How to Export Office 365 Mailbox to PST Using eDiscovery?

Approved By Debasish Pramanik

Published On April 4th, 2024

Reading Time 9 Minutes Reading

Overview: This article endeavors to provide a comprehensive solution to the user query i.e. “How to Export Office 365 Mailbox to PST using eDiscovery?” Follow along with each step discussed here to ensure a safe and secure data export from Office 365.

Table of Contents:

Methods to Export Office 365 Mailboxes to PST

Quick Steps to Export Office 365 to PST eDiscovery

Method 1: Export Office 365 Mailboxes to PST using eDiscovery

Steps to Export PST from Office 365 Mailbox Using eDiscovery

Drawbacks of Using eDiscovery PST Export Tool

Automated Solution: Export Office 365 Mailboxes Data to PST eDiscovery

Steps to Export Office 365 Mailboxes to PST Easily

Concluding Thoughts

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes an email service or business productivity suite popular among users? The answer to this question varies among people, but most of the answers are – The service/software that provides users with better email client servers & a simple-to-use user interface. These things make it popular among users, Office 365 has both, better servers and the brand name “Microsoft”.

However, various reasons and situations may cause users to export Office 365 Mailboxes to PST, like creating a backup of Office 365 mailbox data on the local machine as they can use in other mail clients like Outlook.

Yet, there is no direct solution provided by Microsoft that can export PST files from Office 365 mailbox. However, one can use the eDiscovery procedure to save search results in Outlook PST file format on the local system. To know the complete picture, here, let’s discuss the steps to export Microsoft Office 365 mailboxes to PST using eDiscovery.

So, let’s begin!

Methods to Export Office 365 Mailboxes to PST?

To export Office 365 to PST, there are two options available. One is the manual workaround that uses the eDiscovery process and the second is the use of a software solution – Office 365 to PST Export. With this automated tool, you can bypass the limitations of the technical eDiscovery method. Moreover, you can also use the trial version of this software to verify its working and features.

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5 Step Alternative to Export Office 365 to PST eDiscovery

Step 1. Opt Office 365 & Outlook as Migration Platforms.

Step 2. Choose Workload Category & Apply Date Filters.

Step 3. Provide Office 365 Admin Details & Validate.

Step 4. Select Destination Location & Validate.

Step 5. Fetch, Select Users & Start Export.

Now, let’s start with the manual approach.

Method 1: Export Office 365 Mailboxes to PST using eDiscovery

eDiscovery is a service provided by Microsoft under Office 365 Security & Compliance Center. This tool is not made for the exporting process. Its function is to search the content in Exchange Online Mailboxes, Office 365 Groups, SharePoint, etc for business conversations. Further, this information is used as evidence for legal cases.

Moreover, users use this option as an indirect way to export Office 365 mailboxes to PST on the local machine. For this, they first need to search the content in the O365 account using the eDiscovery functionality. Afterward, download the eDiscovery PST Export tool and save the searched data into Outlook-supported file format.

Steps to Export PST from Office 365 Mailbox Using eDiscovery

Step 1- First, open the link https://protection.office.com and log in to your Office 365 account. Then, go to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
Step 2- Now, click the Security option under the Admin Center.
Step 3- After that, select the permission option and Drag it to eDiscovery Manager.

Note:- Only members of the eDiscovery Manager role group can able to access the various features of eDiscovery.

Step 4- Now, check the box beside eDiscovery and click on Edit to add the role group.
Step 5- Click Edit role group if the Export role is missing.
Step 6- When a role is assigned, then go to eDiscovery. Then select the Create a Case option.
Step 7- Give a name to the case and click the save button.
Step 8- Now, click on the new search option.
Step 9- You can click on add condition to more accurate search in Office 365
Step 10- For Exporting process, select a Specific location and modify it.
Step 11- Now, choose emails or specify mailboxes using the choose users group.
Step 12- You can also export mailbox data from SharePoint and the Public folder by choosing the Public folder option.
Step 13- The search option contains other filters such as Equal Any and many more. But to Export all your mailbox data of Office 365 to PST, do not add any conditions or keywords, simply click on the Save and Run button.
Step 14- Once you have clicked on the Save button, the content search will start in the background.
Step 15- Now, you have to go back to your saved searches and Select the Folder name to export O365 mailbox data to PST. There you can check the status of your search with the help of the More menu and choose the Export option.
Step 16- Now, select any Output option according to the requirement from the Export Result window.
Step 17- After all, the settings, click on the Export button.
Step 18- The exported search results will be stored on Azure Storage.
Step 19- Download the export link from the Export result to a computer in a detailed pane.
Step 20- Make sure you copy the Export key.
Step 21- Now, click on the Download result from the Export window.
Step 22- When you click on the download result, it will redirect you to install the Microsoft eDiscovery Export Tool.
Step 23- After installing the export tool, paste the Export key.
Step 24- Now, browse the location, where you want to save the content search and click on the Start button to export Office 365 mailbox to PST using eDiscovery.

