailboxes you want to backup and tap on Add.
- Again, check the required O365 Shared Mailboxes for backup. You can also remove or add another mailbox. Click Set Filters and Migrate.
- Select the Mailbox option from the dropdown for the respective source mailboxes and click on Migrate.
- Apply the filters accordingly and tap on I'm OK Start Migration.
- Choose the Output type for backup as per requirement and click OK.
- Specify the saving location of your backup file and tap on OK. The backup process will start.
- Wait for some time. After successful completion you can also save the backup report in a CSV file.
Summing Up
Office 365 shared mailbox is often used for storing important business data, but Microsoft does not provide any adequate built-in method to back it up on a regular basis. Although it might be possible to use manual methods like eDiscovery, they are not appropriate for backing up multiple shared mailboxes in an organization. Thus, escape the risks and limitations of the manual methods and backup Office 365 shared mailboxes securely with the Kernel Office 365 Backup and Restore tool.
Commonly Asked Questions
Can I forward a shared mailbox in Office 365?
Yes, you can forward the messages to any valid email address or distribution list without assigning a license to the shared mailbox.
Can I restore Office 365 shared mailboxes that I've already backed up?
Yes, you can easily restore backed-up Microsoft 365 shared mailboxes with the Microsoft 365 backup solution. However, for an uninterrupted, secure, and smooth restore process, choose the Kernel Office 365 Backup and Restore tool.
What are the limitations of Office 365 shared mailboxes?
Shared mailboxes have a default size of 50GB, and they lack built-in task tracking and direct login capability.
