Microsoft has a widespread set of applications, both for local platforms as well for cloud. Microsoft suite is the local application suite while Microsoft 365 is its cloud counterpart with an added set of facilities. Therefore, its stance in the industry is unshakable. However, there are days when local platform is more preferable over cloud. Cloud is great but not the best, in certain circumstances, the client has more benefit over cloud. Therefore, the demand to export Microsoft 365 to PST has been on the rise. Evidently, if you depend too much on a certain technology yet do not practice backups too, then there is a going to be a day when you lose it all. Backups are that important! Whether personal or professional, all data ought to be backed up because all data is necessary to you. Similarly, Microsoft 365 sails on the same boat and is as vulnerable as any data that is available online and relies on cloud storage. Therefore, there has been a hike in the number of mailboxes exported by Microsoft 365 in the recent past. Learn more about the requirement in detail along with the applicable workarounds permitted by Microsoft for performing the export.

What Invokes Microsoft 365 Export to PST?

If calculated per user, then there are going to be as many reasons for saving Microsoft 365 mailbox as PST. However, two main grounds on which most of the mailbox exports take place are:

Archiving
Backup

You do understand that backup, archiving, round the clock availability of data and more such reasons invoke the need to export Microsoft 365 mailboxes to local drive. What role does PST play in all this?

Why PST Out of All: Microsoft 365 is a Microsoft product and nothing could better understand the storage of an Microsoft application than another Microsoft application. This sounds confusing, so here are two facts that justify the selection of PST as the preferred local storage type for Microsoft 365 mailbox contents:

a. PST Files Are Personal Storage. Personal Storage Table files are the best suited to store the content as they are structured to store personal storage along with emails.

b. Microsoft 365 Understands PST Files. Backups are meant to be restored, therefore just in case you someday require pulling back in what you earlier exported, the best format would be a PST file, because, Microsoft!

Coming back to the conditions that demand such exports to take place:

Archiving: When archiving is concerned, it is not exactly what we generally do on local clients. Cloud storage is completely different from client-based applications. Cloud services come with subscription packages, which offer a specified storage as, demanded during the purchase (based on the organization’s size). Therefore, when one runs out of storage space, there are two options; upgrade the subscription for more storage or clean up the mailbox to regenerate space. The second option is highly preferred over upgrade.

Backup: Cloud, as said above, is great but not the best. Vulnerability level of cloud platforms is as high as client-based apps. Therefore, their storage can also be affected by scenarios of data loss, even though indirect (hacking, account tapping, network packet analysis). Unless there is a backup copy that ensures data availability at all times, your Microsoft 365 mailbox is vulnerable to lose each item that it stores.

What measures do we have to save Microsoft 365 emails to PST?

Microsoft 365, its vulnerabilities, and reasons that make PST a perfect choice to store its mailbox data, are all discussed. However, what still has not been talked about is the method in which one can export Microsoft 365 to PST. The following section dedicatedly covers up the topic well, with a preferable solution suggested.

How To Save Microsoft 365 Emails to PST?

Microsoft 365 also has Exchange online service, which leads users to think that the on-premise cmdlets will be applicable on it too. However, on-premise and online Exchange, are both completely different services as far as their operations is concerned.

Nevertheless, there are always two methods of carrying out a procedure:

1. A Workaround

2. Automated

A workaround for this scenario would certainly not be the use of export cmdlet, as it would require a UNC path for the mail server to reach out to and pull the mailbox. In the case of Microsoft 365, the mail server is the data center of Microsoft. Therefore, the UNC path will have to point to a server in yours while Microsoft does not permit such SMB traffic through their firewall. Therefore, the other workarounds (not as convenient) are given below:

Put a legal hold on the mailbox to be exported and proceeding - This requires you to have an E3 or above license.
Carry out a search, which enables to export mailbox contents of your choice to be archived to a folder of the mailbox to which you have access rights.
Allot full access permission to the source mailbox that has to be exported into a mailbox on which you have access rights and can be opened using MS Outlook.

Limitations: In order to export Microsoft 365 to PST implementing any of three suggested methods, you will either require full access permission to mailboxes, i.e. admin rights must be owned or the E3 or above license must be possessed.

Commercially Save Microsoft 365 Emails to PST

In comparison to the manual workarounds, commercial programs are always the best. Workarounds are named that way because of the way they function, they work their way to the solution somehow.

Unless you want a solution that works that way, workarounds are not recommended. Commercial solutions on the other hand, simplify the process by cutting it short and automating it for you to render a quick, guaranteed, and successful output.

4n6 Email Backup Software is one of the finest of its kind and a tool that offers an unattended backup generation. All you have to do is set the backup to run and continue working while the software does it all.

No complicated cmdlets
No costly licenses
No admin rights

In addition to that, you get a freeware trial of the software with the help of its demo version. As you run the trial, a testing can be done to understand how you export Microsoft 365 emails to PST using the tool.

1. Move as many Microsoft 365 mailboxes

2. Transfer complete mailbox data items

3. Save at a folder path of your choice

4. Filter out data for customized data

5. Export Microsoft 365 to PST with header information.

6. Quick and Advance Search feature for ease.

7. Microsoft 365 to PST Converter Software is tried and tested.

Final Word

When you save Microsoft emails to local drive, it ensures availability of the mailbox data even when cloud server is unavailable. However, the conditions applied to all the workarounds make it difficult to accomplish successful results. Therefore, commercial tools are always the top recommended solution in such cases where big data and such enterprise level of platforms are involved. Thus, Microsoft 365 export to PST is to be executed with Microsoft 365 to PST File Converter utility for refined results as suggested.

Export Microsoft 365 to Pst: A Beginner's Guide