How to Import PST to Office 365 Account?

Jenny Lowrence | January 31st, 2024 | Email Migration, Office 365

Today, there are easier ways to import PST to Office 365 account. You can implement manual solutions less or use automated tools. You can even get help from Microsoft Experts to easily migrate PST file to Office 365 account. This post will focus on how you can do it in 3 easy ways.

What you’ll learn.

How to Import PST to Office 365 Free?

Here, we will use the Outlook email client application to easily import PST to Office 365 mailbox.

Below are the steps to import PST to Office 365 account.

  1. Click on File and choose Add Account.                                                                                                            add office 365 email account
  2. Enter your Office 365 webmail account and click Connect.                   enter office 365 email address
  3. Type in the password for your Microsoft 365 account and click Sign In.provide office 365 email password to sign in
  4. Follow the instructions to set up your account and click OK when you’re done.click done to complete
  5. Again, open Outlook on your computer and go to File.choose file tab
  6. Click Import/Export to open the Import and Export Wizard.                                  open & export feature
  7. Choose Import from another program or file and click Next.                      choose import from an other program
  8. Select Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next.                                                   outlook data file
  9. Click browse to find the PST file select options; click Open.                           browse options to import pst to office 365
  10. Choose the folders of PST files and click Finish.                                     choose mailbox folders to import pst to office 365

Finished!! You just need to follow these simple steps to import Outlook data file to Office 365 mailbox account directly.

Drawbacks

  • You won’t be able to use this method if import export greyed out in Outlook.
  • Outlook is a paid email client application that will charge a subscription fee.
  • Requite to have IMAP server settings knowledge to set up Office 365 account in Outlook.

How to Upload PST File to Office 365 Manually?

This method is offered by Microsoft itself to help administrators open PST file in Office 365 account. However, the whole method is lengthy and complex that’s why we have divided it into 4 major steps to ease the whole process.

Before proceeding with this method, you have to be assigned the Mailbox Import Export role in Exchange Online to create import jobs.

Step 1. Create SAS URL

Start by creating a SAS URL for Azure Storage Explorer, which will be used to temporarily store PST files for later import into your Office 365 shared mailbox.

  1. Log in to your Office 365 account and go to the Compliance section.
  2. Click on Data Lifecycle Management and select Microsoft 365 from Microsoft Purview.
  3. Under the Overview section of Data lifecycle management, click on Import.
  4. Now, choose +New import job to proceed.
  5. Provide a name to your job and click Next.
  6. Select the option to Upload your data and press Next.
  7. Lastly, choose Show network upload SAS URL to create a URL.

Step 2. Download the Azure AzCopy Tool

After creating the SAS URL, you’ll need to download the AzCopy executable file. This tool helps you import PST files into your Microsoft 365 account.

  1. Download AzCopy based on your computer’s specifications.
  2. Unzip the AzCopy ZIP file to get the executable file.
  3. Double-click on azcopy.exe to finish setting it up.
  4. Now, open the command prompt and enter these commands:
  5. Type cd <source of azure.exe file path> and press Enter.
  6. Then, enter azcopy.exe copy <Source location of PST files> <paste SAS URL>.
  7. Now, go to Microsoft Purview to complete this task. Enable “I’m done uploading” and “I have access to the mapping file” options. Click “Next.”

Step 3. Generate and Upload Mapping File

Now, let’s create a CSV file with specific information needed to import PST files into your Office 365 account. You can download a copy of PST import mapping file through this link – https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=544717.

  1. Run the Microsoft Excel application and open the downloaded copy of the mapping file.
  2. Now, edit it as per your requirement and fill in the details.
  3. Next, click on “File” and select “Save As” as shown in the screenshot.
  4. Choose “CSV UTF-8 (Comma Delimited) (*.csv)” from the dropdown menu and click “Save” to generate the CSV file.
  5. Once you’ve created the CSV file (Comma Separated Values), go back to the Import Data window for uploading and mapping the CSV file.
  6. Select “Upload file” to upload the CSV mapping file.
  7. Choose the “CSV PST Import Mapping file” and click “Open.
  8. Click “Validate” to check the mapping file.
  9. Once the CSV file validation process is successful, click “Next.

