Migration

How to move your mailbox data from where it is, to where you want it.

Migration is typically a two-step process. First you export everything to an Outlook Data File. Then you import everything from the Outlook Data File to the new Exchange server. This page will explain the details of that process.

If you've been using a traditional POP3 service, and your mailbox data is already in Outlook on your computer, it's even easier. You can import all your data at once, or selectively drag and drop some of that data to the Exchange server mailbox, or view it in Outlook right alongside the data in your server-based mailbox. 

If you've been using Outlook Express you can import your data directly. Configure Outlook as if starting from scratch (see Step-By-Step), then import your data (see Step 3 below).

The instructions below are for small business migrations. If you're a server administrator with a large number of users to migrate, please click here.

Step 1: Prepare current Exchange configuration (if you were using Exchange before)

Depending on how fast your network connection is to the old Exchange server, it might help to prepare for this process by configuring Outlook to work in cached mode. When you copy stuff from your server-based folders to the local machine-based folders in your Outlook Data File, everything has to come over the network, unless you're working in cached mode. If you're working in cached mode, this step will go at the speed of your machine instead of the speed of your network connection.

Streamline this process by reducing the size of your current mailbox. To find the size of your current Exchange mailbox, right click the Outlook Today icon, choose Properties, and click the Folder size button.

Emptying the deleted items folder is obvious, but you may not have considered some of the tips and tricks in our tech support page on the subject; Storage Limits. The tips and tricks section of that page shows how to add a size column to your inbox view, sort messages by size and find the biggest space hogs.

Step 2: Start the import/export wizard in Outlook and export your data to a file.

1. From the File menu, choose Import and Export.
2. Choose Export to a File and click Next.
3. Choose Personal Folder File (pst) and click Next.
4. If you want everything, and presumably you do, choose the top level folder (probably your name) and select the check box to include sub folders. Click Next.
5. Type a name for the file, choose where to store it, and click Finish. Choose password and encryption options if necessary and click Ok. The export will run for some time, depending on how large your mailbox is, and whether the system is retrieving the data locally or through a network connection.

Step 3: Prepare your new Exchange configuration

When you create the new Exchange based profile, it must be a new profile, started from scratch with just Exchange in it, and no data files. See Step-By-Step for screen shots and instructions. The Outlook Data File must be added later, after the Exchange configuration is up and running.

Here again, it is very important to configure Outlook in cached Exchange mode. This way, the initial copying of data will go at the speed of your machine instead of the speed of your network connection.

Step 4: Start the import/export wizard in Outlook and import your data to the server-based folders of your new mailbox

1. From the File menu, choose Import and Export.
2. Choose Import from another program or File and click Next.
3. Choose Personal Folder File (pst) and click Next.
4. Navigate to the file you created in Step 2 and click Next.
5. If you want everything, select the top level folder and the check box to include sub folders. Verify that the imported items will go into the same folders in your new mailbox (not into the current folder). Click Finish. 

Consider Your Options

Obviously you don't have to import everything from your Outlook Data File to the new server-based mailbox. Some of it may not be worth the space it takes up on the server. Just remember some of the advantages of having stuff on the server. You can access it from various machines in different locations, even using Outlook Web Access. You can share things with colleagues through the delegates features. You can count on us backing it up and keeping it safe for you. See Deleted Item Recovery for a discussion of backup related issues. If you choose to keep some data locally, making a backup copy of the pst file is imperative. 

Exporting from a server

The Exchange Migration Wizard, known as exmerge in older versions of Exchange, can automate the export of data to pst files, making it much easier to migrate a large number of users. Contact us directly to discuss options for large scale migrations.