PST files contain all of your emails, contacts and other data from the Outlook.com inbox. What if you want to move everything over to a new machine but don’t know how to import PST into Outlook? We show you two ways for importing PST files into Microsoft Outlook on Windows 10 or Office 365 effortlessly
The “how to import pst file in outlook 365” is a process that can be completed with ease. The process has been created for everyone, even if you are not tech savvy.
When dealing with Outlook, you’ll almost certainly need to import a PST file at some point. But what exactly is a PST? “An Outlook Data File (.pst) includes your messages and other Outlook objects and is preserved on your computer,” according to Microsoft.
Some circumstances where PST import is required if you use Microsoft Outlook for email include:
- After a PC replacement or OS installation, rehydrate your mailbox from PST.
- You’re importing emails from a resigned employee into your Outlook profile from a backup.
- Transferring mail from one system to another. (For example, Outlook.com to Gmail)
If you’re an email administrator, on the other hand, you may need to import a PST into a user’s Outlook when:
- Emails from a PST export are being restored.
- Giving another user access to a dismissed employee’s emails.
- Email data migration from on-premises to the cloud. (Exchange Server to Exchange Online, Office 365, for example)
There are numerous methods for importing the PST file, regardless of the purpose for doing so. In addition, you will learn about the various methods for importing Outlook data files (PST) in this post. Then you may choose which PST import technique is suitable for you.
Requirements
This is a How-To post, so if you chose to follow along with the examples, there are certain prerequisites.
- Windows 10 on a PC
- An email address. Any email account may be used as long as the mailbox in Outlook can be established. However, for testing purposes, you should create a fake email account.
- Outlook for the year 2019. You may also use an earlier version of Outlook, such as Outlook 2010, Outlook 2013, or Outlook 2016.
- Because a section of this article uses an Exchange Mailbox as an example, you’ll need access to an Exchange Server if you want to follow along.
Using Outlook to attach PST files
When you attach PST files to Outlook, you may see the contents of the PST as a distinct Outlook data file in your Outlook profile. This implies that the PST’s contents will not be imported into your own inbox.
You can connect one or more PST files to Outlook and have simultaneous access to all of them. The locations of PST files might be local or remote (UNC).
The steps following presume you already have an Outlook mailbox profile set up and that you’ll be uploading a PST file from C:PSTbackup.pst.
While in Outlook, click on File —> Open & Export —> Access the Outlook Data File.
Access the Outlook Data File
Once the Access the Outlook Data File window shows up, browse to the location of the PST file that you want to attach to Outlook. In this example, the PST file is in C:PSTbackup.pst. Then, once you’ve located the PST file, click OK.
To connect a PST file to an Outlook profile, first choose it.
After you click the OK button, a new folder with the name Outlook Data File will appear in the folder pane of Outlook.
The Outlook profile now has a PST file connected to it.
You may now choose whether to transfer the contents of the PST file into your own mailbox or leave them in the separate PST file now that it’s associated to Outlook.
Using PowerShell and the Outlook.NET API to attach PST files
Attaching one or more PST files to Outlook may be automated using the Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook Namespace. This approach is very handy for administrators who need to connect PST files to the Outlook profiles of several users at a predetermined interval or at user login.
The script below will list all PST files in the C:PST directory and then attach each PST file to the default Outlook profile.
Add-type -assembly “Microsoft.Office.Interop.Outlook” $PSTPath = “C:PST” $outlook = new-object -comobject outlook.application $outlook = new-object -comobject outlook.application $outlook = new-object $outlook.GetNameSpace $namespace = $outlook.GetNameSpace $namespace = $outlook.GetNameSpace (“MAPI”) Get-ChildItem $PSTPath -Filter *.pst | ForEach-Object $namespace.AddStore($ .FullName) $namespace.AddStore($ .FullName) $namespace.AddStore($ .FullName) $namespace.AddStore($ .FullName) $namespace.AddStore
You should get something similar to the results displayed in the illustration below if you execute the script above by copying it into your PowerShell session.
