How to Import PST to Archive Mailbox: A Step-by-Step Guide for Office 365 Users!

Outlook uses PST (Personal Storage Table) to store user data, including emails, calendar items, and contacts. One uses these files to take an offline backup of the mailbox data, for several purposes like archiving, migrating, and freeing up space in the inbox. We can store even large volume data in this file format for a long time. However, to manage the primary mailbox efficiently, moving PST to archive mailbox is essential.

Additionally, the archive mailbox is safe and offers 100 GB of storage to prevent data loss. If you reach the limit, then Office 365 enables the auto-expanding archive feature for unlimited storage, this feature depends on your subscription.

Step-by-Step Guide to Import PST to Archive Mailbox

Now, the following three steps will help you to move PST to archive mailbox effortlessly and quickly. Just go through them to import PST to Office 365 without skipping any, every step is crucial:

Step 1: Prepare the Archive Mailbox

Before importing the PST file, set up an archive mailbox in Outlook. To check and prepare it:

1. Within Outlook look at the top-left corner for the File tab and click on it.
2. Select Account Settings twice.
3. In any case, if you don’t find your archive mailbox, then it may be possible it has been disabled, so to enable the mailbox, get help from the IT Team. Alternatively, you can create an archive mailbox manually.

Step 2: Import PST to Archive Mailbox

After setting up the archive mailbox, now it’s time to move PST to archive mailbox. For the same, we have several different approaches. You can opt for any of them, as we tried these approaches and found all are reliable even to migrate Outlook rules to Office 365 error-free. So, let’s start!

Method 1). Use Outlook

Importing PST to archive mailbox can be done using Outlook’s Import/Export Wizard feature. This is a straightforward way to import data. However, this works only when you are using the classic Outlook, because in the version of Outlook importing option is not available. 

Let’s understand the procedure:

1. Within Outlook click the File option.
2. Afterward, click Open & Export > Import/Export.
3. Select Import from another program or file then click Next.
4. Choose Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next.
5. Now, click on Browse to the location of the PST file for import. Select them and hit Next.
6. In the Import Outlook Data File window, select Archive Mailbox as the destination folder.
7. Choose the option Include subfolders.
8. Hit Finish to import data.

Method 2). Import PST to Archive Mailbox Via Network Upload

Network Upload is the process of transferring data from a hard drive or local device to a cloud service or server. The time of moving the data via network upload depends on several factors like internet speed, file size, etc. Remember to use this technique, it is required to have an Admin account.

Phase 1: Provision Storage and Upload PST Files

1. Sign in to your Office 365 account.
2. Go to Import Service > Data Migration.
3. Click Upload PST File.
4. If it’s your first upload, create a storage account.
5. Choose Show network upload SAS URL to get:
   • Storage Account Name
   • Container Name
   • Shared Access Signature
6. One can use this URL via Azure AzCopy Tool to import files.

Phase 2: Import PST to Archive Mailbox

• After provisioning storage, move to upload the PST file using AzCopy Tool (Command-line) or Azure Storage Explorer (Graphical Tool).
• Connect to Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer.
• Enter the Shared Access Signature (SAS) URL or account key.
• Once the SAS URL is provided, the Connection Summary will appear.
• Import the PST file using Azure Storage Explorer.
• To view the available files on Azure, use the appropriate cmdlets:

New-Azure StorageContext -Sas Token ($SharedAccess SignatureURL -split '\?' | Select-Object -Last 1) -StorageAccountName ($SharedAccess SignatureURL -split '\.' -split '//')[1] | Get-Azure StorageBlob -Container ($SharedAccess SignatureURL -split '\?' -split '/')[3] | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name

• After successfully uploading the PST file to Azure Storage, create a new CSV file.
• This CSV file will be used to map PST files to mailboxes and destination folders.
• Hit the Finish button.

Get-MailboxImportRequest | ForEach-Object -Process {

Get-MailboxImportRequestStatistics -Identity $_.RequestGuid} | Select-Object -Property BatchName, TargetAlias, Status Detail, StartTimestamp, OverallDuration, TotalInProgressDuration, EstimatedTransferSize, PercentComplete, @{Label='File';Expression={$_.AzureBlobStorageAccountUri | Split-Path -Leaf}} |

Out-GridView -Title "PST Import Progress

Method 3). Move PST to Archive Mailbox Using Drive Shipping

For large amounts of data, the Network Upload method won’t work, so that’s why we can opt for the Drive Shipping method. For the same, you have to give your hard drive to data centers, and the rest they do on their own. This approach is mainly used by organizations for desired and faster results.

