How to Import Offline OST to Office 365?

If you are thinking of migrating your email data to the cloud, then you might be thinking about how to import OST to Office 365. OST files are basically created by Microsoft Outlook to keep a local copy of users mailbox data, the data cannot be directly imported into office 365. OST files are used to store emails and other offline data of your desktop. These files are associated with a particular email account or desktop, so there are high chances that they will create problem while opening or migrating them. While migrating to office 365 companies usually wants their old emails and data from OST files into the new system. This is the reason why users are looking for the methods to import offline OST to Office 365, so the important emails can easily access each and everything in the cloud anytime and from anywhere. In this guide we will go through various steps of how to import offline OST to Office 365, which includes converting OST file into a compatible format and using some professional tools to put your data to office 365 mailbox.

Reasons for Importing Offline OST to Office 365

1.Security Features are Better: Office 365 provides several advanced features like cloud storge, automatic backups and easy access from any device. It ensures that the data of the users remains safe, secure and is always available, if in case the initial system crashes or is not accessible anymore.

2.   Backup of Crucial Data: Importing OST files to Office 365 make sures that all the backup of the important data is safe and secure. This usually helps the user in recovering the data in case of accidents and deletion of the data. 

3. Central Location for Data Storage: Transferring of OST files to Office 365 helps the users in storing of data at one place and viewing it easily.

4. Seamless collaboration: Importing OST files to Office 36 helps the users to collaborate with the clients and team members on various multiple projects.

5. Capacity of Storage: Office 365 have more storage capacity as compared to the OST files, it helps in avoiding the frequent exchange server.

Import OST Offline OST File to Office 365 Through Manual Method

As such there is no straightforward jmethod to import OST files to office 365. But there are few ways through which you can do this. The users can convert the OST files to PST Format by using the Import and Export features of the outlook, or you can transfer PST to Office 365 cloud.

Phase 1: Change the file format from OST to PST file by using Import and Export feature present in Outlook:

Step 1: Open Microsoft Outlook in your device.

Step 2: Go to files and click on file tab present on left corner.

Step 3:   Tap on “Open and export”, and then select Import and Export wizard.

Step 4: Select export to a file in the present wizard window, and then click next.

Step 5: Select Outlook data files as .pst as the export format , and then click next.

Step 6: Select the folder that you want to export, select the root mailbox to export everything and tick on the Include Subfolders, and click on next.

Step7: Click browse and select a location where you want to save your .pst file, choose how to handle duplicate items and click on finish.

Limitations of Manual Method

1. The manual method is time-consuming.

2. It does not guarantee the correct results, as well as success.

3. There are high chances that the user might lose their important data due to errors created by humans or some technical glitches.

4. The large PST files will result in slowing down Outlook.

5. The user must have some technical knowledge; this method is not user-friendly for beginners.

Professional Tool for Importing Offline OST to Office 365

The manual method works under a few particular conditions, and it does have some limitations, particularly when the user is dealing with the OST files that are orphaned or are not accessible anymore. If the user does not have much time or if you want to avoid data loss, then you can go with this provided automated solution. We have a professional tool that is very reliable, BitRecover OST to Office 365 Migrator allows users to import their offline OST files into Office 365 mailboxes. This tool is useful for users who do not have the technical knowledge. The below given are a few steps through which user can easily use this software and import their OST files to Office 365.

Steps for importing an offline OST file to Office 365 using the pro tool.

Step 1: Download and launch the professional tool on the desktop.

Step 2: Add OST files by clicking on the option of browse option and selecting manually.

Step 3: Select the mailbox folder that is to be imported to Office 365.

Step 4: Select Office 365 as the destination under the saving format.

Step 5: Now, log in or sign in to your Office 365 account.

Step 6: At last, click on convert to begin with process of importing OST files into Office 365.

Features of Professional Tool

1. Fully automated tool for importing single and multiple OST files to Office 365.

2. It is  Suitable for uploading OST to Office 365 primary, shared, and in-place archive mailboxes.

3. It automatically adds the OST data file in the GUI from the default location of the configured Outlook.

4. Helps in importing the OST file in Office 365, including emails, contacts, calendars, tasks, and notes. 

5. It provides filter options like date range, from/to, subject, excluding folders, and organizers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1.  Can an OST file be imported into Office 365 directly?

A1. No, an OST file cannot be directly imported into Office 365, as Office 365 does not support the import of OST files directly. For this, firstly convert the ST to PST, then import the PST files into Office 365.

Q2. Why can’t I import an orphaned OST file into Office 365?

A2. The orphaned OST files cannot be imported into Office 365 because the OST files are not linked to any Outlook profile or Exchange server which is active. This is the reason why Outlook is not able to open them directly; firstly, convert them to PST files.

Q3. How can I convert an OST file to PST manually?

A3. By using the Import/export feature to export it to a PST file. Open Outlook on your desktop, then go to files and select open and export under that choose Import/ Export, then click on export to a file under that select .pst in Outlook data file.

Q4. Is there any tool for importing OST to Office 365 without using Outlook directly?

A4. Yes, by using our suggested Pro tool, you can directly and easily import from OST files to Office 365 mailboxes without requiring Outlook.

Conclusion

Importing offline OST files to Office 365 is very important to make the accessibility of the data, and to secure the cloud storage. The manual method uses Outook’s Import and Export feature, but this is only helpful in a few situations. The manual method has various limitations, like it is a time-consuming process and it also does not providing full success. This is not so useful method if the user is dealing with orphaned OST files or migrating bulk files. If you want more accurate and efficient results, then you can use our automated tool, which will provide an automated solution. It makes the process easy by supporting the bulk migration, and it keeps the data of the users safe without requiring Outlook. The user can choose the suitable approach based on their technical issue.