Best Solution to Migrate Public Folder to Shared Mailbox

In the past, public folders were often a choice for sharing email, calendars, and contacts with other users in their organization. However, in a modern collaborative, cloud-based experience, public folders have served as a hindrance in many ways to users. Shared mailboxes are, instead, much more user-friendly, have adherence capabilities for compliance, and integrate very well in Office 365.

Convert Public Folder to Shared Mailbox: Why?

There are a lot of practical benefits to making or suggesting this transition from public folder back to shared mailbox:

• Access Management Simplified: Shared mailboxes are now utilizing modern Office 365 groups, as opposed to legacy public folder permissions. The former are far easier to manage across users.
• Operational Compatibility: There is better support for mobile devices as well as modern Outlook.
• No Licensing Delay: Shared mailboxes under 50 GB do not require a separate license.
• Retention and Holds: Microsoft 365 compliance guarantees retention and litigation hold capabilities.

Migrate Public Folder to Shared Mailbox: Key Considerations

Folder Size and Permission Complexity Matter

Before migration, review your public folder structure. Larger public folders (20+ GB) and folders with nested permissions often fail when manually exported.

Use the Get-PublicFolderStatistics and Get-PublicFolderClientPermission cmdlets to assess the folder structure and review any potential permission collisions in advance.

In addition, keep in mind:

• There is a 50 GB limit for shared mailboxes (this can be increased).
• Try not to grant full access permission to too many users to avoid sync conflicts.
• Always conduct a test with an unimportant folder before performing the entire migration.

Finally, even if you are establishing hybrid migrations, merely transitioning from a legacy on-premises Exchange-based infrastructure. Or just streamlining your infrastructure, public folder to shared mailbox migration should be a very simple part of your process.

Move Public Folder to Shared Mailbox, But How?

Everyone is stuck in the same loop of moving folders from one Office 365 mailbox folder to another. But not anymore, as this section elaborates on two top-notch solutions that make the migration quick, smooth, and effective. Here, find the manual and professional tool step-by-step guide and use them as per your requirements and availability.

Free Migrate Public Folder to Shared Mailbox

Microsoft Outlook has a supported method to follow using the Import/Export wizard. We have divided it into two sections for a clearer understanding.

Section 1: Export Data From Public Folders to .PST

Note: Use Outlook attached to the on-prem Exchange to extract your data.

1. Open Outlook using an account that has access to the public folders.
2. Then, go to the Public Folders and right-click on the folder (or sub-folder) you want to migrate.
3. After that, click Properties and make sure you have admin access to the data.
4. Further, drag-and-drop the public folder to your mailbox’s folder list to create a copy. (Optional)
5. Now, head to File to opt for Open and Export. And, to start the Import/Export.
6. Later, select Export to a file –> Outlook Data File (.pst). Click Next.
7. Finally, select the public folder and export to a .PST file. Tap Finish.

Section 2: Import PST into Office 365 Shared Mailbox

• First, make sure you have a Shared mailbox in Office 365.
• If you don’t, you can create one with Admin Center or PowerShell cmdlets.

Further, to migrate Public Folder to Shared Mailbox, import the PST manually:

1. Create an Outlook profile with your Office 365 account that has full access to the Shared Mailbox.
2. Later, open the Import/Export wizard as done in the previous section.
3. Choose Import from another program or file >> (.pst)
4. Afterward, click Next and point and select the PST exported above.
5. Direct where to save in the Shared Mailbox (Inbox or custom folder). Hit Finish.

You have completed the process to migrate public folders to Office 365 shared mailbox. But isn’t it too tricky and complex? Yes, it is.

Other Drawbacks of the Manual Method

• Confusing and doesn’t support bulk migration of public mailbox folders.
• Users need to have admin privileges as well as an active Outlook profile with complete configuration.
• There is a high risk of data theft and corruption in this process.

But any user can easily overcome these and perform a swift and hassle-free migration with a dedicated utility.

Automatically Migrate Public Folder to Shared Mailbox

When the manual process becomes challenging (especially for larger enterprise migrations), the best option is the SysInfo Office 365 Backup Tool. It allows you to migrate from public folders to shared mailboxes directly, while preserving permissions, folder structure, and timestamps. In addition, it’s useful for detailed migration reports and for handling errors, while maintaining security and compliance. Moreover, it is free of the system environment, i.e., ideal for both Mac and Windows.

Do You Know?

Apart from the ability to convert public folder to shared mailbox, this tool can export Office 365 to CSV and many other formats.

To understand how it helps all technical and non-technical users, take a look at this case scenario:

Migrate Public Folders to Office 365 Shared Mailbox: Steps

1. Start the software and click Backup in the first dialog, then Continue.
2. After that, using your admin credentials, click on the Sign In button.
3. Then, select the Public Folder mailbox and choose the source ID to migrate.
4. Click Next and check, and select folders after preview from the tree format.
5. Further, press Next and select the Office 365 email client from the menu.
6. Sign in again to your destination account, apply filters, and map users.
7. At last, select the Shared Mailbox and press Convert to finish the process.

Conclusion

The ability to migrate public folder to shared mailbox is more than just a technical decision. It’s a decision to upgrade toward a flexible cloud-first communications solution. So, while manual methods will get by in smaller environments. Organizations that have broad regulatory, performance, or scale considerations would be better served with a professional tool.

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About The Author:

Simran Bhatia

Simran Bhatia is a technical content writer engaged in writing clear, concise, and SEO-optimized content. With a background in computer science and a passion for writing, I thrive to deliver complex technical content in simple layman terms.