Using PowerShell to attach PST files to Outlook
Using the Outlook Import Wizard to Import PST Files
The Import and Export Wizard is a built-in tool in Outlook. By far the most easiest approach for users to import PST into Outlook is to utilize the import wizard. It imports all or a subset of data from a PST file into an Outlook mailbox.
Assume you already have an Outlook email profile set up and that your email administrator has sent you the PST file containing the emails you requested. You must now import the recovered emails into your email account. The Import and Export Wizard will come in handy here.
The PST to be imported in this case is C:Temprecovered.pst.
While in Outlook, click on File —> Open & Export —> Import/Export.
Import/Export from Outlook
Select Import from another application or file when the Import and Export Wizard box appears. Then press the Next button.
Choose the option to Import a file from another software.
Select Outlook Data File in the Import a File window (.pst). Then press the Next button.
Choose an option. Data File for Outlook (.pst)
Click Browse when the Import Outlook Data File window appears.
Select Browse from the drop-down menu.
Locate the PST file from which you want to import the emails. In this case, the file is C:PSTRecovered.pst, and you may open it by clicking Open.
To open the PST file, click on it.
When you return to the Import Outlook Data File window, make sure the File to Import box displays the file pst and choose Do not import duplicates to avoid importing duplicates. Then press the Next button.
Choose an option. Duplicates should not be imported.
You have the option of importing things from the top folder, including subfolders, or expanding the top folder and selecting which subfolder to import items from in the following box. The top folder is chosen in this example, and it will include all subfolders.
When you’re happy with your choices, click Finish.
Choose your import choices.
After you click Finish, Outlook will begin importing items. The length of time it takes Outlook to import objects is determined on the amount and size of items being imported. The import process might take anything from a few minutes to many hours.
Using the New-MailboxImportRequest PowerShell Cmdlet to Import PST Files
The PowerShell cmdlet New-MailboxImportRequest isn’t simply for importing PST files into Outlook. The New-MailboxImportRequest cmdlet is designed to import PST files into an Exchange Server mailbox. The imported objects, on the other hand, will appear in Outlook.
This action can only be performed by Exchange administrators that have the Mailbox Import Export role. The cmdlet will not be accessible if the admin’s account is not allocated the Mailbox Import Export role.
It’s worth noting that the FilePath argument of the New-MailboxImportRequest allows the PST path. The FilePath argument, on the other hand, only takes UNC paths and not local paths. Even if the PST files are locally located, the UNC file path must be used instead.
This example will import the PST file C:PSTRecovered.pst from the server usexc001 into [email protectedmailbox. ]’s The Name argument allows you to give the import job you’re generating a name. This may be whatever name you’d like. The name of the import job is the same as the name of the mailbox in this case.
The code above must be executed from inside the Exchange Management Shell, and the screenshot below depicts the desired result.
Making a request for a PST import
As you can see from the output above, the import request’s first status will be queued. The Get-MailboxImportRequest and Get-MailboxImportRequestStatistics cmdlets may be used to keep track of the status.
The code below retrieves the status of a PST import for the user [email protected].
You should see the current status of the import request after executing the command above. As an example, have a look at the image below.
Obtaining the status of an import request
The import request has been completed, as you can see in the picture above. The imported items from the PST file should appear in your Outlook inbox the next time you access it.
To customize the outcome of the PST import request, you may utilize extra parameters or options with the New-MailboxImportRequest. Also, if you’re interested in learning more, go here.
Conclusion
You learnt how to attach or import a PST file into Outlook in this post. You’ve learned how to manually connect PST files to Outlook using the capabilities provided inside the program.
You’ve also shown how to use PowerShell and the Outlook.NET API to connect PST files to Outlook. Other programming languages, such as Visual Basic, may be used with the Outlook.NET API. Admins may automate PST import in a variety of ways because to its programmability.
You’ve also learned how email administrators may use the New-MailboxImportRequestExchange PowerShell cmdlet to import PST files into Exchange Server mailboxes.
Perhaps now, armed with the information obtained from this post, you can develop a more complicated script to automatically import several PST files into different user mailboxes.
Additional Reading
The “how to create a pst file in outlook 365” is a tutorial that will show you how to import PST files into Outlook.
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