Exchange mailboxes are the backbone of business communication. They store crucial emails, data, calendar events, and almost everything related to communication for businesses. Losing access to this precious data from the Exchange mailbox can disrupt operations and cause a loss of time and money.
With the advancement in data restoration technology, you can quickly restore your exchange mailboxes. Still, the need for it should not arise in the first place, and this can be ensured by taking regular backups of essential data. This article will teach us how to restore exchange mailboxes and the easiest and most reliable alternatives.
Step-by-Step Guide to Restoring Exchange Mailbox
Restoring Exchange mailboxes using inbuilt methods can be complex. Items and mailboxes deleted for less than 30 days can be recovered using the Exchange Admin Center online. The steps are pretty complex for hard-delete mailboxes (ones deleted for more than 30 days).
1] Using Mailbox Recovery Center
- Log into the Exchange Admin Center using an administrator account.
- Go to the Recipients section and select Mailboxes.
- Select the mailbox you wish to restore from the list of available mailboxes.
- Locate and choose the Recover Deleted Items option associated with the selected mailbox.
- The tool displays a list of recoverable items and allows you to select specific emails, contacts, or calendar entries.
- Choose the destination folder for the recovered items and initiate the recovery process.
2] Using Powershell
Before a deleted mailbox is permanently deleted from the exchange database, you can connect it to an existing account. Here’s how to do it using PowerShell.
- Prerequisites:
- Ensure you have the necessary permissions in the Exchange Admin Center (EAC).
- Verify the deleted mailbox exists in the database. You can do this using PowerShell:
- To list mailboxes and their details, including disconnected ones:
Get-MailboxDatabase | ForEach-Object {Get-MailboxStatistics -Database $_.Name} | Format-List DisplayName,Database,DisconnectReason
Replace <display name> with the actual display name of the mailbox you’re checking.
- Connecting the deleted mailbox via EAC
Now, you have to connect the deleted mailbox to an existing user account, after which, you can use the Windows Powershell to restore the mailbox.
- In the EAC, go to Recipients > Mailboxes.
- Now, click More Options and then select Connect a mailbox.
- Select the deleted mailbox from the list.
- Click Connect.
- Select the target user account that isn’t already mail-enabled.
- Click OK to start the connection process.
- Restoring a deleted mailbox to an existing mailbox
This is the final step in the restoration process, and involves using Powershell, make sure you follow these instructions with precision:
- Extract the necessary information about the deleted mailbox using this command:
Get-MailboxDatabase | ForEach-Object {Get-MailboxStatistics -Database $_.DistinguishedName} | Where-Object {$_.DisconnectReason -eq "Disabled"} | Format-Table DisplayName,MailboxGuid,Database,DisconnectDate
- Note the DisplayName, MailboxGuid, or LegacyDN of the deleted mailbox you want to restore.
- Now, Use the following PowerShell command to perform the restore, making sure to change the placeholders to your specific details:
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -SourceStoreMailbox "<Deleted Mailbox Identifier>" -SourceDatabase "<Source Database Name>" -TargetMailbox "<Target Mailbox Name>" -AllowLegacyDNMismatch
Replace the placeholders with:
- <Deleted Mailbox Identifier>: Use either the DisplayName, MailboxGuid, or LegacyDN of the deleted mailbox (obtained in the previous step).
- <Source Database Name>: The database name where the deleted mailbox resides.
- <Target Mailbox Name>: The email address or display name of the existing mailbox that will receive the restored content.
For Example: To restore the deleted mailbox with the display name “Jane Smith’s Mailbox” from the database “MailboxDatabase02” to the mailbox “[email protected]”, use:
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -SourceStoreMailbox "Jane Smith's Mailbox" -SourceDatabase "MailboxDatabase02" -TargetMailbox "[email protected]" -AllowLegacyDNMismatch
That was complex, wasn’t it? Well, there is an easier way to do all of this. Let’s learn about that.
Utilizing Exchange Mailbox Recovery Tools for Streamlined Restoration
You can either lead yourself through a complex maze of command line code, executions, and options or use a more streamlined solution in Exchange Mailbox recovery tool. These tools remove the need for all the extra work and help you restore the exchange mailbox. Exchange Mailbox recovery tools not only help you recover mailboxes but also help you save precious time and effort.