Here are the steps to import PST to archive mailbox via this approach:

• Ensure your all PST files with the proper name are stored in the dedicated folder
• It is recommended to use an external hard drive to save files efficiently.
• Moving a drive from one place to another poses a risk of stealing data. So it is considered to encrypt all the data via BitLocker or any other tool to safeguard data from unauthorized access. 
• Now, open the Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal and under Information Governance click on the Drive Shipping option.

• Provide the required details about the drive and data size, and then Microsoft will send shipping instructions accordingly.

• Pack the drive with the label and paperwork.
• Tracking shipment is necessary to know whether the data is securely arrived or not.

• When a package arrives, Microsoft unlocks the drive and extracts the PST files.
• The files are uploaded to Azure Storage and imported into archive mailboxes.
• When the procedure is completed, you will receive a notification for completion. 

Steps to Import PST to Archive Mailbox Using this Credible Utility!

As you learned the benefits of this utility, now it’s time to proceed with the migration using this, and the instructions are as follows:

Step 1. Download this solution, and select the source (Outlook) and target (Office 365) platform.

Step 2. Choose the categories to import i.e. email, contacts, and calendars.

Step 3. One can apply the Date filter for specific data migration.

Step 4. On the Source screen, select the folder path where your Outlook PST files are stored.

Step 5. Now, enter the Admin Email and Application ID. 

Step 6. On the Users screen, add users from the source account to be processed via Fetch Users, Import Users, and Download Template features.

Step 7. When all set, hit the Start Import button.

Step 3: Verify the Imported Data

After the import PST to archive mailbox procedure is complete with any of the above-mentioned methods, ensure all the data in the PST file is now available in the archive mailbox in M365. To verify that go to the archive mailbox, and check every data and attachment (if any). If you imported subfolders, then verify whether the folder structure is intact or not. Not only these but several post-migration steps need to be followed: 

1. Verify that all users efficiently access their data in the archive mailbox. 
2. Confirm that every setting, including auto-archiving, is properly synced. If not, then you have to set it again manually. 
3. Add the retention policies for the archive mailbox as desired. 
4. Test sending and receiving email functionality is properly working.

Common Issues When Importing PST to Archive Mailbox

Doing the import PST to archive mailbox task manually poses some issues and, to learn what they are how to bypass them go through the below points:

1. Corrupted PST Files

Solution: Repairing corrupted PST is the easiest task, you just need to opt for Outlook’s Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe). However, it is recommended to ensure PST is healthy before the migration because corrupted data isn’t accepted by Outlook to import. 

2. Import Errors

Solution: Several times, users faced some errors while importing data. These errors occurred commonly with large data migration. To resolve this, split PST files, ensure your system is updated, and check your network connection. If the issue persists, try the mentioned automated solution.

3. File Size Limits

Solution: Office 365 has a 50 GB mailbox size limit, and older versions of Outlook have a 2 GB PST file limit. So, if you facing the issue of file size limits, then it is considered to split PST files or remove unwanted data from them then try to import PST to archive mailbox.

Best Practices for Managing PST Files and Archive Mailboxes!

A well-managed primary mailbox is necessary, but managing an archive mailbox effectively is also crucial. For the same, here are the best practices to ensure the data is easily accessible and organized.

1. PST files are delicate and become corrupted, so having a backup of the PST data is crucial to ensure data continuity even if PST is corrupted and not accessible. Additionally, regular backups of the archive mailboxes are also necessary.
2. Avoid using PST files, instead use an archive mailbox to store data.
3. Storing PST files on a network drive is recommended, instead of storing them locally.
4. With Outlook, one can take the advantage of retention policy and deletion policy for archiving data. This helps in better management of both primary and archive mailboxes.
5. Monitor the usage of the archive mailbox and ensure it has the space to store more data or not.

Bottom Lines!

Importing PST to archive mailbox is the most common way to boost Outlook performance and make the management of data efficient. For the same, we learned four different methods, best practices, and common issues & solutions to efficiently import PST to archive mailbox. I hope by following this complete guide, one can easily move PST to archive mailbox hassle-free and quickly.