Export Mailbox Data

[This topic's current status is: Content Complete.]

You can use the Export-Mailbox cmdlet to export mailbox data to another target mailbox or to a .pst file. You can export data from a single mailbox to a .pst file, or you can export data from multiple mailboxes to other mailboxes. There are a few reasons why you might want to export mailbox data:

• Remove one or more messages from mailboxes   If a sensitive message was inadvertently sent to the wrong recipients, you can use the export mailbox process to remove those messages from the specified mailboxes.
• Compliance requirements   You can use the export mailbox process to export mailbox content for legal discovery.
• Create a point-in-time mailbox snapshot   You might want to create a snapshot for certain mailboxes without the need to retain the entire backup set for a mailbox database.

Looking for other management tasks related to importing or exporting mailbox data? Check out Managing Mailbox Import and Export.

Prerequisites

• To export data from a .pst file, you must run the Export-Mailbox cmdlet against a 64-bit computer that has the following installed:
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 role
  • 64-bit Microsoft Outlook 2010
• You must have the correct permissions to import or export mailbox data. By default, none of the preloaded role groups contain the Mailbox Import Export role. Therefore, you must add the Mailbox Import Export role to a role group. For more information, see Add the Mailbox Import Export Role to a Role Group.
• To use the Export-Mailbox cmdlet, the source mailbox and the target mailbox must be placed in the same forest. You can't export data from a mailbox in one forest to a mailbox in a different forest. For more information about moving mailboxes across forests, see the following topics:
  • Create a Remote Move Request that has Exchange 2010 in Both Forests
  • Create a Remote Legacy Move Request Where One of the Forests Doesn't Have Exchange 2010

Use the Shell to export data from mailboxes

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Import\Export mailbox" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.

This example exports the special folders and empty folders of the mailbox user john@contoso.com to the folder MyData on the mailbox ExportMailbox.

Export-Mailbox -Identity john@contoso.com -TargetMailbox ExportMailbox -TargetFolder MyData

This example exports data to the john.pst file located at C:\PSTFiles.

Export-Mailbox -Identity john@contoso.com -PSTFolderPath C:\PSTFiles\john.pst

This example exports data received between February 2, 2009, and February 15, 2009, to a .pst file.

Export-Mailbox -Identity john@contoso.com -StartDate "02/02/09" -EndDate "02/15/09" -PSTFolderPath C:\PSTFiles\john.pst

This example exports data to the target mailbox ExportMailbox from the Sent Items folder of John's mailbox.

Export-Mailbox -Identity john -IncludeFolders '\Sent Items' -TargetFolder 'John Sent Items' -TargetMailbox ExportMailbox

This example excludes the Junk E-mail and Contacts folders from the export.

Export-Mailbox -TargetMailbox ExportMailbox -TargetFolder MyData -ExcludeFolders "\Junk E-mail","\Contacts"

By using filters, this example specifies the following items in the source mailbox to include in the export:

• Content of the items contains the keyword merger.
• Messages either came from or were delivered to tony@fabricam.com.
• Attachment file names contain the word orgchart.
• All files from March 1, 2009, to present will be exported.

Export-Mailbox -Identity contoso\john -TargetMailbox ExportMailbox -TargetFolder MyData -ContentKeywords "merger" -AttachmentFilenames "*orgchart*" -StartDate "03/01/2009 12:01:00" -RecipientKeywords tony@fabrikam.com

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Export-Mailbox.