CodeTwo Outlook Export: Best Practices and Common Pitfalls

Fast and Safe: Migrating Outlook Data Using CodeTwo Export ToolsMigrating Outlook data—mailboxes, PST files, calendar items, contacts, and rules—can be daunting for businesses and power users. Disruptions, data loss, and long downtime are real risks. CodeTwo offers a suite of export tools designed to make migration fast, reliable, and secure. This article explains how CodeTwo tools work, practical workflows for common migration scenarios, best practices to minimize risk, and troubleshooting tips.

Why choose CodeTwo for Outlook migration?

• Fast transfers: CodeTwo is optimized to move large volumes of mail and items quickly by handling mailbox batching, parallel transfers, and efficient data serialization.
• Data integrity: The tools preserve folder structure, item metadata (timestamps, sender/recipient lists), attachments, and read/unread status.
• Security and compliance: Exports can be performed with encryption and audit-friendly logs, helping meet organizational compliance requirements.
• Flexible targets: Supports exporting to PST, migrating between Microsoft 365 tenants, exchanging between Exchange servers, and other common targets.
• User-friendly and automatable: GUI wizards for administrators and CLI/scripting options for automation.

Core CodeTwo tools used in Outlook migrations

• CodeTwo Office 365 Migration — for moving mailboxes between Exchange (on-premises) and Microsoft 365 or between M365 tenants.
• CodeTwo Backup — for creating backups of user mailboxes and exporting to PST.
• CodeTwo Export — specialized utilities that export Outlook/Exchange data to PST or other formats.
• Synchronization and migration helpers — connectors and filters that help refine which items are migrated.

Typical migration scenarios and workflows

1) On-prem Exchange → Microsoft 365 (tenant migration)

• Inventory mailboxes and mailbox sizes.
• Choose migration method: staged, cutover, or hybrid migration assisted by CodeTwo tools.
• Use CodeTwo Office 365 Migration to connect the source Exchange and target M365 tenant. Configure batch sizes and parallel threads for speed.
• Test with a pilot batch of mailboxes (5–10 users). Verify folder structure, permissions, calendar sharing, and delegated access.
• Migrate remaining users in scheduled batches, monitor logs for failures, and re-run failed items.

2) Tenant-to-tenant Microsoft 365 migration

• Prepare both tenants (admin accounts, application permissions, and licensing).
• Use CodeTwo migration tools to map mailboxes, automate mailbox matching, and handle large-scale transfers with minimal downtime.
• Migrate mail, calendars, contacts, and shared mailboxes. Use delta syncs to capture changes before final cutover.
• Finalize by updating DNS records and client profiles.

3) Backup to PST for archival or offline migration

• Use CodeTwo Backup or Export to select mailboxes or specific folders.
• Configure filters by date range, size, item type (mail, calendar, tasks).
• Export to PST with preserved folder hierarchy and metadata. Optionally encrypt PST files or secure them with access controls.
• Import PSTs into target Outlook profiles or store them in an archival repository.

4) Migrate select data (partial exports)

• Use filters to export only certain folders (e.g., Inbox, Sent Items, or specific project folders).
• Useful for phased migrations, legal discovery, or moving only active mailboxes.

Best practices to ensure a smooth migration

• Audit and plan: map mailboxes, sizes, shared resources, and third-party integrations. Estimate bandwidth and time windows.
• Run a pilot: catch permission, formatting, and filtering issues early.
• Use delta syncs: perform an initial full migration, then incremental syncs to capture changes before final cutover to minimize downtime.
• Keep users informed: schedule cutover windows and provide post-migration support instructions for reconfiguring Outlook or mobile clients.
• Maintain backups: take a full backup before starting migration to protect against unexpected failures. CodeTwo Backup or Export to PST is ideal.
• Monitor logs and alerts: use CodeTwo logging to identify failed items and retry selectively.
• Consider network and throttling: respect provider (Microsoft) throttling limits; spread large migrations over time or increase parallelism carefully.
• Preserve permissions and shared mailbox access: validate permissions after migration and reapply or adjust as needed.

Handling common issues

• Stuck or failed items: inspect log entries for specific error codes, retry with smaller batches, or export problematic items to PST for manual import.
• Large mailboxes: split into smaller batches, use date filters, or export heavy folders separately.
• Calendar conflicts and duplicates: run a delta sync and use deduplication tools or scripted cleanup to remove duplicates.
• Authentication/permission errors: verify admin consent, proper application permissions, and expired credentials. Reconnect and re-run.

Security and compliance considerations

• Encryption: encrypt PSTs and transmission channels where possible.
• Audit trails: enable logging to keep an auditable record of what was exported and when.
• Retention policies: respect existing retention and legal hold settings during export; export carefully when litigation holds are present.
• Access control: limit who can run exports and access exported files.

Example migration checklist (concise)

1. Inventory mailboxes, shared resources, and sizes.
2. Validate admin credentials and permissions.
3. Run a pilot with 5–10 users.
4. Configure batch sizes, filters, and parallelism.
5. Perform initial full migration (or export to PST).
6. Run incremental syncs until cutover.
7. Update DNS and client configurations.
8. Verify data integrity; resolve user issues.
9. Archive logs and backups.

When to consider professional help

• Extremely large environments (thousands of mailboxes).
• Complex hybrid topologies, advanced compliance needs, or custom third-party integrations.
• Tight downtime windows or mission-critical mail systems.

Fast, safe Outlook migrations balance planning, the right toolset, and careful execution. CodeTwo’s export and migration tools provide admins with options for speed, granularity, and security—making them a solid choice for many migration projects.