Best Way to Export Public Folder to PST File – Easy Steps

“Public Folders in Microsoft Exchange Server are typically used to store and share emails, contacts, calendars, and organizational data.”

Export Exchange Public Folders to PST: What You Need to Know

Before you dive into how to export Public Folders, here’s what you must know.

• Permissions are important
  You, as an administrator, need the correct level of permissions to access the Public Folders content.
• Outlook Accessibility
  You can only access Public Folders if it is visible in your Outlook profile, especially for manual solutions.
• Public Folder Size
  If your Public Folders are too big, you may not be able to export to a single PST due to size limits. Verify the PST size limits imposed by Outlook (20 GB for ANSI and 50 GB for Unicode PST).
• PST Management
  If you have too much data, you can split PST files to avoid corruption. Also, backup the original copy of your data before you migrate.

Further, moving ahead, let’s identify the common ways that can help with this export successfully.

Distinct Ways to Export Public Folder to PST

Whether you want to migrate a public folder or export Shared Mailbox to PST, the professional tool is your go-to solution. Here, we will discuss both manual and expert solutions, but the freeway comes with some cons. You can explore all of it briefly in the upcoming sections.

Manually Export Public Folder Mailbox to PST

If your organization’s Public Folder is accessible in Outlook, you can manually export the Public Folder content to a PST file. The steps to follow here are:

1. Foremost, open MS Outlook using the account that accesses your organization’s Public Folder.
2. In the navigation pane, go to Folders and find your Public Folder.
3. Further, select the folder you want to export from the menu.
4. Afterward, select File so that you can choose Open & Export.
5. And later, open the Import/Export wizard for the migration of data.
6. Furthermore, select Export to a file and click Next to continue.
7. Select Outlook Data File (.pst) → Next.
8. Now, choose the Public Folder (and any subfolders, as needed).
9. Designate a path and file name for your PST. Set the duplicates as needed.
10. At last, click Finish and provide a password if you wish (optional).

Limitations of the Manual Method

• Cannot export multiple Public Folders at once. If you want to export multiple Public Folders, repeat the above steps.
• Dependent on Outlook performance and connectivity.
• Takes a considerable amount of time if the mailbox is large.

Free Export Public Folder to PST (Powershell)

Before you proceed with this cmdlet manual process, some prerequisites are to be fulfilled:

• It is necessary to have the Mailbox Import Export role assigned in Exchange.
• The target PST file location must be a shared folder with a network path (UNC path) accessible by the Exchange server.
• Also, ensure that you have the permissions to that network location, if applicable.

Steps that you need to continue with are:

1. Open Exchange Management Shell. Here, Run the given command for the ImportExport role:

   New-ManagementRoleAssignment –Role “MailboxImportExport” –User “Admin”

2. Next, create a folder (shared) for your PST file storage on a local or network drive. To do so, use a UNC Path and share it with the Exchange Trusted Subsystem Group with complete control. The command is:

   \\YourExchangeServerName\PSTExports

3. Further, export your Public folder in the PST file with the command:

   New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox “PublicFolderMailboxName” -FilePath “\\YourExchnageServerName\PSTExports\PublicFolder.pst”

4. For specific public folders, use the command:

   New-MailboxExportRequest -Mailbox “PublicFolderMailboxName” -FilePath “\\YourExchangeEServerName\PSTExports\SpecificFolder.pst” -IncludeFolders “\FolderName”

5. Finally, check your export status and recover the completed requests with the commands:

   Get-MailboxExportRequest Remove-MailboxExportRequest -Identity <RequestIdentity>

The method is possible to perform, but it is too tricky, difficult, and can result in a lot of errors and issues. Thus, it is better to start with a professional tool like the one below.

Conventional Guide to Export Public Folder to PST

An easy-to-use, professional, stable, and scalable option is the SysInfo Office 365 Backup Tool. It works well for large and batch exports with filtering and little to no manual effort. Additionally, this tool is convenient for all techie and non-techie users to reliably use on Windows and macOS.

Steps to Export Exchange 2013/2016 Public Folder to PST

1. Install and launch the Public Folder to PST Export Software.
2. Then, connect to Office 365 Exchange Server with administrative credentials.
3. Further, select the Public Folders from the mailbox and the respective User IDs to export.
4. Click Next and select the folders from the public mailbox to transfer→ Click Next.
5. Afterward, select PST as your export format and apply filtering if necessary.
6. At last, identify your destination path to save the PST file. Tap Convert.

Once complete, access your PST file and folders in MS Outlook to verify. This is the straightforward and automatic process that provides convenience, saves time, effort, and costs, with its demo version.

Benefits

• Can handle large and multiple Public Folders in one process.
• Keeps folder hierarchy and metadata preserved throughout the export.
• Does allows selective exports by filtering.
• Completely standalone, doesn’t require Outlook.

Conclusion

Export Public Folder to PST manually with Outlook can be simpler for smaller datasets. But for larger, more complex environments, a dedicated export tool proves to be useful. The optimal way to export the Public Folder ensures that your data can remain intact, accessible, and ready for backup, compliance, or migration scenarios.

Frequently Asked Questions

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.