How to export your data from Microsoft 365

How to export your data from Microsoft 365 before the subscription ends

If your renewal or exit decision is coming up, you need mail, files and chat out of Microsoft 365 before the subscription ends. Microsoft Purview eDiscovery can export Exchange mailbox items and SharePoint and OneDrive content, but only with a Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 license, and only for search export packages downloaded within 14 days of creation. Treat that window as the hard constraint for the whole plan, not a detail to settle later. Exchange mailbox items export as PST or .msg files, and SharePoint and OneDrive content exports as native documents with selectable version history. Confirm with your Microsoft account team and your own tenant admin which of your licenses carry eDiscovery export rights, because a license gap discovered on export day has no fallback. Teams chat, meeting recordings, retention-locked content, shared channel data and anything outside the search scope need separate checks against the eDiscovery export documentation and your Purview configuration. Do not assume that a successful export equals complete fidelity: permissions, sharing links, metadata, calendar items and some message properties may not survive intact in a self-hosted target. Plan the export as a project, not a button. Inventory mailboxes, sites and OneDrive accounts, set priorities by business owner, run test exports on a few representative users, validate file counts and sizes against the source, and schedule exports so each package is downloaded before it expires. Record what you could not export and why, and keep that log with the migration plan. The target platform's import tooling, such as the mail migration path for your chosen groupware, determines what the exported PST and native files need to become, so confirm that path before the first production export.

Which Microsoft 365 data you can export and how

This table compares each Microsoft 365 workload with the export path that the supplied Microsoft documentation describes, the license it requires and the limits that affect a migration. Read it as a checklist: confirm the license and the package expiry before you start, then verify any workload marked for confirmation in Microsoft's current documentation.

Data	Export path	License and limit	What to confirm
Mailbox items	Purview eDiscovery search export as PST or .msg files	Requires Microsoft 365 E3 or E5; export packages expire 14 days after creation	Whether your target mail server accepts PST or .msg input and how folder structure maps
SharePoint content	Purview eDiscovery export as native documents	Requires E3 or E5; packages expire 14 days after creation	Which document libraries and sites the search scope covers
OneDrive content	Purview eDiscovery export as native documents	Requires E3 or E5; packages expire 14 days after creation	Which user accounts are included in the search scope
Version history	Selectable version history during the eDiscovery export	Requires E3 or E5; subject to the 14-day package expiry	Whether earlier versions are needed for your retention or legal obligations
Teams chat and channel messages	Export path not covered by the supplied facts	Confirm the license and method in Microsoft's current documentation	Whether eDiscovery or another method is the supported route for your tenant
Calendars and contacts	Export path not covered by the supplied facts	Confirm in Microsoft's documentation before planning	Whether PST exports include calendar and contact items for your mailboxes
Export package lifetime	Download window after package creation	14 days after creation	Plan downloads and transfers to the self-hosted target within that window

What does not export through documented paths and what to do about it

The documented export paths cover mailbox items and SharePoint and OneDrive content, but several parts of a Microsoft 365 tenant sit outside them. The cards below cover the items the supplied sources do not document as exportable, what each one costs you in a move, and the documented or manual steps that close the gap before a subscription ends.

Office desktop settings and macros

Custom templates, Normal.dotm, Outlook signatures, rules, quick parts and add-ins are stored on user devices or in profiles, not in the mailbox or the document libraries that eDiscovery exports. Macros and add-in state usually fail to carry over even when the files do. Ask each team to list templates and add-ins they depend on, copy the template files manually, and test the target's document editing with real macro-free workflows before cutover. (Illustrative: a finance team's Excel template with embedded macros will open as a plain file in a web office editor.)

Licenses and subscription entitlements

License assignments, E3 or E5 entitlements and add-on purchases are contract data, not content. The export guidance ties eDiscovery export to an E3 or E5 license, so the license you hold during the move determines whether you can run the export at all. Confirm with your Microsoft account team which license holds the export rights and keep it active until the last package is downloaded. Your target platform's licensing is a separate quote, and that quote should be built from the written scope.

