How to Export Office 365 to MBOX File Format? Ultimate Guide

Overview: In this blog post, you will get to know multiple ways to export Office 365 to MBOX format along with the pros and cons of the methods.

Microsoft 365, which was earlier known as Office 365, is one of the most popular cloud-based email service providers. It is made for both enterprises and individual users. But, there are certain scenarios when you have to migrate Office 365 emails to Thunderbird. So, you need to create a backup locally, and move your emails to another email provider, where MBOX becomes a common choice.

They provide several export options, but there is no direct way to export mailbox data in MBOX format. Because of this, users frequently find ways to achieve this task and avoid data loss at the same time.

Also Read: How to Export Office 365 Mailbox to PST?

Why to Backup Office 365 Emails to MBOX?

These are the reasons why users choose to export Office 365 to MBOX format.

• To create an offline backup of your Office 365 emails
• Move data to different platforms like Thunderbird client
• Transfer your mailbox data to email clients which supports MBOX
• Maintain your email information for future use
• In order to minimize the dependency on accessing information via cloud

Is There any Direct Option to Export Microsoft 365 Data to MBOX?

No, the export of Microsoft 365 mailbox items takes place mostly in PST format via Outlook. There is no option provided by the system to export items to MBOX format. Thus, a user can either use:

• First is to use the manual export option through Outlook and then convert the exported file into MBOX format
• Use our professional software for direct export of mailboxes to MBOX from Office 365

Manual Method to Export Office 365 to MBOX Format

As Microsoft does not provide a direct MBOX export option. There are three steps involved while doing it manually:

Step 1. Adding Microsoft 365 Account to Outlook

• Launch Outlook
• Set up a Microsoft 365 account
• Let it sync all the folders present in the mailbox

Step 2. Exporting 365 Mailbox to PST

• Firstly, go to File > Open & Export > Import/Export
• Find Export to a File option, and click on it
• Next, select Outlook data file
• Select the required mailbox
• Tick the Include Subfolders
• Save the PST file

Step 3. Lastly, PST to MBOX

As Outlook doesn’t support MBOX format, you have to use our professional software to do that.

Limitations of Using Manual Method

This works well for small mailboxes, and comes with certain disadvantages.

• There are several applications which you have to use
• No direct support from Office 365 to MBOX format
• It is hard to manage large mailboxes
• Outlook has to be installed
• There is a chance of skipping folders or metadata
• Not an option for mailbox export on a large scale
• Complicated for basic users

In case you deal with hundreds of office 365 accounts, the manual solution is not suitable.

Professional Solution to Export Office 365 to MBOX Format

There is no option in Office 365 for exporting the data to MBOX format. Firstly, if you use the manual method, there is a built-in option to export the emails to PST. Then, use software to export to MBOX. The manual approach is very complex, and not suitable for large-size mailboxes.

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For that, you can try SysTools Office 365 Export Tool. It connects your office 365 account and helps you to export the mailboxes into MBOX format directly. You do not require the PST file, and maintain your emails, contacts, & calendars.

Key Features:

• Directly export Office 365 mailbox into MBOX
• Export emails along their email properties
• Software retains the entire folder structure
• Keep same email metadata and formatting
• Supports the latest Microsoft authentication
• You can take backups of multiple Office 365 mailboxes
• There is date-filter option for selective export
• Option to migrate shared mailboxes
• No chance of duplicate data
• Create export reports for administrators

Software Steps to Export Office 365 Data Securely

1. Download & install our professional software on your system.

2. Choose Office 365 as the source platform and MBOX as the destination platform.

3. In the Workload field, select your desired workload among various mailbox items like Email, Contact, Calendar, and so on.

• You can use the date filters to export selective data within a specific date range.

4. Use the login credentials of your source Office 365 Admin account for authentication purposes in the platform.

• Tap the Validate button to check the necessary permissions.

5. Locate the Destination folder to save your MBOX files on your computer. Ensure that the folder path length does not exceed 20 characters.

6. Add users via any of the below ways:

• Fetch Users – Fetch users automatically from the Source domain.
• Import Users – Import users via CSV.
• Download Template – Download template in CSV format for creating users.

7. Choose the users who wish to export their data and then press the Start Export button to export Office 365 to MBOX format.

8. Once the process is completed successfully, press Download Report.

Remark: For more details, check out the software guide on how to export Office 365 Online mailbox to MBOX file using Office 365 admin account.

Manual vs Professional Solution – Comparison Table

This is the difference table which will help users to export Office 365 to MBOX using the right software.

Tips to Follow:

• Check permissions of the mailboxes before exporting
• Make sure to have enough space
• Export inactive mailboxes individually
• Always create a backup before exporting
• Check the validity of the MBOX files
• Export mailboxes during off-hours, especially when you are dealing with organization data

Conclusion

Users export Office 365 to MBOX format to migrate, back up, or to maintain emails in different platforms. Although you can follow these manual steps via Outlook, it is not an easy process and involves more work and some disadvantages. Alternatively, when a user has to manage business email or a large Microsoft 365 setup, then you can use our expert solution which provides you with a direct export option. Users can export bulk mailbox data with various filter options.