Office 365 Archive mailbox to Shared mailbox using EdbMails

In Office 365, managing email storage efficiently is crucial for compliance and organization-wide productivity. One common practice is to convert an archive mailbox into a shared mailbox. Archive mailboxes provide users with additional storage beyond their primary mailbox, enabling them to manage larger volumes of email. However, when business needs shift such as when a user leaves an organization or a department needs collaborative access to historical emails it can be practical to move archived data into a shared mailbox for broader access and retention. Shared mailboxes offer multiple users centralized access to emails without needing individual licenses, making them a cost-effective solution for teams. This migration not only ensures continuity in message retention but also simplifies access to important information across the organization. However, it is important to note that Microsoft does not provide a built-in tool or direct method for performing this migration without encountering complexities.

To execute this operation efficiently and without complications, you will need to use an automated migration tool such as EdbMails Office 365 migration software. This tool simplifies the process, ensures data integrity, and allows for a seamless transition. One of the key features of EdbMails is its delta migration, which ensures that only newly added or changed items are migrated after the initial process, eliminating any risk of duplicates and optimizing performance. Additionally, its concurrent migration feature enables multiple mailboxes to be migrated at the same time, speeding up the entire process and ensuring zero downtime. Another powerful feature is automatic mailbox mapping, which automatically maps source mailboxes to their respective target mailboxes, reducing manual effort and potential errors. Throughout the migration, EdbMails provides 24/7 free technical support to address any challenges or queries you may encounter, ensuring a smooth and trouble-free experience for administrators and users alike.

1. Top reasons for Office 365 Archive mailbox to Shared mailbox migration

   1. Improved accessibility and collaboration

      Archive mailboxes are user-specific, limiting access to a single person. By migrating to a shared mailbox, multiple users can access the same historical emails, improving team collaboration and communication. EdbMails simplifies this process with its automated migration features, making team-wide access seamless.

   2. Streamlined data management

      Managing emails tied to individual accounts can complicate data retention. Converting archive mailboxes to shared mailboxes centralizes data, making it easier for teams to access and manage important communications. EdbMails’ efficient mapping and migration capabilities ensure all data is migrated accurately.

   3. Cost-effective solution

      Office 365 archive mailboxes require licenses for individual users. Shared mailboxes, in contrast, don’t need licensing, offering organizations a cost-effective way to store and access large volumes of email data.

   4. Simplified compliance and retention

      Shared mailboxes make it easier to manage retention policies and compliance requirements. They ensure that legal, auditing, and eDiscovery processes are streamlined, providing centralized access to historical emails for regulatory purposes.

   5. Enhanced continuity after employee departures

      When employees leave, their archived emails may still be needed. Migrating these emails to a shared mailbox allows other team members to maintain access, ensuring continuity for ongoing projects or compliance needs.

2. Office 365 Archive mailbox to Shared mailbox migration Planning

   • Ensure that you create and enable the In-Place Archiving in Office 365 before you migrate. See steps to enable online archive in Office 365.
   • Determine whether you want to migrate the Archive mailboxes to Office 365 Shared mailbox.
   • If you want to migrate the Archive mailbox directly to Office 365 Shared mailbox, enable the auto-expanding archiving feature on Office 365.
   • By default, the Archives have 100GB of storage when you enable them and the auto-expanding adds additional storage (unlimited archiving) when the threshold is reached. This limit is expandable up to 1.5TB per mailbox.
   • Verify if your Exchange online mailbox license allows the archiving feature.
   • See the list of auto-expanding archiving restrictions and consider the following points for all users.
   • If you would like to learn more about archiving, see how the auto-expanding archiving works.
   • Unlimited archiving is a premium feature that requires Exchange online plan 2 or Exchange online archiving license.
   • Perform a test migration to the target before you start the actual one.

3. Pre migration activities for Office 365 Archive mailbox to Shared mailbox migration

   • Ensure that you have a global admin account for the automatic registration method to connect to the source and target Office 365 servers.
   • Prepare your target Office 365 tenant. See tenant roadmap for Microsoft 365.
   • Create Shared mailboxes on the target Office 365 tenant and set the required permissions
   • Assign the Organization Management role group in Exchange online to the admin user on both the source and the target.
   • Set the impersonation rights for the admin account in Office 365 to migrate mailboxes on behalf of other users in your organization.Verify if the source and target admin account in general has the following management roles assigned:
   • Check if the Global admin account with the management roles has a valid and non-hidden mailbox on the source and target server.

4. Steps to migrate Office 365 Archive mailbox to Shared mailbox

   • Step 1: Download and install EdbMails Office 365 migration software

     • Download and install the EdbMails application on your computer running on Windows OS.
     • Start the application and enter the required details and click the ‘Login’ button or click the ‘Start Your Free Trial’ button to continue.

       

     • Select the ‘Office 365 Migration’ option from the dropdown menu.

       

   • Step 2: Connect to the source Office 365 server

     • Choose one of the methods for secure OAuth 2.0 based modern authentication to connect to your source Office 365 server.
     • The default ‘Auto Registration’ method requires access as a Global admin. In contrast, the Manual Registration method permits the use of either a Global admin account or any user account that has full access rights.

       

     • Choose the required migration operation and authenticate on Microsoft Sign In page.

       

     • If you have already established an Office 365 connection with EdbMails, the Archive mailboxes list will be saved. You can use the same list. If you are establishing a new connection, click the ‘No’ button to get the mailbox loading options.

       

     • After successfully connecting to your Office 365 server, select an option to load the archive mailboxes. Alternatively, you can also load the mailboxes using a CSV file.

       

   • Step 3: Select the Office 365 Archive mailboxes

     • Select the archive mailboxes you want to migrate and click ‘Migrate to Office 365’ to connect with the target server.

       

   • Step 4: Connect to target Office 365 server

     • Connect to your target Office 365 server using the same method as you used for the source server. Then, select the required migration operation and choose the option to load the mailboxes.

       

     • Next, select the most suitable migration option and proceed by logging into the Microsoft sign-in page to authenticate your account.

       

     • EdbMails automatically loads mailboxes from your source server. Additionally, it supports the use of CSV files to efficiently load mailboxes into Office 365.

       

   • Step 5: Map source and target mailboxes

     • Select the mapping option that best meets your needs.

       

     • EdbMails provides an automatic mailbox creation feature for the target Office 365 server, along with a mapping function that accurately connects mailboxes and folders from the source Office 365 server. This is especially useful for efficiently managing numerous public folders.

       

     • Click the ‘Folder and Item Filter’ button to set up your migration. Use the date filter to select items from a specific date range, allowing you to transfer only emails and data received during that period.

       

   • Step 6: Start Office 365 Archive mailbox to Shared mailbox migration

     • Once the mailboxes are mapped, assign a job name and begin the migration process. To review the migration report, click the ‘View Log’ button, which provides a comprehensive report detailing the number of emails, folders, and mailbox items successfully migrated.

       

5. Office 365 Archive mailbox to Shared mailbox post-migration activities

   Step 1: Update the MX records to point to Office 365

   If you have not done this step previously, change the DNS records known as MX records to enable and receive email messages on the target Office 365 server. In addition to this setup, configure the Autodiscover record to allow Outlook to connect to the migrated mailboxes.

   Step 2: Create a new Outlook profile for users in the new domain

   Configure and recreate the Outlook profile for each user in your domain if Outlook has problems connecting to Office 365 mailboxes.

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Additional resources:

• Office 365 to IMAP
• Office 365 to PST
• Public Folder to Office 365
• Public Folder to Exchange
• Public Folder to Shared Mailbox
• Archive Mailbox to Office 365