Users now have access to the advanced features of Exchange Server without having to install an on-premises Exchange Server. Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise Edition subscription plans include Exchange Online. It’s available as a stand-alone application, but with Microsoft 365, it’s fully integrated with the rest of the Microsoft Office suite. One advantage of a Microsoft 365 subscription is that you can purchase licenses based on the number of users you expect to have.

Best OST to Office 365 Migration Tool

Why should you use Office 365 to import OST files?

Using a cloud platform like Office 365 to store your Exchange mailbox data has a lot of benefits. Emails in Office 365 can be accessed from anywhere in the world as long as you have internet access. As a result, many Exchange users prefer to back up their Exchange mailboxes to Office 365. One can move their offline Outlook Data File (OST) to Office 365 accounts to make this process easier. And there are a variety of ways to go about doing so.

Let’s look at some of the reasons why people are moving their OST files to Office 365.

• Moving from OST to Office 365 has a number of advantages.
• Due to the benefits of Office 365, there has been a change in the organization.
• When an exchange server goes down, you’ll need a solid platform to rebuild it. It Reduces the amount of time your Exchange is unavailable due to scheduled maintenance.
• After an unintentional deletion, data can be accessed quickly in a secure environment.

How can OST emails be imported into Office 365?

To migrate OST emails to Office 365, there are no direct methods. OST files can, however, be converted to PST and then uploaded to Office 365. There are also a variety of third-party tools available to assist you in saving OST emails directly to Office 365 accounts.

1. Convert an OST file to a PST file, then upload it to Office 365.
2. Using third-party tools, import OST files into Office 365.

Method 1: After converting OST to PST files, upload to Office 365.

Exporting OST files to Office 365 is done in a roundabout way. To upload OST files to Office 365 accounts, first convert them to PST format and then upload them.

Step 1: Convert the OST file to PST format.

Step 2: Transfer the PST file to Office 365.

These two steps can be carried out in a variety of ways.

Step 1: Convert the OST file to PST format.
Converting an OST file to a PST file can be done in four different ways.

• Copy OST items into a new PST file.
• Utilize MS Outlook’s archive function.
• Make use of MS Outlook’s Export feature.
• Use an OST to PST converter from a third-party website.

Copy OST items to a new PST file.
This method is useful for transferring mailbox items to a new PST file.

1. From the Application menu, launch the Outlook program. Open the file.
2. Go to More Items as the last option after clicking New Items. Select Outlook Data File from the drop-down menu. You can now move the data to the new data file folder after creating a new PST file.
3. Right-click the emails you want to move and select Move from the drop-down menu. After that, select Other Folder from the drop-down menu. Click OK after selecting the new data file folder. Utilize MS Outlook’s archive function.
4. Open Outlook and select File. Click the Archive option in the Cleanup Tools drop-down menu to save your mailbox content. Click OK after that.

Utilize MS Outlook’s Export feature.

1. Select File from the File menu in Outlook. Then select Open and Export from the drop-down menu.
2. Import/Export should be selected. After that, click Next and select Export to a file.
3. Click Next and select Outlook Data File (.pst).
4. Select all of the folders to include in the PST file. After that, select Next.

Step 2: Sync the PST file with Office 365.

You have several options for uploading the OST file to Office 365 after it has been converted to PST.

• Using Azure AzCopy, upload files to Office 365.
• To Microsoft, drive shipping.
• Use an OST to Office 365 migration tool from a third-party provider.

Azure AzCopy is used to perform network uploads.

Using AzCopy, you can upload the PST file directly into Office 365.

• Copy the SAS (Shared Access Signature) URL after you install Azure AzCopy (the SAS URL will provide the necessary permission to migrate the PST file to Azure).
• In-Office 365, upload the PST files.
• Make a CSV file with the PST mapping.
• To import a PST file, you’ll need to create an import job in Office 365.
• Start the PST import job after filtering the data.

Because Azure AzCopy is a method provided by Microsoft’s cloud platform that is not part of Office 365, you must exercise caution before beginning the upload process.

• To complete the process, the user must be assigned the Mailbox Import Export Role by an Office 365 Administrator. By default, such a role is disabled, and it is not available to any user or group. The user or the Organization Management Role group can be assigned the role by the Administrator.
• Only the AzCopy tool can use the network upload method. Direct uploading of PST files is not possible using Azure Storage Explorer.
• Otherwise, the tool will not be able to access the network-shared folder because the PST files are missing.
• For large-sized PST files, the upload method is ineffective. The PST file size should not exceed 20 GB.
• The PST file can be imported to an Office 365 account’s inactive mailbox.
• You should modify Office 365’s retention hold policies after importing the PST files. Because the incoming emails may be quite old, and the system may delete them due to current retention policies.
• The tool can upload messages to Office 365 with a maximum size of 35 MB.

PST files to Office 365 via a USB drive

Shipping should be pushed. PST files can be imported into Office 365 with Microsoft’s assistance. Simply copy the PST files to a hard drive and mail it to Microsoft. The data on the disc drive will be copied to the cloud by Microsoft.

Method 2: Use third-party tools to import OST files into Office 365.

It is not easy to import OST files into Office 365. It’s a difficult task for novice and non-technical users. For direct OST to Office 365 migration, third-party tools are recommended. A useful tool for this is RecoveryTools Import OST to Office 365.

How can OST files be easily imported into Office 365?

RecoveryTools Import OST to Office 365 is a tool that imports OST files into Office 365 mailboxes directly. Here’s how it’s done:

• Install RecoveryTools Import OST to Office 365 and double-click the icon to launch it. Add your OST file to the Add Source section of the tool and Office 365 mailboxes to the Add Destination section when you’re on the tool’s home screen.
• To map your Office 365 mailboxes to OST files that will be imported, select them and then click Set Filter and Migrate.
• Apply filters to OST data based on criteria such as Review PST Folders to Migrate, Date Filter, Item Type Filter, Exclude Deleted Folders, Exclude Empty Folders, and so on, and then click I’m OK Start Migration.
• You’ll get a summary of the process once your OST items have been successfully transferred to Office 365 mailboxes (to save the summary, click Save report to CSV).

Conclusion:

Due to the complexities of manual methods (converting OST files to PST files before migrating to Office 365), the professional tool RecoveryTools Import OST to Office 365 becomes a more straightforward and straightforward solution. It has a user-friendly interface that allows you to add multiple Outlook data files and then migrate them to your Office 365 account. CSV file support, account mapping from source to destination, and advanced filters are just a few of the useful features.

#import #ost #exchange