Retention and hold configuration

Retention policies, litigation holds and label settings define what must be kept and for how long. They are configuration rather than data, so an export captures the items but not the rules that governed them. Record every retention label, hold and policy scope in a register before exporting, including which mailboxes and sites each one covers. Use that register to set retention in the target, and have your legal or compliance team confirm the mapping before anything is deleted.

Permissions and sharing model

Site groups, unique permissions, sharing links, guest access and delegated mailbox rights do not travel with exported files. A document exported as a native file arrives without the access rules that protected it. Inventory the sharing model per site and per team, then rebuild groups and folder permissions in the target and map each group to the identity provider. Treat this as a design task, not a copy job, and verify access with test accounts.

Teams chats, meetings and channel content

Teams stores chats, channel messages, meeting recordings and transcripts in several places, and the supplied sources do not document a single export path that covers all of them. Ask Microsoft which Teams item types the eDiscovery export includes and in which formats, and confirm the answer in writing for your tenant. Plan to export files from channel SharePoint sites as native documents, and treat chat history as a separate, confirmed workstream with its own owner.

Scope of the eDiscovery export

The export covers Exchange mailbox items as PST or .msg files and SharePoint and OneDrive content as native documents. It does not document coverage for Planner, Power Platform data, Viva content, Forms responses or many Microsoft 365 app stores. Before committing, ask Microsoft for the current list of supported locations and formats, and run a pilot search on one mailbox and one site. Note that search export packages expire 14 days after creation, so download each package promptly after it is generated.

Why the E3 or E5 license and the 14-day expiry set the export timeline

Confirm licensing before you plan anything else. Exporting search results through Microsoft Purview eDiscovery requires a Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 license for the administrator who runs the export, and a Business plan or an Exchange Online Plan 1 subscription will not cover it. Check this with the tenant's license assignments in the Microsoft 365 admin center, not with the commercial price list, because the license that matters is the one assigned to the account doing the work. If the only licensed eDiscovery operator is a contractor or a departing employee, resolve that first, since a lapsed or reassigned license can stop the export halfway through the project.

Plan around the 14-day expiry on search export packages. Each package stops being downloadable 14 days after it is created, so a large mailbox or SharePoint export has to be downloaded, checksummed and verified inside a window your team controls. Start with a test export of one mailbox and one site to measure how long download and verification take on your network and storage, then size the production batches so every package can be fully downloaded well before its expiry date. Record the creation date of each package in your migration tracker so nobody relies on memory.

This changes how you schedule the work. Treat each export as disposable: when a package is close to expiry or a download fails, create a new export from the same search rather than trying to keep the old package alive. Store the verified copies in your own target location, such as the staging storage that feeds your openDesk or Nextcloud and OX environment, and keep a record of the search query, the export options and the verification results. Ask Microsoft's documentation and your Microsoft account team to confirm the current export limits and any changes to expiry before you commit to a migration calendar.

How to run a complete export from Microsoft 365 in order

This sequence moves mail, SharePoint and OneDrive content out of Microsoft 365 as files you control, with counts and samples checked before any tenant data is removed. Run it before a migration to self-hosted tools so nothing depends on the subscription staying active.

