Sponsored – Exchange Server Database (EDB) files consist of the emails, contacts, notes, calendar, and other
crucial mailbox items. Several reasons may prompt you to extract these mailboxes from EDB file. For
instance, you may need to:

  • Backup old mailboxes
  • Create an archive of old user mailboxes
  • Migrate mailboxes to a different Exchange Server
  • Access mailbox data stored in Offline EDB files

In any case, a foolproof method to extract mailboxes from EDB files is essential. You can adopt
several manual ways to serve this task. Nevertheless, if you want quick and more efficient results,
Using an EDB to PST converter such as Stellar Converter for EDB would be even better.

Extract Mailboxes using Exchange Admin Center (EAC)

For Exchange Server 2013 and later versions, using Exchange Admin Center (EAC) will be suitable to
perform EDB to PST conversion. This GUI based tool makes it easier to manage Exchange Server and
lets you carry out various important tasks. Here are the simple steps to extract mailboxes from EDB
files to PST by using EAC.

  • In the EAC, navigate to Recipients -> Mailboxes -> More Options
  • Select Export to a PST file to open the wizard
  • On the first page of the Export to a PST file wizard, choose any one of the below options:
    • Export only the contents of this mailbox
    • Export only the contents of this mailbox’s archive
  • Click Next after selecting the suitable option
  • In the subsequent dialog box, provide the UNC path along with the filename of the target .PST file.
  • Click browse to Add or remove notification recipients and select the checkbox citing the option for Send email to the mailbox below when the .PST file has been exported
  • Clear the checkbox.
  • Click Finish when the process completes.

Use the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) to extract mailboxes

In the EMS, you can use the New-MailboxExportRequest PowerShell cmdlet to migrate mailboxes
from EDB files to PST. Make sure to have the Mailbox Import Export role assigned to your user
account before proceeding with this method.

Here is the syntax to create a mailbox export request:

New-MailboxExportRequest  [-Name <UniqueName>] -Mailbox <TargetMailboxIdentity> -FilePath <UNCPathToPST>

Here is an example: 

New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox "John Doe" -FilePath \\SERVER001\PSTFiles\johndoe.PST

To check the status of the export request, you can use the Get-MailboxExportRequest cmdlet. This cmdlet will show the status of a successfully completed export as Succeeded.

For detailed information about a about a mailbox export request, use Get-MailboxExportRequestStatistics cmdlet. Here are the syntaxes:

Get-MailboxExportRequest -Status Completed -BatchName "Export DB01 PSTs"
Get-MailboxExportRequestStatistics -Identity <MailboxExportRequestIdentity> [-IncludeReport] | Format-List

Use an EDB to PST Converter to Extract Mailboxes from EDB file

All the aforementioned methods can succeed only if your Exchange Server is online, and has database mounted. Tracking the progress of the export request is also cumbersome. To make up for this situation you can use Stellar Converter for EDB. This automated third party EDB to PST converter can scan EDB files online and offline irrespective of the Exchange Server version and the file size. Here are some of its prominent features:

  • Migrates large EDB files to PST
  • Migrates multiple mailboxes from EDB file to a live Exchange Server
  • Uses parallel processing technique to simultaneously save up to 4 mailboxes to PST, Office 365, or live Exchange server.
  • The EDB to PST converter can convert EDB files to HTML, RTF, EML, PDF, and MSG formats 
  • Exports Exchange mailbox to PST in online mode
  • Exports mailboxes from the offline EDB file to live Office 365 directly
  • Stellar Converter for EDB allows storing contacts to a CSV format
  • Allows conversion of EDB files of any language to PST

The process to extract mailboxes from EDB file through Stellar Converter for EDB is simple and quick. You simply need to launch the software on your system and follow few easy steps as instructed.

Just make sure to have MS Office pre-installed on your computer before you save the Exchange mailboxes to PST. Moreover, to perform the online conversion, you must connect as an Exchange administrator to the Domain Controller.

Conclusion

You may run the need to extract your mailboxes and the contained items from EDB files to PST files due to several reasons. To remedy the situation, several manual methods are worth trying. For instance, you can migrate EDB files to PST through Exchange Admin Center, or use Exchange Management shell to serve the intended purpose.

These manual methods are however cumbersome, take time and are prone to errors. They run the risk of data loss as well in case of a flawed or halted conversion process due to abrupt system shutdown or any other reason. Using a third party EDB to PST converter such as Stellar Converter for EDB would be a reliable move to resolve this issue.

 The software excels in carrying out EDB to PST conversion both offline and online quickly. It acts as a Holy Grail for the professionals willing to find simple and fast solution to extract mailboxes from EDB file. The software is available in three different Editions from the Stellar website.

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