Business data should always be protected, and your Office 365 mailbox is a large part of that. It consists of essential emails, contacts, calendars, and attachments that are important for daily business operations. When you lose this information due to an accidental deletion, ransomware, or other unexpected issues, it halts your work and causes unnecessary tension. A lot of people believe that as long as mailbox data is stored in the cloud, then it’s automatically backed up by Microsoft. Realistically, availability is the thing Microsoft prioritizes the most, and it doesn’t act as a full backup for all types of data loss scenarios or long-term backup needs.

Performing regular backups is the best way to keep your Office 365 mailbox protected and available when you need it. We will cover why mailbox backup is necessary, what backup options are available, and provide a simple solution to handle the entire backup process.

Why You Need a Backup of Office 365 Mailboxes

Before we get to the how-to, let’s talk a bit about why we need a backup matters:

Employees accidentally delete e-mails or folders
Ransomware or phishing attacks against cloud accounts
Business or legal obligations to keep email records
Employee offboarding and mailbox archiving requirements
Migration needs (for instance, switching to a different email platform)

Let's have a look at how you can back up your data, with these risks in mind.

Multiple methods to take a backup of Office 365 mailboxes

By using the following methods, you can create a safe and secure Office 365 mailbox backup:

Using the eDiscovery Feature in Microsoft 365
Manual Export Using Outlook (PST Export)
PowerShell Scripts for Bulk Export
Using a Dedicated Office 365 Backup Tool

Method 1: Using the eDiscovery Feature in Microsoft 365

The eDiscovery tool in Microsoft 365 is primarily designed for use with legal and compliance searches. Administrators are able to perform searches across mailboxes to export results.

Steps to Back Up Office 365 Mailboxes Using the Microsoft 365 eDiscovery Feature:

1. Log in to the Microsoft Purview portal with a Microsoft 365 admin account that has the eDiscovery role.

2. Head to Settings > Roles and scopes > Role groups.

3. Under the eDiscovery Manager role group, select Edit.

4. Enter the desired user for the role group and then click Next.

5. Review the modifications, then click Save, confirm the success message, and click Done.

6. Navigate to Solutions and select eDiscovery.

7. Click on Content Search, then select Create a Search.

8. Provide a unique search name. You may also include a description if you want, then click Create.

9. Click on Add Sources to choose the mailbox you want to investigate.

10. Then, locate and select the mailbox of the user, and click Manage.

11. Select the option for Mailboxes only (or Sites if you need them), then press Save.

12. Go to the Export tab, specify a name for the export, an optional description, configure the export options if necessary, and then click Export.

13. Follow the progress of the export in Process Manager. Once exported, it is possible to download mailbox data.

14. Open the finished export job, scroll down, and press Download to download the exported mailbox. The mailbox is downloaded as a ZIP file with the PST file inside.

15. Simply extract the ZIP file and access the PST file in Microsoft Outlook.

Limitations:

It requires an E3 or E5 license
The setup is complex and is not recommended for beginners
It's not generally intended to be used as a backup solution.

Method 2: Manual Export Using Outlook (PST Export)

If Outlook is installed and your Office 365 account is added, you can export the mailbox data into a PST file by yourself.

How to do:

- Open Outlook, then click on File, choose the Open & Export option

- Select Import/Export option, then click on Export to a file, and continue with Outlook Data File (.pst)

- Now choose the mailbox folders that you want to wish to export

- After completing, keep the PST file in a safe place

Limitations:

Not appropriate for backing up multiple mailboxes.
It doesn’t support automatic or scheduled backups.
PST files can get corrupted over time.
Not advisable for large corporates with hundreds and thousands of users.

Method 3: PowerShell Scripts for Bulk Export

Sometimes, IT admins use Powershell scripts to export a large amount of mailbox data using Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal. Visit the Microsoft site for the latest PowerShell commands.

Limitations:

This requires a certain level of technical expertise to successfully install and use.
Scripts may need to be updated after a Microsoft update.
Can be challenging for beginners.
No live dashboard to track the backup process.

