As an administrator, you often need to disconnect or disable Exchange mailboxes from the Exchange Administrator Center (EAC) or the Exchange Management Shell (EMS). You may also require moving the mailboxes to another database. These practices disconnect the Exchange mailbox from the user account, breaking their connection with the Active Directory user account.
All such types of disconnected mailboxes get stored to the original mailbox database until the retention period expires. If you want to restore or recover these disconnected mailboxes and export them to PST, you must do so before their retention period expires. However, if this duration ends, you can still export the disconnected mailbox with the help of professional EDB to PST converter software, such as Stellar Converter for EDB. Let’s discuss this topic in detail.
What is the need to Export Disconnected Mailboxes to PST?
The disconnected mailboxes become inactive after their deletion from the AD user account. But, they can still contain useful emails, attachments, contacts, and other crucial data that you would want to save. By exporting them to a PST format, you can protect them for future use. Here are more reasons to export the disconnected mailboxes.
- Create a backup of the disconnected mailbox
- Recover crucial data from the disconnected mailboxes
- Migrate data from disconnected mailboxes during server upgrades
- Provide data for legal, compliance, and auditing purposes
Exporting Disconnected Mailboxes: Major Prerequisites
Before starting the process, follow all the crucial prerequisites. It will ensure hassle-free export of the disconnected mailboxes to PST.
The foremost task is to assign the Mailbox Import Export role and the requisite permissions to the user account by using EAC. The steps include as below:
- Launch EAC.
- From the panel on the left side, click Permissions
- Next, click Admin Roles.
- Click the Add (+) button.
- Provide a group name.
- Under Roles, click the Add (+) button
- Double-click Mailbox Import Export to add it to the list.
- Click OK.
- Add the user account that you will use to export the disconnected mailbox.
- Click Save.
Alternatively, you may also execute this task by using Exchange Management Shell (EMS) through PowerShell cmdlets. Here is the command to assign the Mailbox Import Export role.
New-RoleGroup “Mailbox Import-Export Management” -Roles “Mailbox Import Export”
Exporting Disconnected Exchange Mailbox to PST: Step-by-Step Process
The process is a bit long and requires you to have a deep technical understanding.
Step 1: Temporary User Account creation
A temporary user account will help to connect the disconnected mailbox in the Active Directory. You can do it in EMS as an Administrator. Here is the command:
C:\Windows\System32\Import-Module ActiveDirectory
Following the above command, type New-ADUser cmdlet to create an Active Directory user.
C:\Windows\System32\New-ADUser ABC
Next, use the command below to confirm the addition of a new user in the AD user list:
Get-ADUser -Filter * -Properties samAccountName | select samAccountName
The name of the new AD user in the list will confirm successful addition to Active Directory.
Step 2: Restoring the Disconnected Mailbox through a Temporary Active Directory Account
In this next step, you will need to connect the new temporary AD user to the disconnected mailbox that you wish to export to PST. You can execute this task in two different ways:
- Exchange Management Console – For Exchange Server 2010 and previous versions
- Launch Exchange Management Console
- In the left pane, expand Recipient Configuration
- Click Disconnected Mailbox
- Find the disconnected mailbox you wish to export to PST
- Click your selected mailbox and then click Connect
- Next, you will encounter the ‘Connect Mailbox’ wizard.
- Choose the second radio button option – Existing User
- Click Browse and select the temporary AD user you just created
- Provide an Alias for the mailbox
- Click Next > Connect
- Exchange Admin Center – For Exchange Server 2013 or later versions
- Launch EAC > Recipients > Mailboxes
- Click the More Options (three dots)
- Click Connect a Mailbox from the list
- Look for the list of disconnected mailboxes
- Choose the disconnected mailbox from the list that you wish to connect to the user account
- Next, click Connect to see the information screen
- Choose the radio button with the option No, I want to connect to a different user account to connect mailbox to a new AD user account
- Next, choose the newly created temporary AD user account from the list and connect it to the disconnected mailbox to complete the process.
