Exchange is one of the popular and known email communication server. Number of corporates make use of the Exchange environment for managing centralized send/receive database. However, facility to export mail from Exchange to PST is the main concern for Exchange administrators in many organizations regardless of its size of organization and the work of business it possesses. Several times, they need to take backup of Exchange database mainly for compliance and legal requirements. So, at that time, they prefer PST file type for the same. Many tools are available that can help to export mail from Exchange 2010 to PST. Moreover, Exchange contains inbuilt facility too for exporting Exchange account data into PST. But, before discussing the solution, it is necessary to know why to export Exchange to PST.
Why Export Mail from Exchange to PST?
Legal/Compliance Needs – A user will export Exchange emails to PST with other data for compliance and legal requirements.
Exchange Database Backup – Exchange is prone to corruption so taking backup of Exchange data to PST can save your data from getting lost or corrupted.
Exchange Mail Recovery – Mailbox can be fixed and recovered by exporting them into PST file type.
How to Export Mail from Exchange to PST?
There are multiple options that one can use to export mail from Exchange to PST. Microsoft offers utilities like ExMerge, NewMailboxExportRequest cmdlets, EAC etc. Apart from this, direct Exchange Migration Tool is available that directly export data from Exchange account to PST in few seconds. Let us discuss the process using ExMerge, NewMailboxExportRequest and third party tool in detail in the further section.
Solution 1. Export Mail from Exchange to PST using ExMerge
ExMerge is no longer usable as it was available for earlier Exchange versions. However, by using this tool, Exchange administrators learned practical advantages to export Exchange mailboxes into PST. Microsoft offered this utility for free download and Exchange administrators used it to a great extent. Below are the steps listed for ExMerge utility that help admins in exporting mailboxes into PST:
- Download ExMerge and properly configured it. Also, you should have desired permissions i.e. Receive As or Send As on the database. Moreover, service account will be best to use ExMerge.
- Go to C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\bin folder and launch ExMerge. A welcome screen appears, press Next.
- Select Export or Import option from Procedure Selection screen and hit Next.
- A Two-Step Procedure screen will display, select Step 1 option and press Next.
- Provide login details and click Next. Choose desired mailboxes shown in Mailbox Selection Screen and hit Next.
- Hit Change Folder button and select desired destination path (folder) to save resultant PST at desired location and click OK. Again, click Next.
- If you wish to save current settings, then hit Save Settings button. After this, click Next. The progress appears on Process Status Screen. When it completes, click Finish.
Now, navigate to selected folder to view resultant PST files. These PST files can be used using MS Outlook.
Solution 2. Export Mail from Exchange to PST using New-MailboxExportRequest
The new version of Exchange make use of Shell cmdlets to perform the export process of Exchange mail to PST. And, the resultant PST will then export to Exchange accessed network share folder. Here, the commands are discussed that you can execute to perform the process:
New-MailboxExportRequest –Mailbox <Mailbox Name> -FilePath “<PST file path>”
In case you want to export archive mailbox of Exchange, then use the same cmdlet with switch of –lsArchive.
Note: If you not able to connect to PST file and face error statement, check that you have desired permissions to export Exchange into PST.
Solution 3. Export Mail from Exchange to PST using Exchange Migration Tool
Exchange Migration Tool is reliable, secure and direct way to export email from Exchange to PST with attachments including contacts, calendar and other items. The software carries comprehensive and self-explanatory GUI which is easy to access by all users and organizations. Exchange Migration Tool is all-in-one utility that allows to batch export Exchange to PST, Office 365, Exchange/Hosted Exchange and Default Outlook Profile. It also offers numerous features such as date and item filter, option to exclude deleted items folder, PST split and much more. In order to know more about the software, follow the steps mentioned below:
- Run Exchange to PST Tool, make sure that system is configured with Exchange Server.
- Click Add button and add Exchange account from which you want to export emails. The tool ask to provide details of Server Name, Login ID and Password. Also, select desired options as per need and click Add.
- Select the destination option – choose “Save Mailboxes into Outlook PST” and click Next.
- Software now added source details, select desired mailbox type for migration and hit Next.
- Set date filter, item filter and other sub-options as per requirement. Once done, click Next.
- Export Report window appears, showing details of Mailbox Name, Folder(s), Item Count, Time Taken and Status.
- Finally, the entire migration completed with a message “Conversion Completed”.
The steps are easy and simple to execute. In few seconds one can export email from Exchange to PST without efforts.
Download the free demo of the tool for better understanding of its functioning and features. It allows to export first 25 files per item from Exchange to PST free of cost.
Conclusion
The blog discussed multiple solutions to export email from Exchange to PST. Solution 1 and Solution 2 are manual process that is offered by Microsoft. Both the solutions are quite technical and need to be followed accurately. If not, then there would be chance of data loss. Solution 3 provides direct functionality and performs the execution with 100% accurate formatting and folder structure.