How to Export Recovered mailboxes to Office 365?

An Exchange server crash can interrupt continuity of your business by making mailboxes inaccessible. This leads to significant data loss. In any such event, you must focus on restoring your mailboxes and ensuring their availability for users. This can become challenging when the recovered mailbox is stored in an EDB file. 

To perform this challenging task, you can export the recovered data to PST files by using Recovery Database and then import them into Office 365 (Microsoft 365). Microsoft supports two options for importing PST files – Network Upload and Drive Shipping. Besides, admins also prefer using Exchange recovery software to serve this task. Let’s discuss this crucial topic in detail.

What is the need to export recovered mailboxes to Office 365?

Admins perform this task for various reasons:

• Disaster recovery: Fix crashed or damaged EDB files and push the healthy data to the cloud
• Access control: Allow instant access to historical data without needing local storage files 
• Cloud migration: Transfer old on-premises to Microsoft 365 as part of an office upgrade
• Data safety: Protect crucial historical data in a cloud system instead of a risk-prone local drive

Export recovered data to PST files 

Before starting the PST file import into Office 365, you need to complete the first part of the task, which is to export the recovered mailboxes to PST. Admins perform this process with the help of a Recovery Database (RDB) by using the native capabilities of the Exchange Server. Mentioned below are the steps for the same:

• Create an RDB by using the New-MailboxDatabase –Recovery cmdlet
• Mount the RDB to access the recovered mailbox data
• Restore the mailbox data from the RDB to a separate on-premises mailbox using New-MailboxRestoreRequest
• Export the recovered on-premises mailbox to PST using New-MailboxExportRequest

To perform the export using the Recovery Database, you can follow the Microsoft instructions.

However, in case of a badly corrupted EDB file or if you cannot mount it as an RDB, an Exchange recovery software may provide a suitable alternative for extracting mailbox data.

Let’s move on to importing PST files into Office 365 by using either of the two options – Network Upload and Drive Shipping.

Import PST into Office 365 using the Network Upload method

Before starting this process, you should know the following crucial associated facts:

• AzCopy tool supports the import of PST files to Office 365
• This method requires copying and saving a copy of a URL, which comprises an access key
• Save this URL just like you protect your important passwords. 
• You must have adequate permissions assigned to access the Microsoft Purview portal import page

The steps to import PST files into Office 365 with the help of Network Upload are as follows:

1. Download the AzCopy tool and copy the SAS URL

Open this Microsoft web page to download the AzCopy tool. The Shared Access Signature (SAS) URL consists of the following:

1. Network URL for the Azure Storage location for your company in the Microsoft cloud
2. SAS key, which provides the requisite permissions to upload PST files to an Azure Storage location

Follow the mentioned crucial steps:

• Log in to your Microsoft Purview Portal with your administrator credentials
• From left pane, navigate to Data lifecycle management > Microsoft 365 > Import > + New import job
• In the resulting screen showing the import job wizard, enter a name for the PST import job
• Click next to see the Do you want to upload or ship data? page
• Upload your recovered mailbox data and click Next to see the Import data page
• Click on Show network upload SAS URL and save the URL to use it later
• Click Download Azure AzCopy to download the AzCopy tool on your system

2. Upload PST files to Office 365

Before starting the upload, make sure your PST file does not exceed 20 GB. Follow the steps below:

• Open the PowerShell command line interface on your computer
• Navigate to the location where you just downloaded the azcopy.exe file in the earlier step
• Type this command:  azcopy.exe copy “<PST Source Folder>” “<SAS URL>”

This will upload your PST files to Azure Storage location linked to your organization. Next, perform the following steps to start the PST import to Office 365

3. Create the PST Import mapping file

This will be a comma-separated value (CSV) file, which maps the user mailboxes with the PST files.

4. Create a PST Import job in Office 365 Import service

Once you create the PST import job, Office 365 (Microsoft 365) will start analyzing the data in the PST files uploaded earlier

5. Filter data and start the PST Import job

After properly analyzing the data in the PST files, Office 365 will identify the message types and their age in the PST files. Next, import all the data included in the PST files. You may also apply the date filter to import only the selected data.

Import PST into Office 365 using the Drive Shipping method

Before starting this import method, make sure you are aware of the following points:

• Store the PST files in your organization’s shared folder or file server
• For best use of the Microsoft 365 Import service, use only 2.5-inch solid-state drives (SSDs) or 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA II/III internal hard drives
• Microsoft 365 Import Service does not support external hard drives with built-in USB adaptors
• Use BitLocker to secure the hard drive where you copy the PST files
• Protect the BitLocker encryption key like you save your sensitive passwords
• You must have adequate permissions to access the Import page in the Microsoft Purview portal.

Mentioned below are the steps to import PST files into Office with the help of the Drive Shipping:

1. Download the Azure Import/Export tool to import the PST files

• Log in to the Microsoft Purview portal with your admin credentials
• On the left side, navigate to Data lifecycle management > Microsoft 365 > Import > +New import job
• Click Next to getthe Select import job type page
• Select Ship hard drives to one of our physical locations > Next
• In the resulting Import data page, download the Azure Import/Export tool and extract the WaImportExportV1.zip file.
• Click Cancel to return to the Microsoft Purview portal 

2. Copy your PST files to the hard drive

Use the extractedWaImportExportV1.zip file to copy the PST files to the hard drive. This tool will do the following tasks:

• Encrypt the hard drive with the help of BitLocker
• Copy the PSTs to the hard drive 
• Create a journal file to store details of the copy process

3. Create the PST Import mapping file

This comma-separated value (CSV) file enables the Import service to use its information for mapping the user mailboxes to the imported PST files.

4. Create a PST Import job

After creating the job, the Import service will use the information contained in the PST import mapping file to import the PST files to the mapped user mailboxes.

5. Ship the hard drive 

In this step, ship the hard drive to Microsoft. Make sure to provide the shipment tracking number and return shipment information within 14 days of creating the import job.

6. Start the PST Import job

Log in to your Microsoft Purview account and perform the necessary steps to execute this job. You may also filter the data before starting the import job. 

Limitations of manual methods

Carrying out the import through these manual methods could be troublesome, due to the complicated steps involved. Some of the possible drawbacks that you may encounter are as follows:

• Slow and unpredictable turnaround time
• Both need stringent permissions and run complex setup requirements
• Limited options for data control and filtering
• You should have deep technical knowledge and expertise

Using Exchange recovery software

To overcome the drawbacks of manual methods, administrators prefer using Exchange recovery software as an alternative method. Stellar Repair for Exchange is a feasible tool in this regard, as it helps to recover mailboxes to Office 365 without complicating the process.

Also Read: Meigen AI: What It Is, How It Works, Pricing, Features & Best Prompts (2026)

Conclusion

Administrators export recovered mailboxes to Office 365 to save the historical data in the cloud or protect it from a server crash. However, this process can become challenging if the recovered mailbox is contained in an EDB file. To perform this crucial task, admins export the recovered data to PST by using the Recover Database and import the PST files into Office 365.

The import can be done by using the Network Upload. This method requires uploading the PST files to a temporary Azure Storage location on the network and then starting the import by using the Office 365 Import service. Another method is Drive Shipping, which requires BitLocker encryption to copy the PST files to the hard drive and then proceed with the import.

Both these methods can help to perform the import successfully, but they are slow, need strict permissions, and require the users to have considerable technical expertise. You can avoid such drawbacks with the use of Exchange recovery software, such as Stellar Repair for Exchange.