Method 4: Using a Dedicated Office 365 Backup Tool

Although manual approaches work for small cases, they do not scale and carry real dangers of human error. This is the benefit of having a dedicated backup solution.

Software like the MailsDaddy Office 365 Backup Tool is designed to make this procedure effortless. The software is designed in such a way that a user can easily export one or more Office 365 mailboxes into PST, EML, MSG, and many other file formats without any technical expertise.

Procedure to take a backup from an automated tool:

Download MailsDaddy O365 Backup Tool from the official website and install the complete solution on your Windows PC.
Log into your Microsoft 365 account with the required credentials and pick the mailbox or folders you wish to export. You can also preview the data before export
Select the export file type (PST, MBOX, EML, or MSG) and provide the output path to store the backup.
Set the required parameters, such as PST split or any other advanced options, as per your requirements.
Hit the Export button to begin the backup process and wait for the tool to save your Office 365 mailbox data to the selected format successfully.

Advantages of using a specialized tool are as follows:

- Easy-to-use guided interface designed for non-technical users

- Supports bulk Office 365 Backup for Small to Large Organizations

- Maintains folder hierarchy, metadata, and formatting of emails

- You can also use a date-range filter to backup selectively

- Works reliably without depending on scripts or admin-heavy setup

To find out more about this solution, visit us at: MailsDaddy Office 365 Backup Tool

Which approach is best for you?

For a single user with a single mailbox who has time to wait, the manual export of PST might be sufficient for now.
If you’re an IT pro who is familiar with scripting, PowerShell provides much greater flexibility.
If you're responsible for more than one mailbox and need a process that you can rely on, that requires little effort, and that you can repeat easily, then a specialized backup utility, i.e., MailsDaddy O365 Backup Software, is your best bet.

Conclusion

Office 365 mailboxes contain the most critical data in an organization. Following Microsoft's native retention policies alone is not the best way to go for long-term protection. Whether you are doing a manual export, automating the export using powershell scripting, or using a full-fledged email backup software, you are essentially trying to achieve three things: Protecting your email data, ensuring it is accessible, and making it recoverable when you need it.

For the majority of organizations and professionals who want a hassle-free, dependable, and time-saving method, using a dedicated utility like MailsDaddy Office 365 Backup Tool would be the better decision in the long run.

FAQ

Q1: Is my mailbox data backed up automatically in Microsoft 365? Does Microsoft 365 automatically back up my mailbox data?

Ans: No. Microsoft prioritizes service availability and provides limited retention policies, but it does not back up your mailbox data in the traditional sense. If the emails get deleted after the retention time or wiped out in an attack, they may not be recoverable unless they have been backed up separately.

Q2: What is the best way to take a backup of an Office 365 mailbox without any technical knowledge?

Ans: For the majority of users who are not tech-savvy, the best solution is to use an Office 365 eDiscovery tool, i.e., the MailsDaddy Office 365 Backup Tool. Manual methods, such as PST export or PowerShell scripts, take more time and require more technical expertise, whereas a guided solution makes the process a matter of a few clicks.

Q3: Is it possible to backup multiple Office 365 mailboxes in a single process?

Ans: Yes, While a manual method such as exporting is usually applied one mailbox at a time, MailsDaddy Office 365 Backup Tool allows you to take a backup of multiple mailboxes, making it a practical choice for businesses managing multiple users.

Q4: In what file formats can Office 365 mailbox backup be saved?

Ans: Normal backup type formats are PST, EML, and MSG. PST is used as the standard file format for Outlook, whereas EML and MSG files can be used to save an individual email or migrate to another email client.

Q5. How frequently do I need to backup my Office 365 mailbox?

Ans: That varies with how often your mailbox data changes, but you should have a regular backup, at least weekly or monthly, if you are using the account for business and actively using it. Those organizations that do possess sensitive and/or large amounts of email data, however, may wish to consider more frequent backups for their own peace of mind.

Ortan Parkar

Articles by Ortan

2026

Multiple Methods to Take a Backup of Office 365 Mailboxes in 2026 Guide