Alternatively, you may also do this process through the EMS PowerShell command:
Connect-Mailbox -Identity “MYMailbox01” -Database MBZDB01 -User “ABC” –Alias <>
It will connect the new AD user account to the disconnected mailbox.
Step 3: Disconnected mailbox recovery
The recovery will be easier with the help of the PowerShell cmdlet New-MailboxRestoreRequest. Here is the command:
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -SourceStoreMailbox e4890ee7-79a2-4f94-9569-91e61eac372b -SourceDatabase MBZDB01 -TargetMailbox “Mailbox User 01” –AllowLegacyDNMismatch
The command will restore the disconnected mailbox to the target mailbox – Mailbox User 01
Parameter explanation
-SourceStoreMailbox: Gives the GUID of the disconnected mailbox
-SourceDatabase: The database (MBZDB01) that stores the disconnected mailbox
-TargetMailbox: Name of the user mailbox that will help to restore the content (Mailbox User 01)
–AllowLegacyDNMismatch: The switch to restore the content in case of a mismatch between the source and the target legacy distinguished name
Step 4: Export disconnected mailbox to PST
Earlier, you connected the disconnected mailbox to a newly created AD user and recovered its content. Now is the time to create a mailbox export request to export the disconnected mailbox to PST with the help of New-MailboxExportRequest cmdlet. You can do this job through the following command:
New-MailboxExportRequest –Mailbox “ABC” –FilePath \\SERVER01\PSTFiles\ABC.pst
This command will export the data from the disconnected mailbox stored in the user mailbox “ABC” to PST. It will save the file at this location: \\SERVER01\PSTFiles\ABC.pst
In the Exchange Administration Center (EAC), you can export a mailbox to PST by using the ExMerge utility. But, it will be applicable only on versions introduced before Exchange 2003.
For Exchange 2007 and later versions, you will have to upgrade the Exchange to Exchange 2010 SP1 or later. After the completion of the export to PST, disconnect the temporary AD user and disable the mailbox in your Exchange environment.
As you can observe, this is a cumbersome process and needs a penetrating knowledge of the technical details associated with the Exchange server. In addition, you may encounter several errors while doing this task manually. For example,
- Problem in connecting to the source mailbox
- Locked file
- Zero length of the header file
- Denied access to the path of the mailbox
Using professional EDB to PST converter software
If, despite going through the entire process and with in-depth knowledge, you struggle to resolve these issues, there is a better option. A professional EDB to PST converter software, such as Stellar Converter for EDB, can help to export disconnected Exchange mailboxes to PST in a few easy steps. This software will set you free from:
- Exploring EAC options
- Typing lengthy commands in the EMS environment
- Creating an AD user account
- Seeking additional permissions
Instead, the Stellar Converter for EDB tool will make your task simpler, quicker, and more efficient.
- You simply require selecting the EDB file that stores the disconnected mailbox, converting it, and saving it to PST.
- It works with all the Exchange versions – 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, and 5.5.
- The Stellar Converter for EDB tool also allows the option to save disconnected mailboxes into other formats – PDF, MSG, HTML, EML, or RTF.
- Besides, it lets you export the mailboxes from an offline EDB file to Office 365 or Live Exchange Server with ease.
Conclusion
It is easy to export an Exchange mailbox to PST, but exporting a disconnected Exchange mailbox is a lengthy process. Several reasons can prompt you to serve this purpose, such as to back up a disconnected mailbox, migrate data, comply with the law, or recover data from a disconnected mailbox.
This task is possible with the help of Exchange Administration Center (EAC) and Exchange Management Shell (EMS). However, both methods are lengthy, consume too much time, and are prone to error. To execute this process quickly and with greater efficiency, a professional EDB to PST converter software can prove beneficial.
The widely embraced Stellar Converter for EDB is an ideal tool in this regard. It can export the disconnected mailboxes to Office 365 and Live Exchange. You can seek the help of this tool to convert a disconnected mailbox into PST, and several other formats as well, such as HTML, EML, RTF, etc.