Drawbacks of Using eDiscovery PST Export Tool to Export PST from Office 365 Mailbox

There are multiple shortcomings of the above-mentioned procedure. The major ones are listed below.

eDiscovery is not starting: This is a very common issue, and this error occurs due to a lack of prerequisite requirements. This service only works on Windows 7 and above. Below Windows 7 OS, eDiscovery PST Export Tool is not going to run. An updated Microsoft .Net framework is required. It will not work on the old version of the .Net framework. You will need the latest version of Internet Explorer to download the Tool. Or if you are using another browser than Explorer, then you have to add ClickOnce add into your browser.

Failed Exporting Item Error:- This will happen during the export process and the reasons are mentioned below. Corrupted messages in your search content. A huge amount of data export also creates this type of error.
Exporting Process is Completed With Errors: This will occur due to a problem with the internet connection.
eDiscovery Crashed Error: This will happen when you are working on a huge amount of content searching.
Hanged While Calculating Process: While calculating the attributes, the PST export tool gets stuck. As a result, the exporting process goes into a hang situation.

Note:- eDiscovery only comes with Office 365 Enterprise E3 and Enterprise E5 subscription plans.

Flexible & Alternate Solution to Export Office 365 Mailboxes Data to PST eDiscovery

No doubt, eDiscovery is the best tool in Microsoft Office 365 for content searching. But when it comes to saving Office 365 mailbox data into PST or creating a backup of your O365 email data, then it is not the ideal solution.

So, it is good to use an easy solution for the same. Let us have a look at the key features of the tool:

Export Office 365 data like Emails, Contacts, Calendars, etc.
You can select the source and destination platform as per your requirements.
You can also have the option to convert Exchange mailbox to PST file format.
Provides folder hierarchy and selective migration options.
Offers a date filter for selective data export.
Availability of priority-based export.
Offers pause and resume options during the export process.
option of downloading the full export report at the end of the process.

Must Read: Learn How to Forward Email to Multiple Users in Office 365

How to Use Software to Export Office 365 Mailboxes to PST – Complete Working Steps

Step 1- Download and install the above tool on your system. Choose Office 365 and Outlook as the source and the destination platform.
Step 2- Now, select the category from the workload selection and apply date range filter options.
Step 3- Now provide Office 365 details to the software and validate the necessary permissions.
Step 4- Now provide the destination path where you want to save your PST files. Then apply the necessary permissions and validate

Note- Your folder path is not more than 20 characters.
Step 5- Now you can also search for a specific mailbox and pick the user to export data.
Step 6- Lastly, click on Start Export to export mailbox from Office 365 to PST file.

Final Say

Hence, we would like to conclude that, eDiscovery is not meant for the Office 365 export process. As you can see, the steps to export Office 365 mailboxes to PST using eDiscovery is a lengthy & cumbersome task. However, if you want an easy way to convert Office 365 mails into PST on the local system, then you can opt for the automated way too.

Also Read: Migrate Exchange 2016 to Office 365 Using the Preferred Way

Some Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Can this tool save our user credentials or Office 365 email data on their server or any third-party system?
No, this is a professional utility that ensures 100% user data privacy, keeps it safe and secure, and never saves any user data on its server or any third-party systems.

Q. Is there any kind of data size limitation during the email export process?
No, this is a powerful professionally built tool and works irrespective of data size.

Q. Can we use our Office 365 mailboxes during the data export process?
Yes, this is a smart tool that allows its users to work flawlessly and makes the exporting process completely invisible (the process of exporting Office 365 mailboxes to PST goes on in the background).