Confirm licensing and admin roles
Before anything else, confirm that the people running the export hold a Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 license that includes Purview eDiscovery export, and that they have the eDiscovery role groups needed to create cases, searches and exports. Ask your Microsoft 365 administrator to confirm this in the Purview portal, since role assignments are set in the tenant and not in the export tool. The step is done when a named operator can open a test case and see the search and export options.
Define custodians and sites in scope
Write down which mailboxes, OneDrive accounts and SharePoint sites the migration covers, and who owns each one. Add custodians for users who have left the organization, shared mailboxes, and any Teams-linked SharePoint sites, since chat content sits in a different store and needs its own decision. Record the scope in a sign-off document with the business owner. The step is done when every workload has a named owner and a site or mailbox list.
Create the eDiscovery case and run searches
Create a case in Microsoft Purview eDiscovery, add the custodians, and run separate searches for Exchange mailbox items and for SharePoint and OneDrive content, using the scope from the previous step. Keep the query criteria and the result counts in your run log so the searches can be repeated and audited. The step is done when each search reports a result count and the operator has checked that the counts look plausible against the list of sites and mailboxes.
Export mail as PST or message files
From the completed mailbox search, export the items as PST or .msg files, following the options in the export dialog for the format you need. Store the packages in a restricted location with access logging, because they contain personal data and mail content. Note the export job name and the time it was created, since the search export package expires 14 days after creation. The step is done when the package is complete and its files are on your storage.
Export SharePoint and OneDrive content as native files
Run the export for the SharePoint and OneDrive search, selecting native documents and the version history option where you need earlier versions. Download the package before the 14-day window closes, and record its creation date beside the job name. Keep the folder structure and file metadata intact in the download, because your target platform will rely on them. The step is done when the package contains native document files and the version history option was applied as planned.
Download packages within the 14-day window
Download every package inside the 14-day expiry period, and check the download completes without errors before deleting the cloud copy. If a package expires, rerun the search and export rather than relying on a partial file. Ask the operator to hash or record file sizes for each download so that later checks can detect corruption in storage or transfer. The step is done when every package is stored locally, with a log of download dates and checksums.
Verify counts and sample files
Compare the item counts in each export against the search results, and investigate any difference before continuing. Open a sample of mail messages in each PST or .msg file and confirm attachments, dates and recipients are present. For documents, open a sample of files and their earlier versions to confirm content and version history match the source. Record the result for each workload. The step is done when counts match or each gap has a documented explanation, and the samples open correctly.
Sign off before decommissioning
Hold a sign-off review with the business owners and the security or compliance lead before any mailbox, site or license is removed from Microsoft 365. Confirm that the verified exports are stored with retention rules that match your policies, and that the target platform has accepted the data. Only after written approval should any decommissioning start. The step is done when the signed verification record is filed alongside the exports.

How other suites export data and what that tells you about Microsoft 365

Google Workspace offers two export routes that serve different people. The Data Export tool is run by super administrators and covers organization-wide data, including Gmail, Drive, Chat and Calendar, delivered as zip files into a Cloud Storage bucket. Google Takeout is a per-user tool, and Workspace administrators decide whether their users can use it. Because the two routes differ in who runs them and how much data they reach, a migration team should plan for both.

Account age requirement: the administrator account that runs a Data Export must be at least 30 days old, so create or identify that account well before the cutover date.
Timing: exports typically take about 72 hours but can take up to 14 days, so start them early enough to leave room for a retry.
Bucket expiry: the default bucket is deleted after 60 days, so copy the zip files to storage you control before that date.
Per-user scope: Takeout covers individual accounts for products such as Gmail, Drive documents and Calendar, which helps when a user's data sits outside the organization-level export.
Admin control: confirm with your Workspace administrators whether Takeout is enabled for your users before you rely on it.

Check the export status, the bucket retention date and the Takeout policy setting before you schedule the move.

How to verify an export is complete before you cut over

Verification means proving that what arrived in the target matches what left Microsoft 365, and writing that proof down before anyone switches users over. Start with counts per mailbox and per site: compare item totals for each mailbox in the eDiscovery export against the source, then compare file counts and folder totals for each SharePoint site and OneDrive account. Differences usually come from items the search did not match, folders the export skipped, or content that changed during the export window. Freeze or note any sources still in use, because a count taken on a live mailbox will drift.

Next, sample content by hand. Pick a set of messages that carry attachments, a set of documents with several version histories, and a few items with long or unusual names. Open each in the destination and confirm the body, attachments, timestamps and the version you expect are intact. Check that file names and folder paths survive character encoding, length limits and nested depth, since these are the most common silent losses in document moves. Record every mismatch as an exception with the item, the cause, the owner and the decision taken, whether that is re-export, accept or remediate.

Keep the reconciliation sheet, sample results and exception log together as dated evidence. This record supports later compliance readiness, because assessors ask how a migration was checked, not only that it happened. DeployOpen prepares this evidence and can help design the checks, but it does not issue audit reports or attestations, so confirm with your auditor which artifacts they expect and how long they must be retained. Also confirm the 14-day expiry on Purview search export packages in your tenant, so the download and verification window is planned before the package lapses.

