---
title: "Exporting an Exchange mailbox to a PST file"
description: "Export an Exchange mailbox to a PST archive from the OVHcloud Control Panel or the OVHcloud API, then check and open the archive"
url: https://docs.ovhcloud.com/en/guides/web-cloud/email-and-collaborative-solutions/microsoft-exchange/exchange-export-pst
lang: en
lastUpdated: 2026-09-11
---
> For AI agents: the complete documentation index is available at https://docs.ovhcloud.com/en/llms.txt, the full documentation bundle is available at https://docs.ovhcloud.com/en/llms-full.txt.

# Exporting an Exchange mailbox to a PST file

## Objective

Exporting a mailbox to a Personal Storage Table (PST) file gives you a local copy of its data. Use this copy to archive a mailbox before deleting the account, hand the data over when an employee leaves, move it to another email service, or meet a retention obligation. Microsoft Exchange at OVHcloud can export a mailbox server-side: you request the export, OVHcloud builds it, then you download a ZIP archive containing one or more `.pst` files, `readme.md` and `checksum.txt`. The export does not go through Outlook: the OVHcloud Control Panel and the OVHcloud API each cover the whole operation.

This feature is available for Hosted Exchange, Private Exchange and Trusted Exchange
. It applies to individual mailboxes: groups, shared accounts and resource accounts cannot be exported.
**This guide explains how to export an Exchange mailbox to a PST archive from the OVHcloud Control Panel or the OVHcloud API.**

## Requirements

- A <Region zones={['eu']}>[Hosted Exchange](https://www.ovhcloud.com/en-gb/emails/hosted-exchange/), [Private Exchange](https://www.ovhcloud.com/en-gb/emails/private-exchange/) or [Trusted Exchange](https://www.ovhcloud.com/en-gb/enterprise/products/trusted-exchange/)</Region><Region excludeZones={['eu']}>[Hosted Exchange](https://www.ovhcloud.com/en-gb/emails/hosted-exchange/)</Region> service
- Administration rights on the service in the <ManagerLink to="/">OVHcloud Control Panel</ManagerLink>
- Enough free local disk space for the ZIP archive and its extracted contents
- For the API method: API credentials created on the <CreateToken rights="GET=/email/exchange/*&POST=/email/exchange/*&DELETE=/email/exchange/*">OVHcloud token generation page</CreateToken>, with at least the `GET`, `POST` and `DELETE` rights on `/email/exchange/*`

:::warning
**One export per mailbox per 24 hours.** After you request an export for an email address, the next one is accepted 24 hours later at the earliest. Plan for it before exporting several mailboxes in a row.

:::

***
### OVHcloud Control Panel Access
- **Direct link:** <ManagerLink to="/#/web/exchange">Exchange</ManagerLink>
- **Navigation path:** <code className="action">Web Cloud</code> > <code className="action">Exchange</code> > Select your platform
***

## Instructions

### Exporting from the OVHcloud Control Panel

1. Open the <code className="action">Email accounts</code> tab.

2. On the row of the mailbox to export, click <code className="action">...</code>, then <code className="action">Export in PST format</code>.

   <img className="thumbnail" alt="Actions menu of an email account with the Export in PST format entry" src="/images/web-cloud/email-and-collaborative-solutions/microsoft-exchange/exchange-export-pst/exchange-export-pst-menu.png" loading="lazy" />

3. In the **Export in .pst format** window, click <code className="action">Download</code> to start the export. It runs in the background and takes between a few minutes and several hours depending on the mailbox size. You can close the window and leave the page: reopen the window at any time to see the progress, shown as a percentage.

   <img className="thumbnail" alt="Export in .pst format window showing the export progress" src="/images/web-cloud/email-and-collaborative-solutions/microsoft-exchange/exchange-export-pst/exchange-export-pst-progress.png" loading="lazy" />

4. Once the export is complete, open the same <code className="action">...</code> menu and click <code className="action">Export in PST format</code> again. The download link is generated automatically, which takes 2 to 3 minutes.

   <img className="thumbnail" alt="Export in .pst format window while the download link is being generated" src="/images/web-cloud/email-and-collaborative-solutions/microsoft-exchange/exchange-export-pst/exchange-export-pst-link.png" loading="lazy" />

5. When the link is ready, the window confirms that the mailbox is available in `.pst` format. Click <code className="action">Download</code> to retrieve the ZIP archive, then extract and check it (see the [Checking and opening the archive](#checking-and-opening-the-archive) section).

