PSTs and Office 365 Best Practices

Transcription

1 PSTs and Office 365 Best Practices Contents Summary... 1 Locally Stored on User Machines [under 50 GB of data]... 1 Method 1 The Import Tool... 1 Method 2 Manual Import/Drag-and-Drop... 5 Locally Stored on User Machines [more than 50 GB of data]... 6 Centrally Stored and Managed... 6 Auto-Archiving... 6 Further Reading... 9 Summary PST files are managed in a litany of different ways across different organizations. To determine the best method for continued management of PST files, locate the category below which best applies to your organization for ISC s recommended best practices. Locally Stored on User Machines [under 50 GB of data] For most users with archived mail, their PST files will total less than the 50 GB quota allowed by Office 365. For those users, it is generally recommended that these PST files be imported into Office 365, to allow for the data to be consistently available across machines and clients, and backed up on Microsoft s servers. There may be outlying factors within your own environment, but for most, standard use, this is the recommended course of action. There are two ways to import PST file data into an Office 365 account. Method 1 The Import Tool This is the best method for importing the entirety of a PST file into an Office 365 account. To import your PST files using the Import Tool, do the following: 1. Click the File tab at the top of your Outlook client. 1

2 2. Select the Open & Export option on the left sidebar. 3. Select the Import/Export option from the ensuing menu (the Import and Export Wizard should appear). 4. In the Wizard, select the Import from another program or file option, and click Next. 2

3 5. On the next page, select the Outlook Data File (.pst) option, and click Next. 6. Click the Browse button to locate and select your local PST file, choose the options for dealing with duplicates as you see fit, and click Next. 3

4 7. Select the folder(s) you want to import from the PST, be sure to check the Include subfolders box. 8. Select the Import items into the same folder in: option, and select your Office 365 account from the dropdown menu. 9. Click Finish. 4

5 Method 2 Manual Import/Drag-and-Drop The Drag-and-Drop method is an option available to anyone who prefers it, but is most useful to those who want to import only specific sub-sections of their PST data into their new Office 365 account, or to re-distribute, or otherwise re-organize their data in the process of importing it. The downside to this method is in the amount of downtime the user may experience while waiting for larger portions of data to transfer, during which time they will not have use of their Outlook client. Note: Before beginning the steps below, be sure to save a backup copy of any PST files you are importing. To import your data via the Drag-and-Drop method within your Outlook client, do the following: 1. Select the File tab from the top menu. 2. Select the Open & Export option from the left sidebar. 3. Select the Open Outlook Data File option. 5

6 4. In the pop up window, browse to, and select, your PST file. 5. Once imported, simply return to the Home, and drag-and-drop selected folders or items into their desired locations Locally Stored on User Machines [more than 50 GB of data] For those cases where a user s combined data on their Office 365 account and their PST files, archived data will still need to be stored on PST files. This is because the storage quota for Office 365 accounts is 50 GB. In these use cases, simply maintaining the PST files as-is is recommended. If the user wishes to import some of their data from PSTs into their Office 365 account, due to the added quota availability, it is recommended that they follow Method 2 from the above section for users with less than 50 GB of data. Important: For users who are using the Auto-Archiving functionality of Outlook, please read the section below on Auto-Archiving. Centrally Stored and Managed If your PST files are centrally managed and saved over the network, bulk imports are an option. If your IT group needs to bulk import centrally stored PSTs, you can open a ticket with ISC Client Care by ing [email protected], and Client Care will work with Tech Services to facilitate this task. Auto-Archiving For users who are using the Auto-Archive functionality of Outlook, it is important to note that, before migrating to Office 365, Auto-Archiving should be turned off for their on-premises Exchange account (or any other account type they may be migrating from). Failure to do so could lead to issues linking the PST files to the new account. Users can reinstate Auto-Archiving once the new account is set up. It is recommended that Auto-Archive files from pre-migration accounts be exported to a fresh PST file. The exported PST from old Auto-Archives can be imported into the Office365 tool via the methods above, in part or in full, or can be re-opened in Outlook for continued archival once the Office 365 account is configured. To export the Auto-Archive files, follow the steps below. 1. Select the File tab from the top of your Outlook client. 2. Select Open & Export from the left sidebar. 6

7 3. Select the Import/Export option from the ensuing menu (the Import and Export Wizard should appear). 4. In the Wizard, select the Export to a file option, then click Next. 5. On the next page, select Outlook Data File (.pst) from the menu, and click Next. 7

8 6. On the following page, select your Archive folder from the menu, and be sure to check the Include subfolders box, then click Next. 7. Click the Browse button to select a location to save your PST, and to name it, then click Finish. 8

9 Further Reading For more information, see Microsoft s PST documentation, Import , contacts, and calendar from an Outlook.pst file. 9