What to plan before the Microsoft 365 contract renews or ends

The export itself is the easy part to start and the hardest part to finish on time. These six items sequence the work so that every dataset leaves Microsoft 365 with a known owner, a known target and a known legal position before any deletion date arrives.

Confirm the export window

Compare the date your subscription ends with the time you need to run eDiscovery searches, review results and download packages. Search export packages expire 14 days after creation, so a single export is only usable for a short window. Ask Microsoft in writing what happens to tenant data after cancellation or non-renewal, and plan around that answer rather than assumptions.

Secure E3 or E5 licensing

Exporting search results through Purview eDiscovery requires a Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 license. If your organization runs Business plans or lower-tier E-plans, plan to buy the required add-on or move the export to a tenant that holds the license. Confirm with your Microsoft account team whether that license must stay active until the last package is downloaded, since this is a recurring cost to budget for.

Map owners for each dataset

Assign a named business owner to each mailbox group, SharePoint site, OneDrive set and Teams chat space. Owners decide what is current, what is archive and what can be dropped. Without this map, teams export everything, duplicate content and cannot prove which copy is authoritative after the move.

Pick the target platform early

Decide between openDesk as a single suite and Nextcloud with Collabora Online and OX App Suite as separate components before the first export. Each target needs its own hosting, identity and storage decisions, and openDesk's production path expects external services such as PostgreSQL, Redis, an SMTP relay and object storage. Exports land in formats that must be imported somewhere, so the destination drives the export format choices.

Check retention and legal holds

Review which mailboxes, sites and chats sit under retention policies, litigation holds or regulatory record rules before any export or deletion. Holds that persist in Microsoft 365 do not carry over automatically to a self-hosted system, so legal and compliance teams must sign off on what is preserved, where, and for how long. Confirm the retention behavior after subscription end with Microsoft and with your counsel.

Plan staff access to exports

Exported PST files, native documents and version histories contain sensitive data that may be broader than any single user's permissions. Restrict who can open export packages, store them in an encrypted location with access logging, and set a deletion date for working copies. Define who may read archived mail during the transition period, and document the approval path so auditors can trace each access.

Questions buyers ask before exporting from Microsoft 365

How much effort does a complete Microsoft 365 export take?

The effort depends mainly on how much data sits in each workload and how many people must review it. Mailbox count, the number of SharePoint and OneDrive sites, the depth of version history you keep, and the total volume of content all push the work up. A small tenant with a few mailboxes and one document library is a short exercise. A tenant with thousands of mailboxes, many team sites and long version chains needs batching, export storage planning and a verification pass. Ask your team to inventory each workload in the Microsoft 365 admin center before estimating, because that inventory is the input every quote depends on.

Can our own team run the export without a partner?

Often yes, if you have a Microsoft 365 administrator who holds the right roles and a license that covers the tools. Purview eDiscovery exports require a Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 license, so confirm that entitlement before planning. Your team will still need to handle the parts that are easy to underestimate: mapping which exported items belong to which users and sites, checking that files and mail arrive complete, and planning the import into the target platform. A partner adds value when the target stack needs configuration, identity mapping or a repeatable migration runbook, and that work is scoped in writing before it starts.

What does the export need from admins and legal?

Admins need eDiscovery permissions, and legal or compliance staff usually need to define what is in scope and approve the export. Expect these responsibilities to be split:

Admins create cases, run searches and start exports, then confirm the package contents.
Legal or records teams define custodians, date ranges and any holds that apply before data leaves the tenant.
Security or identity staff decide how exported data will be stored, who can access the package and how it is deleted after the move.

Agree these roles before the first export, because a search scope changed after the fact can mean a second export.

How long is the export window, and why does it matter?

Each search export package expires 14 days after it is created, according to Microsoft Learn. Plan every download, transfer and verification step inside that window, and regenerate the export if you miss it. Start with a small pilot export to measure how long your largest workloads take to download. Keep in mind that the subscription lifecycle also matters for mail: Exchange Server 2019 reached the end of extended support in October 2025, and Microsoft points customers to Exchange Server SE or Exchange Online. Confirm which lifecycle applies to every system you touch before setting the cutover date.

