Best Ways to Export Office 365 Shared Mailbox to PST (2025)

During audits, the financial records are essential for businesses. But, what will happen if the company needs the historical data and the shared mailbox is no longer active? The solution is to export shared mailbox to PST file. Microsoft provides various ways to ensure that your data is preserved. Another option is to use the Export Office 365 to PST Tool. This tool makes tasks quick, easy, and hassle-free. Now, let’s discover the most efficient method as per your needs.

What is a Shared Mailbox in Office 365?

A Shared Mailbox is a centralized email account that allows multiple users to send, receive, or manage emails. It is used for team collaboration and in handling common inquiries. When a company audit occurs, leading to access to past data, there comes a need to export it to PST for backup. 

Why Need to Export Shared Mailbox to PST?

Exporting a shared mailbox to PST is essential for businesses and IT teams. This helps protect your emails while keeping them accessible offline. Here are the reasons why:

1. By exporting it to PST, one can protect their essential emails by keeping a backup for future reference.
2. The ability to export Office 365 shared mailbox to PST will help you reduce the storage space in a mailbox and thereby, improve the performance.
3. Exporting a Shared Mailbox to PST also protects your emails when there is a system failure.
4. With PST files, you can easily access your emails anywhere without the need for internet connectivity.

How to Export Shared Mailbox to PST?

Exporting a shared mailbox should not be a challenge anymore. There are four ways by which you can do it. Three are manual methods by using Outlook, Microsoft eDiscovery Export Tool, and PowerShell. These manual methods are effective but can sometimes lead to delays, errors, and technical knowledge. The fourth method, i.e. using the Office 365 Mailbox Backup Tool, makes the process hassle-free and effortless to export in just a few clicks.

Export Office 365 Shared Mailbox to PST Using Outlook

This method is for users who have full access to the shared mailbox. It is suitable for those who want to export for only one time. 

Follow these steps to export PST from shared mailbox Office 365 successfully:

1. Open Outlook.
2. Go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings. See if your Shared Mailbox appears.
3. Now, again go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
4. Choose Export to a file > Outlook data file (.pst).
5. Choose your shared mailbox and select the folders that you want to export.
6. After that, save your PST file to a desired location.

Limitations: This is a manual process and it is not ideal for those who want to export the mailbox frequently. Also, the export feature is only available in the Outlook Desktop version.

Export Shared Mailbox to PST Office 365 Using Microsoft eDiscovery Export Tool

Microsoft eDiscovery Export Tool is the best choice among businesses that retain emails for audits and regulatory purposes. It supports exporting multiple shared mailboxes at one time.

Learn how to move a shared mailbox to PST with these simple steps:

1. Open Microsoft 365 Admin Centre and sign in with your credentials.
2. Go to Admin centers > Security > Permissions.
3. Now, choose the eDiscovery manager > Edit Role Group > Choose roles > Export.
4. After that, add your account to the eDiscovery Administrators. 
5. Now go back to Admin centers > Compliance > Show all > Content Search.
6. Select + New Search > All Mails. Find emails that you want to export.
7. Now, click Start export. 
8. Once the export process is completed, choose Download exported results.

Limitations: The one thing that it requires is eDiscovery manager permissions to log in to the compliance center.

Export Office 365 Shared Mailbox to PST Using PowerShell

This is a great approach for businesses that host their email servers. By using PowerShell, PST files can be exported directly to a shared network folder.

Follow this step-by-step instructions to begin the process:

1. Run the below command to grant permission to export the mailbox:

New-ManagementRoleAssignment –Role “Mailbox Import Export” –User Administrator

1. Now, restart the Exchange Management Shell and run this command:

New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox SharedMailbox -FilePath “\\Server\SharedFolder\SharedMailbox.pst”

1. Run the command to check the progress of your export:

Get-MailboxExportRequest

Limitations: This does require administrator Access & Permissions. One has to have a technical understanding of PowerShell commands.

Export Shared Mailbox to PST Using an Automated Tool

Need a more reliable and easy way to transfer shared mailbox to PST Office 365? The Office 365 Mailbox Export Tool allows users to perform bulk exports. It also preserves the folder structure, attachments, and metadata. With its simple and easy-to-use interface, it is a very secure way to back up or export your mailbox data.

Quickly transfer the shared mailbox to PST by following these easy steps:

1. Download and run the Office 365 Mailbox Export Tool.
2. Choose Source as Office 365 and Destination as PST. Click Next.
3. Sign in with your Admin Email and Application ID. Then, click Next.
4. Now, choose your desired backup folder path and file size. Click Next.
5. Lastly, click Start Export.

Conclusion

This blog has provided insights into the most effective methods to export shared mailbox to PST. Choosing the right method is crucial, whether for backing up your data or migrating it. The manual approaches do work but are complex. Go for an automated and one-stop solution, Export Office 365 to PST Tool. It simplifies your task, with its diverse functionalities such as bulk exporting, transferring selective data, filtering your emails by date range, and exporting to not only PST but also to multiple formats.

You May Also Read: Export Office 365 to MBOX

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q1 – Can I export emails from a shared mailbox?

Ans- Yes, you can. There are three ways of doing it

1. Using the eDiscovery Export Tool
2. Converting your shared mailbox to a regular mailbox
3. Manually, drag and drop emails via Outlook.
4. Using Professional software

Q2 – How can I export a shared mailbox from Office 365 to a PST file?

Ans- There are several ways to export Office 365 Shared Mailbox to PST File. Let’s look at one of them:

1. Open the Outlook application.
2. Navigate to File > Account Settings > Account Settings. You will see your shared mailbox here.
3. Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
4. Select Export to a file > Outlook data file (.pst).
5. Locate your shared mailbox and choose the folders that you would like to export.
6. Now, save your PST file to a desired location.

If this method seems lengthy and time-consuming, try using the Office 365 Mailbox Backup Tool.

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