How to Transfer PST Files to Office 365 without Any Data Loss

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Overview: Today, the proper management of the information within organizations’ premises is something that is critical. As a result, users are comfortable with storing important documents on Cloud as it is believed to be more secure than others. However, many users store their emails, and documents on PST in the local system. Therefore, one would need to import PST to their Office 365 mailbox for easy access to them online at any one time. Here is the blog with some effective solutions for you, one of them is the PST Converter.

Suppose, you are working for an organization that operates via emails and keeps emails and related files in PST on the local system. In the recent past, your company has adopted Office 365 choosing to ignore the in-house email servers. It is an online based service used to store emails and files. As a result, you can read the previous Outlook messages and things of that nature on any device that is connected to internet service.

While primarily, you can work on PST that has been saved on the system only through the home computer. However, this shortage can be bridged, provided that Outlook PST is linked with Office 365. That’s why you need to import PST file in Office 365. This will migrate the entire mailbox and other information from the current on-premise program. Now, let’s discuss some of the benefits of Office 365. These are important.

Benefits of Importing PST Files to Office 365

Some of the key benefits of Office 365 which makes it a cloud platform include the following: Here are some that insists users to migrate PST to Office 365:

  • Use PST in any device you want, and make the backup regularly.
  • It also securely stores your data as it has among the best cloud security measures.
  • It makes remote project management and team communication more efficient.
  • Also, Office 365 has its backup services with a focus on preventing data loss situations.
  • You obtain updates to your apps and fixes to bugs within minutes, not years.

Therefore, this is how migrating PST to Office 365 is advantageous. Let’s read about the process to import PST files to Office 365.

How to Move PST Data to Office 365 Mailbox

Well, this is what users are looking for these days. This section will outline four different methods of how PST can be migrated to Office 365. Check each of the detailed steps in turn and select the one that meets your needs.

#1 Solution: Transfer Data Using Outlook’s Import/Export Tool

Here are simplified steps for using the Outlook Import Export Wizard and importing Outlook PST into Office 365:

  1. Start by launching MS Outlook on your terminal, including an Office 365 Mailbox profile.
  2. Go to File in the lower part of the software’s interface and click on Open & Export.
  3. Then, select the Import/Export feature from the choices you get.
  4. Choose Import from another program or file from available options and press Next.
  5. Then, choose Outlook Data File (.pst) and once more click on the ‘Next’ button.
  6. From the OpenCharCredentials dialog box, click on Browse and search for the PST file. Once selected, click Next.
  7. Choose your Microsoft 365 email account and click on the Next and Finish tab.

Bonus Tip: When you Import PST to Office 365 mailbox using your Outlook account, few things require administrative rights. This suggests that only a few people who have privileges to work under the administrator account can do this safely.

#2 Solution: Use AzureAZCopy Tool for PST File Import to Office 365

As for this method, you will require to download the AzureAZCopy tool on your system. After that, physically archive your Outlook PST files into a local directory. Here, the steps have been described in the finest manner so that you get the PST import done.

Step 1: Allocate Roles Effectively

  1. To perform the step, open the Exchange Admin Center and login.
  2. Go to Roles > Admin Roles.
  3. Type Import Export in the search bar then click on it in order to open the browser to that page.
  4. Under Assigned roles, click on the Add button then choose the user you want to assign.
  5. Click Add to confirm.

Step 2: Create and Configure Import Job

  1. Click “Data lifecycle management” in the main menu and then select “Import”.  
  2. After that, click Import PST Files.
  3. Then click on + New import job and provide it with a job title. Click Next.
  4. Next, select the upload your data link.
  5. Click Show network upload SAS URL.
  6. Right click the URL and download the Azure AzCopy tool.

Step 3: Upload and Store PST Files on Azure Storage

  1. Unzip the Azure AzCopy tool on your desktop.
  2. Move your PST files to the Desktop.
  3. Go inside the AzCopy folder using command prompt.
  4. Use this command to upload PST files:

Azcopy copy “pathToFolder/ContainingPST” “SAS URL” –recursive=true

  1. Wait for files to upload.

 

Step 4: Validate Uploaded PST Files

  1. Install Azure Storage Explorer tool from the link below.
  2. Open it up and a simple step by step installation will follow.
  3. Copy and paste the SAS URL into the connection box.
  4. Go to the Blob container > PST folder in order to check the files.

Step 5: Mapping Outlook PST Files

  1. Prepare a PstImportMappingFile.csv.
  2. Specify FilePath, Name, Mailbox, and TargetRootFolder.
  3. Save the *.csv file.

Step 6: Start the PST File Import Procedure

  1. Go back to the Microsoft 365 Import data wizard.
  2. Check relevant boxes and then click on Next.
  3. Choose your mapping file and click on Validate.
  4. Save the import job and track the remaining task.
  5. After this, make sure you verify all mail items are imported to Microsoft 365.

Therefore, this is another good process to move PST in Office 365. However, one must be aware of Microsoft AzureAZ Copy Tool and different technicalities related to it. It is quite challenging to implement and takes many steps if you have little experience. Besides that, it becomes even more complicated when one wants to transfer several PST files to Office 365. Hence, one needs to search for a straightforward and less complicated technique to achieve the migration.

#3 Solution: Simple and Easy Solution to Import PST to Office 365

How about performing none of the procedures mentioned above? Or still asking a question like ‘How can I include a new PST file when working with Outlook 365?’ Well, one among the best preferred approaches for migrating PST to Office 365 is the BLR PST file converter software. There is nothing that could be as effective and easy as this other procedure. That makes it a proficient tool for moving PST files to Office 365 and any other mail client, including Gmail. However, it has others like Convert PST to PDF and you can also convert dozens of other file formats. Data security and ease of migration make it extremely cost effective.

Follow the steps to import PST to Office 365 mailbox using the professional tool:

Step 1: The first step is to download and run a tool on your personal computer.

Step 2: Go to the file system and choose the PST file, move it to the tool.

Step 3: Moreover, preview the mailbox folders and look for them to migrate.

Step 4: Set Office 365 as the destination email client.

Step 5: Type the credentials and sign in with your Office 365.

Step 6: If required, you can use another filter to fine tune the result with your requirement.

Step 7: Finally, click on the ‘Export’ icon that starts the actual migration process right after that.

All you have to do is a few clicks and you are free to go. As an uncomplicated utility, it is one of the most wanted program. For additional information about the software, one can download the free tool from the mentioned site. The demo tool is similar to the paid version, however, migrates only 15 emails per folder.

Conclusion

Consider all the said procedures and pick the most appropriate one among all of them. According to IT professionals, the professional tools to import PST to Office 365 is secure and ensures data integrity of Outlook. On the other hand, free methods are very complex and time consuming to all. Select which of the methods is optimal for your transfer needs and level of specialization.