Exchange Mailbox recovery tools like Stellar Repair for exchange, for instance, ensure that all your offline Exchange EDB files are restored with high precision and that their integrity remains intact.
Stellar Repair for Exchange: A Comprehensive Solution
Stellar Repair for Exchange is a comprehensive solution to easily recover lost or inaccessible Exchange mailbox data.
The tool supports various Exchange Server database versions, from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2019. It eliminates compatibility concerns and ensures you can recover data regardless of your Exchange Server version.
Stellar Repair for Exchange lets you open and browse EDB files directly, making it even more efficient and easy to use. It can automatically browse for EDB files; all it needs is a simple confirmation from you.
Key Features and Capabilities
Stellar Repair for Exchange is endowed with powerful features that make the whole process of repairing and restoring your Exchange Mailbox a breeze:
- Recover data from Exchange Database: Stellar repair for Exchange’s robust scanning capabilities allows it to retrieve mailbox items from corrupt and dismounted EDB files. It retrieves the files, protecting their integrity and folder structure. This significantly reduces the time taken to recover crucial files and emails.
- Flexible Export Options: Stellar Repair for Exchange allows you to export recovered data to PST files (compatible with Outlook) and other standard formats. This feature simplifies data migration or archiving, providing options that align with your needs. This ensures that you can restore the files quickly and resume your operations.
- Direct Restoration to Live Exchange and Office 365: The software empowers you to restore mailboxes or entire EDB files directly to live Exchange Server databases or Office 365. This feature allows you to ensure minimal downtime in your business.
- Granular Recovery for Precision: The software offers total control over the recovery process. You can selectively restore specific mailboxes, delve into specific folders within mailboxes, or even recover individual emails, contacts, and calendar entries. This prevents unnecessary files from getting recovered, preventing delays in the process.
- Recover data from ransomware-affected Exchange Server: If ransomware holds your data captive, Stellar Repair allows you to recover mailboxes from damaged databases and transfer them to a new Exchange server or Office 365 account.
Step-by-Step Guide to Using Stellar Repair for Exchange
Using Stellar Repair for Exchange is more accessible than using built-in methods based on Windows CMD. Here’s how to use it.
- Open Stellar Repair for Exhange.
- Upon opening, you will be asked to Select the Microsoft Exchange EDB file that you wish to repair and retrieve mailboxes from.
- Alternatively, you can use the Look in option to look for the file in various directories.
- Once the file is selected click on Next.
- After that, select the Scan Type from Quick or Extensive Scan.
- The Quick Scan can fix most instances of corruption, while the Extensive Scan has even higher chance of recovering the files, but takes some time.
- Now, you can preview the Mailbox contents to ensure that your data is intact.
- You can then export the entire contents of the mailbox to a PST file and other file options, and restore them directly yo a Live Exchange server or Office 365 tenant.
Benefits of Using Stellar Repair for Exchange
When your whole business operations depend on the proper functionality of your communication system, tools like Stellar Repair for Exchange can offer endless benefits. Some of these are:
- Minimized Downtime: Steller Repair for Exchange’s standout feature, direct restore to live servers, significantly reduces the downtime caused by mailbox recovery compared to manual methods or alternative solutions. This leads to minimal disruption to business operations and ensures users quickly regain access to their mailboxes.
- Reduced Administrative Efforts: Stellar Repair for Exchange’s intuitive and user-friendly interface and automated features simplify the recovery process. This reduces the administrative effort required for successful mailbox restorations, freeing IT staff to focus on other critical tasks.
- Enhanced Data Integrity: Stellar Repair for Exchange utilizes advanced algorithms during the recovery process, prioritizing the integrity of your valuable data. This significantly reduces the risk of data loss or corruption during recovery, providing peace of mind that your data is safe.
Conclusion:
This article taught us how to restore the Exchange mailbox using built-in and third-party methods. While built-in methods can have their perks, they also cause massive downtimes and are extensively complex. Third-party software like Stellar Repair for Exchange ensures minimal downtime while making the process easy and intuitive. Such tools protect the integrity of your data while keeping it as simple as ever.