Step 4. Filter Data to Import PST to Office 365</h4>

  1. Review the entire process with all the details and click on “Submit.
  2. You’ll notice that your PST file is uploaded to the AzCopy cloud storage for importing. Click “Done” to proceed.
  3. Now, wait for the PST analysis process to complete, select the PST file, and click “Import to Office 365.</li>
  4. Next, you can choose to import filtered data or import everything and then click “Next.
  5. You’ll see a message indicating the specific size of the PST file that will be imported. Choose “Submit” to continue.

After that, the process to import the PST file into your shared mailbox in Office 365 will begin, and eventually, you’ll receive a popup message saying “Success.” It may take a few hours to finish this task.

Limitations of Using Network Upload Method;

  • The complicated and lengthy method involves several stages.
  • This method takes a long time and can be quite complex, requiring technical expertise to manage all the steps.
  • The network upload technique has a maximum limit of 20 GB to import PST files into Microsoft 365.
  • Using PowerShell scripts and commands to import PST files into Office 365 can be challenging and may lead to data corruption.
  • You cannot use the Network Upload Method to transfer PST files into your Office 365 shared mailbox account instantly. As it’s time taking you need to have patience to complete the whole process.

Therefore, to overcome the challenges of the manual solutions we have described the best way to import PST to Office 365. It is the best-recommended approach that seamlessly solves all the problems faced by manual methods and provides an instant way to complete the process.

How to Import PST to Office 365 Automatically?

Try Advik PST Converter and securely import PST files to Office mailbox. With this automated tool, you can easily complete the whole task in minimal steps in a direct way. This will maintain email folders and sub-folder hierarchy throughout the PST to Office 365 migration process. The FREE Demo version is also available to check the working steps of this utility along with all of its advanced features.

Steps to Import PST to Office 365 Account

1. Run software in your Windows PC and add PST file.

choose PST files

2. Select PST file mailbox folders and click Next.

select PST mailbox folders

3. Select Office 365 as a saving option from the list.

select office 365 as a saving otion

4. Enter your Microsoft 365 account credentials in the respective field.

enter office 365 email details

5. Press the Convert button to initiate the process.

click convert to import PST to Office 365

Done!! In a few minutes, all of your selected PST files will be transferred into your Office 365 account successfully.

In addition, the software does more than that. Below are the additional benefits you will get from this software.

Final Words

Thus, the blog with 3 different solutions to attach PST file to Outlook 365 comes to an end. We hope that we were able to provide you with the best approaches to import Outlook PST to Office 365 account. You can use any of these methods as per your needs and convenience. However, two of them are a bit lengthy and require some technical assistance. Hence, it is advised to choose only if you have the proper knowledge to avoid data loss.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. Can I upload PST to Office 365 without Outlook?

Ans. Yes, you don’t need to use Outlook or any external application to import PST to Office 365 account. The software is a standalone utility that doesn’t require the assistance of any other.

Q2. Is it possible to Import PST Contacts along with Emails to Office 365. ?

Ans. Of course, this tool allows you to import PST contacts to Office 365 account in just a few simple steps.

Q3. I have multiple PST files to import into Office 365, Can I do this with this tool?

Ans. Yes, the program offers dual ways to the best way to import PST to Office 365 in batch.

Q4. Is it possible to transfer only specific emails and exempt the unwanted emails?

Ans. Yes, the software has an Advance Filter option. You can apply email filters according to your requirements.

Q5. What are the limitations of PST migration in Office 365?

Ans. You can upload and import PST files up to 20 GB. Moreover, you need lots of permission to complete the import process.