Export Office 365 Emails to MSG: Enterprise Methods in 2026

Quick Answer: How to Convert Office 365 Emails to MSG?

You can convert your Office 365 emails to MSG using Microsoft Outlook or a professional Office 365 backup tool. Outlook supports saving individual emails as MSG files, making it suitable for small exports. For bulk mailbox data, an automated solution can export multiple Office 365 emails to MSG while preserving attachments & essential email properties.

Common Scenarios for Office 365 to MSG Export

• Legal teams export MSG files for court submissions & eDiscovery.
• IT admins save mailbox data as MSG before account decommissioning.
• Organizations export MSG files during migration to on-premises Exchange.
• Remote employees use MSG files for offline email access.
• Forensic teams extract MSG files to preserve metadata and headers.

Manual Methods to Export Office 365 Emails to MSG

Microsoft Office 365 does not provide a native bulk export feature that directly exports to MSG files. However, users can leverage Microsoft Outlook to save individual or multiple email messages in MSG format. These manual techniques are suitable for small-scale exports but may become impractical for large mailboxes.

Prerequisites Before Manual Process

• You have an active Office 365 account with mailbox access.
• Microsoft Outlook for Windows is installed and configured.
• The Office 365 mailbox is fully synchronized with Outlook.
• You have sufficient local storage for the exported MSG files.
• You possess the necessary permissions to access the mailbox.

Method 01: Export Microsoft 365 to MSG Using the Save As Feature

The Save As option in Microsoft Outlook allows users to store their individual email messages as MSG files. You can simply follow the given steps of conversion.

Steps to Export Emails as MSG:

1. Open Microsoft Outlook and verify that your Office 365 mailbox is synchronized.
2. Browse to the mailbox folder containing the email you want to export.
3. Select the desired email and click the File tab.
4. Choose the Save As option from the menu.
5. Select the destination folder for the exported file.
6. From the Save as type menu, choose Outlook Message Format Unicode (*.msg).
7. Enter a suitable file name and click Save to complete the export.

Limitations:

• Saves one email at a time.
• Requires Microsoft Outlook.
• No batch export capability.
• Time-consuming for large mailboxes.

Method 2: Export Office 365 Emails to MSG Using Drag and Drop

Microsoft Outlook also allows users to create their MSG files by dragging email messages directly to a local folder. Here are the easy steps for the migration process.

Steps to Export Emails Using Drag and Drop:

1. Open Microsoft Outlook and ensure the mailbox has finished syncing.
2. Create or open a folder on your computer where the MSG files will be stored.
3. Navigate to the mailbox folder containing the required emails.
4. Select one or multiple email messages using Ctrl or Shift, then drag them to a local Windows folder.
5. Drag the selected emails from Outlook and drop them into the destination folder.
6. Outlook creates separate MSG files for each selected email.
7. Open a few exported files to verify the email content and attachments.

Limitations

• Suitable only for small batches of emails.
• Requires manual email selection.
• Does not maintain mailbox folder hierarchy.
• Not practical for enterprise-scale exports.

Professional Solution to Export Office 365 Emails to MSG

MigrateEmails Office 365 Migration Tool is a reliable solution for users dealing with large-scale Office 365 mailbox export requirements. It supports several output formats, which makes it suitable for diverse enterprise needs. Moreover, the software handles mailboxes, public folders, and archive folders from both admin & user accounts without any data loss. The free demo version allows up to 50 mailbox items per folder to be exported at no cost, giving users a risk-free evaluation.

Easy Steps to Save Office 365 Emails to Outlook MSG:

1. Install the above-discussed Microsoft 365 Backup Tool & simply choose the Backup from the options.
2. After that, you need to press Continue to proceed further.
3. Authenticate your Office 365 account using valid admin or user credentials.
4. Simply select the target mailbox, public folder, or archive folder for export.
5. You have to preview & select the mailbox or mailbox folders that you want to export.
6. Choose MSG as the desired output format from the available options.
7. Apply optional settings such as Date Range Filter, Remove Duplicates, or other filters accordingly. 
8. Thereafter, you have to set the destination folder path & press Next.
9. Finally, you need to click Backup to begin the MSG export process.

Why Do IT Teams Prefer This Utility?

• Assign Impersonation Rights processes multiple mailboxes under one admin account.
• Date Range Filter exports emails within a defined start and end date.
• Removes duplicate emails based on To, From, Subject, Body, and BCC.
• Preserve complete folder hierarchy and data integrity during export.
• Custom Folder Name allows users to rename or specify a custom name for the destination folder.
• Exports emails with or without attachments as per the user’s need.
• Built-in preview feature to verify emails before starting export.
• Supports public folders and archive folders alongside regular mailboxes.
• Backup Options section offers the following selective export controls:
  • Save Email Items Only to export mailbox emails exclusively.
  • Skip Previously Migrated to avoid re-exporting already processed emails.
  • Save Contacts as VCF Only to extract contact data in VCF format.
  • Save Calendar as ICS File to export calendar entries as ICS files.

Conclusion

In the above technical blog, we have discussed effective approaches to export Office 365 emails to MSG format. The manual methods are suitable for saving a limited number of emails, whereas they can become time-consuming for large mailboxes. For organizations & users who manage bulk Office 365 emails, the MigrateEmails Office 365 Migration Tool provides a more efficient way with advanced export capabilities. Moreover, you can choose the method that best aligns with your data volume & business requirements.

 

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