   <img className="thumbnail" alt="Export window offering the archive download and a new export" src="/images/web-cloud/email-and-collaborative-solutions/microsoft-exchange/exchange-export-pst/exchange-export-pst-download.png" loading="lazy" />

:::info
The download link is temporary: the window shows the date until which the file stays available. After that date, the archive is deleted and you have to request a new export. The same window lets you click `Start a new export
`, which **deletes the previous archive immediately**
.
:::

### Exporting with the OVHcloud API

The whole flow uses 2 objects: `export`
 builds the archive and reports its progress, and `exportURL`
 provides a temporary download URL. All the calls below belong to the `/email/exchange`
 section
 of the OVHcloud API.
#### Finding the path parameters

Every call needs 3 values: the organisation name, the service name and the mailbox address. The first 2 are internal names, such as `ab12345-ovh`, not the labels shown in the OVHcloud Control Panel. Retrieve them in order, each call feeding the next.

**1. Organisation** (`organizationName`)

List the Exchange organisations of your account with the API call below:


🇪🇺EU▾

[GET/email/exchange](https://api.eu.ovhcloud.com/console/?section=/email/exchange&branch=v1#get-/email/exchange)

**2. Service** (`exchangeService`)

List the Exchange services of the organisation with the API call below:


🇪🇺EU▾

[GET/email/exchange/{organizationName}/service](https://api.eu.ovhcloud.com/console/?section=/email/exchange&branch=v1#get-/email/exchange/-organizationName-/service)

**3. Mailbox** (`primaryEmailAddress`)

List the email accounts of the service with the API call below:


🇪🇺EU▾

[GET/email/exchange/{organizationName}/service/{exchangeService}/account](https://api.eu.ovhcloud.com/console/?section=/email/exchange&branch=v1#get-/email/exchange/-organizationName-/service/-exchangeService-/account)

Each call returns a list of strings. If the mailbox address contains non-URL-safe characters, percent-encode them in the path (`+` becomes `%2B`, and so on).

#### Requesting the export

Request the export of the mailbox with the API call below:


🇪🇺EU▾

[POST/email/exchange/{organizationName}/service/{exchangeService}/account/{primaryEmailAddress}/export](https://api.eu.ovhcloud.com/console/?section=/email/exchange&branch=v1#post-/email/exchange/-organizationName-/service/-exchangeService-/account/-primaryEmailAddress-/export)

The call takes no body parameter and returns a task confirming only that OVHcloud registered the request:

```json
{
  "id": 123456789,
  "function": "addExportPstRequest",
  "status": "todo",
  "todoDate": "2026-09-01T10:12:33+02:00",
  "finishDate": null
}
```

A task carries one of the statuses `todo`, `doing`, `done`, `error` or `cancelled`, and its `function` is `addExportPstRequest`, `deleteExportPstRequest` or `generatePstUrl`.

#### Following the progress

Read the export request to follow its progress:


🇪🇺EU▾

[GET/email/exchange/{organizationName}/service/{exchangeService}/account/{primaryEmailAddress}/export](https://api.eu.ovhcloud.com/console/?section=/email/exchange&branch=v1#get-/email/exchange/-organizationName-/service/-exchangeService-/account/-primaryEmailAddress-/export)

| Property          | Type     | Description                                      |
| ----------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| `creationDate`    | datetime | Creation date of the export request              |
| `percentComplete` | long     | Export progress, as a percentage                 |
| `taskPendingId`   | long     | ID of the pending task, `0` when none is running |

```json
{
  "creationDate": "2026-09-01T10:12:33+02:00",
  "percentComplete": 42,
  "taskPendingId": 123456789
}
```

Repeat this call until `percentComplete` reaches `100`, polling at most once a minute. A `404` error means no export request exists for this mailbox: either it was never created, or it has already been removed.

#### Getting the download URL

The `export` object never returns a download URL: unlike the OVHcloud Control Panel, which generates the link for you, the API takes 2 calls.

