How to Migrate Public Folders from Exchange 2013 to Office 365

In Microsoft Exchange, admins use public folders to collect, organize, and communicate information to others within their workgroup or company. Also termed collaboration features, public folders act as a central, shared repository for common data. Access to these folders is available through permissions or by enabling mail, if you wish to exchange emails.

Well-organized folders make it easier to browse through content in a deep hierarchy. Due to rapid technology upgrades, Microsoft has stopped supporting on-premises Exchange 2013 servers, causing users to migrate their public folders to Office 365.

This shift to the cloud offers enhanced scalability, upgraded security, and improved management. This blog discusses in detail various reasons and ways to migrate public folders to Office 365.

Reasons to Migrate Exchange 2013 to Office 365

Various reasons can cause you to move the Exchange Server database, the contained mailboxes, emails, and other items to Office 365.

1. Scalable and secure

Office 365 provides an accomplished cloud-based infrastructure, leading to better scalability and security. This approach is more cost-effective than traditional on-premises folders that are more expensive to scale and maintain.

2. No more Microsoft support for Exchange 2013

Microsoft has ended support for Exchange 2013 Server in 2023 itself. This indicates that the platform is not getting technical support, security updates, and bug fixes anymore. If you are still using Exchange 2013, it is high time to migrate to Exchange Server 2019 or Office 365. This will provide your public folder contents with the requisite security fixes and protect them from vulnerabilities

3. Improved Collaboration

Office 365 uses Microsoft 365 Groups to enhance collaboration. Integrating the collaboration tools with the Microsoft 365 suite will expose you to several additional features that are not available in the traditional public folders.

4. Gain access to upscale features

Migrating to Office 365 will entitle you to leverage the comprehensive range of Office 365 applications. Prominent among these include MS Teams, OneDrive, Planner, Power BI, and SharePoint, among others.

5. Better Accessibility

Users can also access their content on web browsers and mobile devices with upgraded functionality. This is unlike the restricted access on mobile devices that users get through on-premises public folders.

6. Reduced maintenance

Migrating to Office 365 reduces the requirement for hardware maintenance, software upgrades, and IT overheads significantly. This automatically mitigates the operational costs, allowing you to invest more in your core capabilities.

Methods to Migrate Public Folders from Exchange 2013 to Office 365

You can move a public folder from Exchange 2013 to Office 365 through any of the following methods:

1. Use the Public Folders Migration Scripts

Microsoft provides several scripts to facilitate migrating public folders to Office 365 from Exchange 2013 or 2016.

1. To start with, download Public Folder Migration Scripts and save them to a location in your system from where you execute PowerShell commands.
2. Next, download Mail-enabled Public Folders – directory sync script, which consists of two files. The script will synchronize public folder objects from the source AD during migration and hybrid access.
3. Now download another PowerShell script named SourceSideValidations.ps1 and save it at the same location.
4. Once you complete downloading the scripts, execute SourceSideValidation.ps1 script in PowerShell. This will scan the Exchange for issues. If it fetches any problem, fix it and proceed with migration.
5. Ensure that the Exchange does not have any orphaned Public Folder mail objects or duplicate Public Folder objects.
6. On Active Directory (AD), confirm the SMTP email address for Public Folders
7. Follow the detailed process for Public Folder Migration as provided on the Microsoft website.
8. Then follow this detailed guide at Microsoft’s suggested reference library to complete the Public Folders migration from Exchange to Office 365.

2. Migration Using Outlook PST export

Another method for public folder migration to Office 365 is by using the Outlook PST export feature. But it will work well only if your on-premises public folder hierarchy is within 30GB due to the limitations of the auto-split feature. But what is this feature all about?

An auto-split feature manages the growth of the Office 365 or Microsoft 365 online public folder. Its main function is to split the public folder mailbox when its size quota exceeds. It cannot handle the quick growth of mailboxes during the migration of the public folder to the Office 365 cloud space. Instead, it will take around two weeks for the auto-split feature to migrate the entire data to Office 365.

