EDB files are the primary storage files in Microsoft Exchange Server for storing mailboxes and other items. Sometimes, Exchange administrators need to extract mailboxes from these database files due to multiple reasons. Let’s explore the most common ones: 

• Extracting mailboxes for investigation or forensic searches.
• Keeping a copy of the mailbox of user who has left the organization.
• Archiving old data to increase performance of the server.
• Meeting the compliance and regulatory requirements.
• Extracting data from an orphaned or restored database.

Whatever be the reason, in this article, we be explaining stepwise process to extract and export mailboxes to PST using the native tools in Exchange Server. We will also mentioning a third-party EDB to PST converter tool that can easily extract and save multiple mailboxes from the EDB file to PST and other formats. 

Extract Mailboxes from EDB File using Native Tools in Exchange

You can use the native tools, such as Exchange Management Shell (EMS), in Exchange Server to extract multiple mailboxes from the database securely. Here’s the stepwise process to extract mailboxes from EDB file using the EMS.

Note: We are excluding Microsoft Outlook as it is not suitable for large or multiple mailboxes. We will also not discuss the Exchange Admin Center (EAC) since it can only be used to export one mailbox at a time. 

Step 1: Assign the Required Roles and Permissions 

You need to first assign the required roles, such as Mailbox Import Export role, to the user who will be doing the exports. Although you would be the Domain Administrator, it doesn’t mean that these roles will be assigned to you. To assign the Mailbox Import/Export Role,

• Open the Exchange Admin Center (EAC).
• Click on Permissions and then click on Admin Roles.

• Click on the + (add) button.
• Enter a name for the role. For example, “Import Export Role”.
• Find and add the Mailbox Import Export role and click on it to add it to the list of permissions. Click the OK button.

• In the Members area, add the users who will be allowed to export the mailboxes. Then, click on the Save button.

After this is complete, the user will be allowed to export the mailboxes to PST format.

Step 2: Create a Shared Location to Save the PST Files

The next step is to create a network share as Exchange Server does not export directly to a folder. So, you need to find a share on the server, NAS, or other storage and create a folder. Once the folder is created, you need to share it with the user who will be extracting the mailboxes, along with the Exchange Trusted Subsystem security group with full access to the share and folder permissions.

Step 3: Export the Mailboxes to PST

Now, you can export the mailboxes to PST using the New-MailboxExportRequest PowerShell command. 

To export an entire mailbox to PST, you can use the command as given below.

New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox User1 -FilePath \\EX01\PSTFiles\User1.pst

You can use the IncludeFolder or the ExcludeFolder parameters with the command to include and exclude folders from the export. Below is an example to include some specific folders from the export:

New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox User1 -FilePath \\EX01\PSTFiles\User1.pst -IncludeFolders “#Inbox#”, “#Sent Items#”

If you want to export all the mailbox data, excluding some specific folders, then you can use the command as given below.

New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox User1 -FilePath \\EX01\PSTFiles\User1.pst -ExludeFolders “#Inbox#”, “#Sent Items#”

There are other options and search criteria to filter the items based on a date range or specific dates. For this, you can use the ContentFilter parameter with the New-MailboxExportRequest command.

The below command, with the LT option, will export all the emails before the 1^st of January 2023.

New-MailboxExportRequest -ContentFilter {(Received -lt ’01/01/2023′)} -Mailbox User1 -Filepath \\EX01\PSTFiles\User1lt.pst

The below command, with the GT option, will export all the emails after the 1^st of January 2023.

New-MailboxExportRequest -ContentFilter {(Received -gt ’01/01/2023′)} -Mailbox User1 -Filepath \\EX01\PSTFiles\User1lt.pst

To export the mailbox items based on a date range, you need to use the combination of LT and GT options (see the example below).

New-MailboxExportRequest -ContentFilter {(Received -lt ’01/01/2025′) -and (Received -gt ’01/01/2020′)} -Mailbox User1 -Filepath \\EX01\PSTFiles\User1range.pst

Limitations of the above Method

Although the PowerShell command gives flexibility and export user mailboxes, archives, and shared mailboxes, it can only allow you to export one mailbox at a time. However, you can create script in either a loop or use a CSV file to automate the export. There are some limitations and challenges you might face while exporting mailboxes using the PowerShell commands.

• PowerShell scripting skills are a must.
• Increased chance of human errors.
• Cannot export purged/deleted items.
• Can only export user mailbox/archive and shared mailboxes. 
• Works only when the database is online and the Exchange Server is functional. 

Use a Third-Party EDB to PST Converter Tool 

To overcome the limitations of native tools, you can use specialized EDB to PST converter tool, such as Stellar Converter for EDB to simultaneously export multiple mailboxes from the EDB file to PST. This tool can open online/offline Exchange Server databases from any version, of any size, and without the dependency of a running Exchange Server. The tool’s interface is simple to use. After a quick scan, you will be provided with the entire structure of database. From there, you can granularly export the below items to PST and other file formats.

• User Mailboxes.
• User Archives.
• Shared Mailboxes.
• Disconnected Mailboxes.
• Public Folders.
• Deleted/Purged Items.

The tool can also export directly to a live Exchange Server or Microsoft 365 tenant with automatic mailbox matching, parallel exports, and priority exports.

Conclusion

As you have seen, the native tools can export data from a live Exchange Server database. However, it may need some scripting skills to export multiple mailboxes. Also, there are various limitations of the native tools. For a seamless process, you can use specialized third-party EDB to PST converter tools, like Stellar Converter for EDB. This tool can export multiple mailboxes from EDB file (offline or online) to PST files in a single operation.   

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