**1. Generate the URL**

Create the download link, which registers a `generatePstUrl` task, with the API call below:


🇪🇺EU▾

[POST/email/exchange/{organizationName}/service/{exchangeService}/account/{primaryEmailAddress}/exportURL](https://api.eu.ovhcloud.com/console/?section=/email/exchange&branch=v1#post-/email/exchange/-organizationName-/service/-exchangeService-/account/-primaryEmailAddress-/exportURL)

**2. Read the URL**

Once the task is complete, read the generated link with the API call below:


🇪🇺EU▾

[GET/email/exchange/{organizationName}/service/{exchangeService}/account/{primaryEmailAddress}/exportURL](https://api.eu.ovhcloud.com/console/?section=/email/exchange&branch=v1#get-/email/exchange/-organizationName-/service/-exchangeService-/account/-primaryEmailAddress-/exportURL)

| Property     | Type     | Description                 |
| ------------ | -------- | --------------------------- |
| `url`        | string   | Download URL of the archive |
| `expiration` | datetime | Expiry date of the URL      |

```json
{
  "url": "https://exchange-export.storage.example/abc123/john.smith.zip?token=...",
  "expiration": "2026-09-01T11:15:00+02:00"
}
```

The URL is already signed: download the archive directly from it, without an authentication header. A `404` error on the `GET` call means the URL has not been generated yet (the `generatePstUrl` task is still running) or has expired.

:::info
**The URL has a limited validity.** Rely on `expiration` rather than on a fixed duration, and generate the URL only when you are ready to download. Once it has expired, call `POST` on `exportURL` again for a fresh link: as long as the archive still exists, you do not need to redo the export.

:::

#### Removing the export request

Remove the export request with the API call below:


🇪🇺EU▾

[DELETE/email/exchange/{organizationName}/service/{exchangeService}/account/{primaryEmailAddress}/export](https://api.eu.ovhcloud.com/console/?section=/email/exchange&branch=v1#delete-/email/exchange/-organizationName-/service/-exchangeService-/account/-primaryEmailAddress-/export)

Use it to cancel a running export, or to remove the request after downloading the archive so you can request a new one — still subject to the 24-hour limit. The call also deletes the archive on the OVHcloud side: download it first.

### Checking and opening the archive

Whichever method you used, the ZIP archive contains:

| Entry          | Description                                                          |
| -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `*.pst`        | The mailbox data. A large mailbox is split across several PST files. |
| `readme.md`    | Notes from OVHcloud about the export and its contents                |
| `checksum.txt` | The SHA-256 hash of each `.pst` file in the archive                  |

Extract the archive, then compare the PST files with the hashes in `checksum.txt` before importing them: a truncated download produces a PST file that Outlook either refuses to open, or opens with missing data. The commands below assume a `<hash> <filename>` layout, one line per file.

On Windows, with PowerShell:

```powershell
Get-Content .\checksum.txt | Where-Object { $_.Trim() } | ForEach-Object {
    $hash, $file = $_.Trim() -split '\s+', 2
    $file = $file.TrimStart('*')
    $actual = (Get-FileHash $file -Algorithm SHA256).Hash
    "{0,-8} {1}" -f $(if ($actual -eq $hash.ToUpper()) { "OK" } else { "MISMATCH" }), $file
}
```

On Linux or macOS:

```bash
sha256sum -c checksum.txt
# john.smith.pst: OK
# john.smith-2.pst: OK
```

If a hash does not match, download the archive again. If it still fails, request a new export.

To open the PST files in classic Outlook for Windows, go to `File
` > `Open & Export
` > `Open Outlook Data File
`, then select each extracted `.pst`
 file. At the time of writing, the new Outlook for Windows does not open `.pst`
 files.
:::info
**Limitations**

- The export time scales with the mailbox size: minutes for a small mailbox, several hours for a large one. There is no way to speed it up.
- A mailbox holds a single export request, and a new one is only accepted 24 hours after the previous request for the same email address.
- The export applies to individual mailboxes only: groups, shared accounts and resource accounts are not covered.

:::

## Go further [](#)
[Manually migrate your email address](https://docs.ovhcloud.com/en/guides/web-cloud/email-and-collaborative-solutions/migrating/manual-email-migration.md)

[Hosted Exchange - Responsibility model](https://docs.ovhcloud.com/en/guides/web-cloud/email-and-collaborative-solutions/microsoft-exchange/hosted-exchange-responsibility-model.md)

[Private Exchange - Backing up your email accounts with Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365](https://docs.ovhcloud.com/en/guides/web-cloud/email-and-collaborative-solutions/microsoft-exchange/exchange-veeam-backup.md)

[Microsoft Exchange guides](https://docs.ovhcloud.com/en/guides/web-cloud/email-and-collaborative-solutions/microsoft-exchange/landing-page-microsoft-exchange.md)

Join our [community of users](https://community.ovhcloud.com/).