Here are more points to consider before using Outlook PST to export public folders to Office 365

• You will lose public folder permissions during this migration process. Therefore, ensure to capture the existing permissions before starting the migration to add them back once the process succeeds.
• It is better to use the PowerShell cmdlet-based migration method if you use intricate permissions or have multiple folders for migration through Outlook PST
• The process will lead to the loss of items and folder changes made to the public folders at the source. If the migration takes too long to complete, using the cmdlet method can be a better option.

If, despite knowing all these drawbacks, you want to migrate a public folder to Office 365 through Outlook PST, follow the steps mentioned below:

• Download the migration script PublicFolderToMailboxMapGenerator.ps1 file from the Microsoft Public Folders Migration Scripts web page
• Create the folder-to-mailbox mapping file by generating the .csv file. This file helps to find the exact number of public folder mailboxes existing in Exchange Online.
• Create the mailboxes in the public folder based on the mapping file. You can use the Exchange Admin Center (EC) for this task.
• In every public folder mailbox, create the top-most public folder by using the New-PublicFolder cmdlet and the Mailbox parameter.
• Export and then import the PST file through Outlook
• Use EAC to set permissions on the public folders.

3. Move Public Folders to Office 365 by using an Exchange Migration Tool

As you can infer, the process to migrate public folders from Exchange Server 2013 to Office 365 is too cumbersome. It requires you to possess deep technical knowledge and seek multiple permissions. To make things worse, there is no certainty of the success of the process. In case it halts in between, you will spend considerable time troubleshooting the issue.

To simplify the process, third-party tools, such as Stellar Migrator for Exchange can help. This third-party Exchange migration tool overrides the challenges of a manual migration of public folders to ensure a faster, quicker, and more trusted method to migrate public folders to Office 365.

Multiple features

In addition to using Stellar Migrator for Exchange to Office 365 migration, you can use it for various other crucial tasks, such as:

• Seamless Public Folder Migration
• Seamless Exchange to Exchange Migration
• Effortless Office 365 Tenant-to-Tenant Migration
• Cross-Forest & Cross-Domain Migration Without Complexity
• Selective Folder Migration
• Re-Run Failed or Incomplete Migrations

Migration steps using Stellar Migrator for Exchange

Here are the quick and easy steps to use the software for public folder migration:

1. Download, install, and launch Stellar Migrator for Exchange on your system
2. Connect the tool to the Exchange Server that contains the public folder you want to migrate
3. Let the application scan and list the available mailboxes and public folders
4. Find and select the public folders you wish to migrate
5. Click the Migrate option to initiate the migration
6. Choose Office 365 as the destination of the migrated public folders.
7. Use Office 365 credentials to authenticate your account and allow the requisite permissions
8. Look for the built-in mailbox mapping
9. Use the mapping feature to map public folders at the source to their destination in Office 365
10. Start the migration process, allowing secure and efficient data transfer to the Office 365 environment
11. After the migration completes, log in to your Office 365 account to verify the migrated public folders, their mailboxes, and the contained items

The Exchange migration tool is available at a cost-effective price based on the number of mailboxes you want to choose for migration. You may also try its free version with all the facilities of the paid version, with a limit of 2 free mailboxes.

Conclusion

You may need to migrate public folders from Exchange 2013 to Office 365 for several reasons. For instance, to make way for better scalability, security, collaboration, accessibility, and reduced maintenance of the public folders. In addition, Microsoft has already ended providing support to Exchange 2013, making it the most prominent reason for migration.

To proceed with the migration, you can try manual ways such as using the Public Folders Migration Scripts or Outlook PST export. These methods take considerable time and need deep technical knowledge. Moreover, they accompany several issues that you need to troubleshoot before ensuring a successful migration.

An automated Exchange migration tool, such as Stellar Migrator for Exchange, can be a suitable alternative to overcome such trouble situations. Buy the software today from the Stellar Info website at a reasonable cost. To test the tool, you may also try its free version that allows migrating 2 mailboxes for free.

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