How to Download All Office 365 Emails? Best Methods

Over the years, issues like data loss, stealing your data have become common. Also, Microsoft 365 does not provide you a proper way to backup your emails, documents, contacts, etc. That’s why, in this article we will explain all the possible ways to save Office 365 emails efficiently. So, follow them properly.

Office 365 (Now Microsoft 365) has become the preferred business productivity suite. Users use this program to access cloud computing features, microsoft productivity applications and many advanced features to help the companies in enhancing productivity, collaboration and communication. However, downloading your emails from outlook 365 can be a difficult job. But don’t worry, here we will provide you with methods that can easily save your office 365 data.

Why Users Want to Export Emails from Outlook 365?

Before going to the solutions, let’s see why people want to download their data. Office 365 is cloud-based which means all the data is stored on a cloud server. There are some scenarios where you need your data offline. We have discussed some below:

• When you want to migrate your Office 365 account. The first step is to save your important emails to a secure place.
• Downloading O365 account data locally helps you protect you from hacking, data corruption and any issues.
• When an employee leaves the company, it is a duty to backup their data for legal and compliance needs.
• Saving your data regularly, allows you to securely store your data for emergency situations.

These are some of the common reasons why you need to export your Microsoft 365 data. So, if you want to do it. Below we have provided various methods that you can use to get your crucial data.

Download All Office 365 Emails with Desktop Outlook

If you have Microsoft Outlook, then you can use it to save your Microsoft 365 mailbox. For this, first connect your account, then use the in-built option to export the emails. Below are the detailed steps.

#1: Set-up O365 into Outlook Account

1. Open the Mail application on your system.
2. Hit on the Add button from the Mail window.
3. A dialog box will open and select Manual Setup or Additional Server Types >> Next icon.
4. Select Office 365, put the login details of your account including email address and password, and click on the Next icon.
5. It will take some time to verify your account, and the Autodiscover.xml login window will appear and again put the details.
6. If everything is configured right, then you will receive a confirmation message.

Lastly, open your Outlook account and you will see all your Office 365 emails here.

#2: Download All Emails from Outlook 365

1. Firstly, open the Microsoft Outlook Windows.
2. Click on the File option and choose Import & Export.
3. A new dialog box will open up. Here, choose Export to a File.
4. There are two options for file export, choose Outlook Data File(.pst).
5. You can choose to Include Subfolders as per choice.
6. Browse the destination path and hit the Finish icon.
7. Go to the destination path and get the resultant PST file.

This is the easiest method to export emails from Office 365. If you don’t have an Outlook application or have a problem in syncing your account. Then, you can use the next manual options.

Use Outlook Web App to Save Office 365 Emails

Outlook.com or Outlook Web App, a free version of Outlook, which you can access on your web browser. Although it does not provide you with an export option, you can save your email to PDF format. Here are the steps.

1. Open Outlook.com and sign in to the program using Office 365 credentials.
2. Now, choose your emails which you want to save and open it.
3. Click on the three dots at the top of the email message.
4. Select the Print button and Choose Save as PDF option.
5. Set your destinations and click on Save button.

This method is also easy, however, it allows you to individually save your emails. So, if you have to download batch emails, then it will take time.

Export Emails from Microsoft 365 using Admin Center

Although Office 365 does not provide you a direct way to save your data. But, eDiscovery tool will help you to search the emails and export them. This method is lengthy but we will provide you with clear steps to solve them.

1. First of all login to Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Go to the Admin Centers portal.
2. Click on the Security and Compliance option. Then, choose the Permissions option.
3. Select the eDiscovery Manager button. (Before accessing the eDiscovery option, you must be a member of  the eDiscovery Manager role group).
4. Once you selected it, click on the Edit button to add the roles for the Discovery Management group.
5. Normally, the roles are already assigned to Case Management, Export, Hold, etc. But, if something is missing, click on the Edit option.
6. After assigning the role, click on the More Resources button and run the Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal.
7. Click on Content Search, then New Search button.
8. After that, a new window pane will appear where we customize our elements of the content search. Click on the Locations button and specify which mailbox you want to search.
9. Select the Conditions button, to set different filters like language/region, keywords/phrases, and other related conditions. Apply it as you wish. After that, click on the Submit button.
10. Go back to the Microsoft Purview and in Content Search click on Search button.
11. Then, click on the Actions button, when your search is completed. Select Export results option from the drop down lists.
12. You can apply any settings you want. Then, hit the Export button.
13. Download the results and copy the Export key which you will need.
14. In the eDiscovery Export PST file tool, paste the copied key. Browse a location and press Start button to download the file.

So, here are the manual ways to download Office 365 mailboxes. These methods are free to use, but users may have issues using them. Such as you need technical knowledge to follow the methods, there are chances some of the data will be lost, etc. So, to avoid these problems, experts recommend you to use professional software.

Steps to Save Office 365 Emails

1. Install and run the software. Provide the login credentials of Microsoft 365 account.
   
2. After you login, the tool fetches all your data in the software. Click on the email from the list of data to preview the content.
   
3. Choose the required saving type from the Save options. Apply the filters according to your need.
   
4. Select the Change button to browse a destination location. Lastly, hit on the Backup button to start the process.
   

This is the step-by-step process to use the tool to download your emails. With the help of this, you can easily export your Microsoft emails to another computer or account as well.

Questions People Also Ask

Q1: Where are Office 365 emails stored?
Ans: MS Office 365 stored their emails on the cloud because it’s an IMAP-based service.

Q2: Is Office 365 email backed up?
Ans: No, it’s not backed up automatically, you have to do it manually using any third-party tool or service.

Q3: How can I save Outlook 365 to flash drive?
Ans: You can first export your emails using the in-built import/export option. Then, connect your USB device to move your exported file to the connected device.

Final Words

Office 365 provides many advanced features for the business. But, it does not provide a direct way to save your data in your local machine. Therefore, this article provided you four different ways to save Office 365 emails. The first three methods are manual where you can download your data using several manual options like desktop Outlook, Outlook web app, and eDiscovery export PST tool. But, you might face issues during the problems. For this reason, professional software would be a great help to you as many experts recommend this tool.