When the Exchange Server or the database is online, you can use the native Exchange tools, such as Exchange Admin Center (EAC) or Exchange Management Shell (EMS), to move the mailboxes to a new server. By using the Exchange Admin Center (EAC), you can make a move request to another database, another server in the same Active Directory schema, or Microsoft 365 (using hybrid method). Alternatively, you can use PowerShell scripting in the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) to have more control and features when moving the mailboxes.

However, if the Exchange Server or database is offline, these native tools and methods will not work since these rely on a running and functional Exchange Server with the databases mounted. Without this, you will not be able to move or export the data. In this article, we will see how to move mailboxes from offline Exchange Server to a new server. But before proceeding, let’s take a look at situations where you need to move the mailboxes from offline Exchange Server.

Why do you need to Move Data from an Offline Server?

There are various situations where you would need to move/export data from an offline database to another server or database. Let’s take a look at some common ones:

  • When a disaster strikes and the server is lost, you need to recover or move the data from the lost/offline server.
  • When a server (an old version) is retired or the processes have been moved to Microsoft 365, you would need to move the data to cloud or a newer Exchange Server.
  • You would need to export or move the mailboxes to an archive database and creating a new database is not possible due to licensing.
  • Acquisitions or merging of companies where the data needs to be restored from an older Exchange Server which was decommissioned.

Ways to Move Mailboxes from Offline Exchange Server to New Server

As mentioned above, it is not possible to move mailboxes if the Exchange Server is offline. In such a situation, the only option is take the help of specialized EDB to PST converter tools. Stellar Converter for EDB is one such reliable tool that can simplify the process and export or move the mailboxes from online as well as offline Exchange Server or database.

With Stellar Converter for EDB, you can export data from database (EDB) files of any version of Exchange Server (5.5 to 2019) and of any size. In fact, you don’t even need a running Exchange Server to open the databases.

After opening the database, you can browse through the entire database structure from a very intuitive interface, with a lot of features, such as in-line search, etc. It also provides full HTML preview of emails, calendar requests, contacts, and tasks. You can then granularly export user mailboxes, user archives, shared mailboxes, and public folders to a live Exchange Server database or to Office 365. It offers the following benefits:

  • Automatic mailbox mapping from source to destination. Also, the option to manually match the mailboxes.
  • Priority export, which allows you to select the most important mailboxes or resources and process them first.
  • Parallel exporting of multiple mailboxes at once to increase the performance of the process and reduce the time.
  • Shows the progress of export in process.
  • If the process is interrupted, option to continue from where it was stopped.

Tips to Prevent Issues after Migration

Here are some useful tips you can consider when moving to a new Exchange Server to reduce the risks and possible data loss:

  • Make a full inventory of the resources and mailboxes.
  • Export all the data from the Exchange Server before decommissioning.
  • Prepare a failback plan just in case something goes wrong.
  • Consult with the vendor or supplier.
  • Make a full documented plan and test the new system before migration.

Conclusion

Although native tools in Exchange Server can help you move, migrate, and export the data, these would be unusable if the database or server is inaccessible or down. In such a situation, specialized EDB to PST converter tools, like Stellar Converter for EDB can help you move mailboxes from an offline database file to a new live Exchange Server without any hassle and with complete data integrity. This tool can also export mailboxes and other items from EDB file to PST and Office 365 (Microsoft 365) account.

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