How to Export Emails from Outlook Web App to PST File Format
All users who want to export emails from the Outlook Web App to PST may find the process troublesome. That is why in this tutorial we have put together an arsenal of ideas that can make the transition happen.
Table of Contents
So let us start by deciphering the default method and also learn why it’s so frowned upon.
How to Export Emails from Outlook Web App to PST Manually?
For that, you need to complete these steps:
- Login to your Outlook web portal
- Click on the cog icon at the top right corner
- Go to the General tab
- Open the Privacy and Data section
- Click the Blue color Export Mailbox icon.
- The Export Mailbox icon Greys out and the text ‘Status: Export in progress’ appears.
Till here the manual process appears quite easy and rightly so. However, the real troubles start now.
Problems with Manual Export
First up you only see an ‘Export in progress’ text which has no meaning in itself. Like you just started the process of course you know that the export is ongoing.
Moreover, the biggest problem is the lack of a status bar.
Its absence means that once you start the process to export emails from Outlook Web App to PST neither do you know how much of the task is completed nor do you have any information on the % of data left for the export.
Thus making any predictions on the total download time is downright impossible. This is frustrating as it essentially freezes all your workflow.
You dont receive any updates on mail, you have to log in to Outlook and follow the entire path to the Export Mailbox icon to see the status.
Additionally, there are no explicit guidelines as to what would happen to the data that is generated while a current iteration of export is going on.
So all incoming and outgoing email conversations that occur are in limbo for up to 4 days. This is the timeline that Microsoft mentions on its Export mailbox page.
During a test run, even for a dummy account with ~ 10 emails, it took more than a day for the download link to appear. Such a slow rate of export is not acceptable in the modern workplace.
Another drawback of this DIY approach is that you cannot filter out any data before the export. This means it is an all-or-none kind of deal. There is no option to select folders, apply date filters, or prevent certain data from being part of the end result.
There is a way you can regain some control over the export i.e. by using the Outlook email client. So let’s see how.
Use the Client and Export PST from the Outlook Web App
You can’t use any client it has to be the classic version. Unfortunately, modern Windows machines only come with the new Outlook for Desktop.
This version is essentially a replica of the OWA so has all the demerits of the previously discussed export process. Slow, no filtering, and more.
That’s why we gravitate towards the Classic edition which had a more robust PST extraction feature.
As your PC may not have the client you first need to download a copy of the client and then follow the on-screen instructions to set up the application.
Once done continue with these steps.
- File Add Account.
- Type in the account name, and mark the box next to Advance Setup.
- On the Next Screen Select Outlook.com.
- Then choose the historical email you want to bring on the device. Range varies from 3 days to All emails that exist on your account.
- Press Next,
- Outlook Client is now connected to your Web account. Restart the client to see the changes.
To Export Emails from Outlook Web App to PST you have to:
- Go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
- Export to a File > Next.
- Outlook Data file (.pst) > Next.
- Select the OWA folder whose data you want in PST. You can apply advanced Filters as well.
- After the selections are made hit Next.
- Then browse for an on-device location, choose the option Replace duplicates, allow duplicates, or skip duplicates.
- Finally hit Finish.
Sometimes in your particular case, it might make sense to use a nontraditional approach. We have put together some of the less-known methods to pull out Outlook web data in a Portable Storage Table format. See if you qualify it can end up saving time and effort.
Unorthodox Techniques to Get Outlook Web Data in PST
These are highly situational. If you only plan to export out one or two emails but from multiple Outlook web accounts then neither the default export nor the complex account setup on the classic client is recommended. So what we suggest is:
- Hover over the mail.
- Right-click.
- Select Save as an option from the flyout menu column
- Browse for the local folder where you wish to put this email and hit Save.
Note: The format you get is EML So this is not how you export emails from Outlook Web App to PST. Don’t manually alter the .eml extension to .pst it won’t change the file format. Moreover, doing this risks corrupting your data. Instead, use the state-of-the-art SysTools EML to PST converter and get the data in the desired format.
If you are in an Organization that is transferring from a personal Outlook to a unified Google Workspace environment then there is a strategy you can apply. Before that ensure that these pre-requisites are met.
- Your organization has access to Google Vault.
- Admin has allowed users to add external Outlook accounts in the workspace
- Users who want to export emails from the Outlook Web App to PST have linked their accounts.
Then search for Outlook emails in Google Vault:
- Open Google Vault, go to Matters, and create/select a matter.
- In the Search tab, select Gmail, enter the email account (Outlook account in Gmail), and apply search filters if needed.
- Run the search and review results.
Change to PST Format:
- Save the search, click Export, and choose PST format.
- Monitor the export in the Exports tab and download the PST file when ready (available for 15 days).
Likewise, if your organization has transitioned to a Microsoft 365 subscription then you might be able to use the eDiscovery export tool.
Best Way to Export Emails from Outlook Web App to PST
With the SysTools IMAP Backup Tool, you can bypass all these unprofessional problems at once. With this tool, you can not only backup your emails in PST but 9 other formats. Not only that if you have more than one Outlook Web email id you can save results from all those accounts at once.
The tool is smart enough to remember the save history of your Outlook account so you only re-backup that data that was not covered in a previous batch. A delta backup feature of this tool also helps in such a scenario. You can apply a start date and end date to define a timeline from where to pull the OWA data.
Moreover, the delete after-download option allows users to remove the backed-up data from their accounts.
For PST files specifically, there is an option to split them into particular MB/GB sizes or keep a single PST for easy access. Download the tool on your Mac device and perform the following steps.
Step-by-Step Process Export PST from Outlook Web App Via the Tool
Step 1. IMAP Host and Login
Scroll through IMAP Host options and select Outlook.com. Enter your email and app password, then click Login. The email address should appear in the User Backup List. Click Next to proceed.
Step 2. Select Folders for Backup
Expand the email’s folder structure and unselect any folders you don’t want to back up. By default, all folders are preselected.
Step 3. Choose Export Format
Ensure PST is selected (default). Click on Advance Settings and apply filters like:
- Split Option: Split the PST file into smaller parts.
- Date Filter: Filter emails by date range.
Step 4. Select Destination
Click on Change to choose or create a folder for saving the backup.
Step 5. Start Backup
Click Start Backup. A license consumption alert will appear. Click Continue to proceed. Moreover, the backup progress screen will show real-time progress, including mail count and folder paths.
Conclusion
Through this post, we made the readers aware of all the various methods that can be used to export emails from the Outlook web app to PST. We saw how problematic the default OWA export mechanism is and also saw how complicated the classic Outlook client setup can be.
Frequently Asked Questions on How to Export Emails from Outlook Web App to PST
Q. Is it possible to perform a single email Export from the Outlook Web application?
No, the current export mechanism only allows for an all-or-nothing type of export. This means even if you want a copy of only one email in PST you need to download the entire mailbox and then filter out the content manually. On the other hand, if you use the tool it will allow to to extract content with pinpoint accuracy with folder-level selection.
Q. What can I do after getting the PST file data in an offline system?
It depends on your situation, were you trying to merge emails from multiple accounts into one? Building a backup for black swan events or something else entirely. Moreover, many things are possible thanks to the flexibility that PST files provide you.
Q. Is there a variation in size between when emails are in the cloud (OWA) to when they are offline in PST format?
Not at all, the size of the data remains the same only the way it is kept changes.
Q. I exported my OWA mailbox to PST and deleted the emails from the cloud, can I put the PST file back into the cloud to regain access?
The current version of the Outlook Web app does not provide any feature to import the data. You either have to use the classic Outlook client or a professional tool.
