How to Import or Upload PST to Office 365

Updated On - October 25, 2024 by Henry Bray | Reading Time: 5 minutes

Office 365 offers many subscription benefits that Microsoft offers, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, etc. Office 365 meets almost all international security standards such as HIPAA, GDPR, HITECH, and many more. On the other hand, Microsoft Outlook is an email client that uses the PST file to store all data elements such as emails, contacts, etc. As Office 365 is becoming increasingly popular due to its wide range of software, nowadays, users prefer it more than standalone applications like Microsoft Outlook. You can easily import or upload PST to Office 365 using a variety of methods. Read the below section to know more about it in brief:

PST and Office 365

PST stands for Personal Storage Table, which is a file format used by Microsoft Outlook to store email messages, contacts, calendar entries, and other items. PST files are typically used to back up or archive email data and can be quite large, making them difficult to manage and access.

On the other hand, Office 365 is a cloud-based suite of productivity tools that includes email, calendaring, file storage, and collaboration tools. It offers a range of benefits over traditional on-premise email systems, including greater accessibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.

Benefits of uploading PST to Office 365:

• Allows for easier access to email data from anywhere with an internet connection
• Reduces the risk of data loss due to local hardware failures or other issues
• Provides centralized data management and control, which can improve email security and compliance
• Enables users to take advantage of the advanced features and collaboration tools offered by Office 365, such as shared calendars, document collaboration, and real-time chat
• Can be more cost-effective than maintaining an on-premise email system
• Enables easier management of large email data sets, which can be difficult to manage and access in PST format
• Simplifies the process of migrating email data to a new system or platform
• Provides greater scalability and flexibility, allowing for easy expansion as the organization grows or changes.

So now you know the benefits of moving PST to Office 365, let’s move to the possible ways to import or upload PST into Office 365 mailboxes.

Different ways to Import or Upload PST into Office 365

There are three manual ways and you can also use a third-party tool for this task. Below I’ve mentioned the process of all the manual methods and a third-party tool.

1st Method: Using Outlook to Uploading PST File into Office 365

1. Install and open Microsoft Outlook
2. Go to the File menu and click on the Open & Export button
3. Now on-screen Import and Export wizard will open
4. here, click on the “Import from another program or file”
5. Now choose the PST file and click Next to proceed
6. Select the desired .pst file
7. Click Finish to complete the process

Related Blog: How to Import PST to Outlook Web Access (OWA) Office 365

2nd Method: Using the Network Upload method to Import PST File into Office 365

1. First, you copy the SAS URL after installing the Azure AzCopy tool
2. Upload the PST file to Office 365 using the Azure AzCopy tool
3. You will view the list of PST files that were uploaded to Office 365 using MS Azure Storage Explorer
4. Now you need to create the CSV file for mapping purposes
5. And, create a PST import job in the import service in Microsoft 365.
6. Now your PST file has been successfully imported into Office 365

3rd Method: Using the Drive Shipping method

1. Install & Open .exe tool and get a storage key
2. Use this tool and copy the PST file to the hard drive
3. Now, you need to generate a PST mapping file to migrate it to the Azure storage area
4. Next, you need to create a PST import job in Office 365
5. At last, dispatch the hard drive to Microsoft to upload the PST file to the Azure storage area

What’s wrong with Manual methods

Manual methods work but not all the time and also they have the risk of data loss. Due to this, many Microsoft MVPs and administrators suggest using a third-party tool suggest Regain PST to Office 365 migration. Besides this, manual methods have several loopholes and drawbacks.

Some potential drawbacks of using a manual method to upload PST files to Office 365:

• Time-consuming: Manually uploading PST files to Office 365 can be a time-consuming process, especially if there are a large number of files or a large amount of data to upload.
• Complex process: The process of manually uploading PST files to Office 365 can be complex and require technical expertise, which may not be available in all organizations.
• Potential for errors: Manually uploading PST files can be prone to errors, which can result in data loss or corruption.
• Lack of automation: Manually uploading PST files to Office 365 does not offer the benefits of automation, such as scheduling or incremental backups, which can help to streamline the process and reduce errors.
• Security concerns: Manually uploading PST files can raise security concerns, especially if the files contain sensitive information, as there is a risk of data exposure or theft during the transfer process.
• Limited scalability: Manually uploading PST files to Office 365 can be difficult to scale as the organization grows, which can result in additional costs and complexity.
• Compatibility issues: There may be compatibility issues with certain PST files, especially if they were created using an older version of Outlook, which can result in data loss or corruption during the upload process.

Use Professional tool for PST Files Upload to Microsoft 365

Regain PST to Office 365 Migration tool is professional software that smoothly imports Outlook PST files into Office 365. It also imports PST files into the Live Exchange Server, including Emails, Contacts, Calendars, Tasks, etc. Here, I have listed some other features of  Import PST to Office 365 tool below:

Free Download100% Secure Buy NowPrice: $39

Benefits of Professional Methods

1. Migrates Outlook PST email to Office 365 and Live Exchange Server easily
2. Complete migration of Outlook PST files including Emails, Contacts, Calendars, Tasks, journals, attachments, notes, etc
3. Provides filter option to import selective Outlook PST files
4. Allows preview of entire email folders before importing to Office 365
5. Preserve the original folder hierarchy of the Outlook mailbox while importing
6. No file size restriction when migrating Outlook emails to Office 365
7. Support all the versions of MS Outlook and MS Exchange Server
8. Self-intuitive and easy-to-use GUI for importing PST to Office 365

It also offers you a free trial version of this software which is free of cost. You do not have to pay for it; it is available on the software’s official website. Go and download it & try it once it helps you evaluate the features and working of the software. It also allows you to import 30 emails per folder at a free cost. If you like it, you can purchase its licensed version to import limitless files without any disturbance.

Steps to Import PST File into Office 365:-

• Step 1: Install PST to Office 365 Migration software
• Step 2: Now Choose the PST file that you want to import & click on start importing button to continue.
• Step 3: Login by entering User Name & Password and Upload Single or Multiple PST to Office 365. Click Connect to proceed
• Step 4: Finally the import process completes and your PST files are successfully imported to Office 365 Account at your desired location.

Conclusion

To upload PST into Office 365, you can use various available methods. There are different procedures for this. You can use either a manual or an automatic approach. If you take my advice, then the intuitive way will prove to be beneficial for you because you just need to download the software and import PST files into Office 365; this is the easiest way compared to the manual method, which is long as well as time-consuming.