Which export format should we choose for mailboxes and files?

Mailboxes export as PST or .msg files, and SharePoint and OneDrive content exports as native documents. Choose the format that your target platform imports most reliably, and test a sample of each format before the full run. PST files suit bulk mail import into a mail platform, while .msg files help when you need individual items. For documents, decide early whether version history comes across, because you can select it during export and it increases the volume you must store and import. Confirm the import path for each format with your target vendor or implementation partner.

What would a partner scope in a fixed-scope export engagement?

A DeployOpen engagement is fixed in scope, with deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before work starts, and the price follows from that written scope. The scope typically covers the workloads in play, such as mail, files and chat, the export method for each, the target platform setup, verification steps, the handling and deletion of exported data, and the documentation your team keeps. Ask for each item to be written out with its acceptance criteria. Use the written scope to compare quotes, and do not accept a quote that leaves the export windows, format choices or data disposal unstated.

What recurring costs remain after the export is finished?

Exporting itself is largely a one-time cost, but the target platform recurs. Self-hosted openDesk and Nextcloud carry infrastructure, storage, backup, upgrade and support costs that repeat every year. Nextcloud publishes a new major version every four months with one year of support per version, so plan for regular upgrades. Enterprise subscriptions from Nextcloud GmbH are sold per user per year with a 100-user minimum, and openDesk Enterprise Edition is recommended for production. Ask any quote to separate one-time migration work from ongoing operations, so you can compare it fairly with your current Microsoft 365 spend.

What DeployOpen scopes when it helps with a Microsoft 365 export

A Microsoft 365 export engagement is scoped in writing before any data moves. DeployOpen plans the work in four stages: inventory, export runs, verification and handover of staged data to the target platform. The inventory is the stage most often underestimated. It records which mailboxes, SharePoint sites, OneDrive accounts and Teams chat content are in scope, which legal holds or retention labels apply, which users hold E3 or E5 licenses needed for eDiscovery export, and which items need a separate decision, such as shared mailboxes or sites with large version histories. The written scope names each of these, so the client knows what is and is not included before the first export runs.

The export runs and verification stages are where the 14-day expiry of eDiscovery search export packages has to be planned around. DeployOpen's scope can cover building the export sets, downloading packages inside that window, checking item counts and hashes against the source and confirming that version history and folder structure arrived intact. Handover is the last stage: staged PST, .msg and native document sets are delivered to the platform the client chose, whether that is openDesk, Nextcloud with Collabora Online or OX App Suite, and the handover record shows what was received. Most engagements of this kind are fixed-scope, so deliverables and timelines are agreed in writing first. Ongoing support, such as re-running exports for late changes or supporting a second wave of users, is available as a retainer. Quotes follow from the written scope, so the client should ask for each stage, its deliverables and the assumptions behind them, including who on the client side approves each step.

How DeployOpen works on this

DeployOpen plans, implements and hands over the data exit from Microsoft 365 as a fixed-scope engagement inside your own infrastructure. The work covers how mail, files and chat are exported, staged and verified before they land on the self-hosted platform you choose.

How we scope

Written scope lists which mailboxes, SharePoint sites and OneDrive accounts are included in the export.
The scope records the Purview eDiscovery licensing and roles your tenant needs before any export starts.
Deliverables, timelines and responsibilities are agreed in writing before work begins, and changes go through the same written process.

How we build

We set up export searches and packages in your tenant and test a small sample before the full run.
Exported PST, .msg and native files are checked for completeness, folder structure and version history.
Export packages are downloaded and stored in your own environment within the 14-day package expiry window.

How we hand over

You receive documentation of each export job, the scope applied, and the verification results for each workload.
Import steps into the target platform are documented, with a record of which users and sites are complete.
Runbooks cover the export procedure so your own staff can repeat or audit the process later.

How we support

Ongoing support, upgrades and continuous testing are available as a retainer after the handover.
Retainers can cover re-exports for late-added mailboxes or sites before the Microsoft 365 subscription ends.
Ask your DeployOpen contact to confirm retainer scope in writing alongside the fixed-scope quote.

How to export your data from Microsoft 365