How Do I Import EML Files into Office 365 Mailboxes?

One day, my old colleague contacted me. And in between the talks, he told me about his problem related to EML file import. He now uses Office 365, and his old but elite client details are still in EML files, which he created via Windows Live Mail. Since Windows Live Mail has no support, he wanted to import EML files to Office 365 for better access and security.

The way to import EML to Office 365 goes through Microsoft Outlook, as well as an email migration tool, which users can choose as per their expertise and EML file quantity. Since there is no modern support with Windows Live Mail, people started shifting to the popular alternatives like Outlook, Thunderbird, and even cloud-based email clients. The main problem is not the adaptation, but the data. Users can’t let the old data go, so they seek to import it to maintain accessibility. Here, the task is to import .eml into Microsoft 365. But, before going to import emails to Office 365, let’s have a look at the benefits of Office 365.

Why Import EML to Office 365 Mailbox | Top Benefits of Office 365

Along with strong security and easier accessibility, Office 365 has more benefits that individuals and organizations are availing. A few of the benefits of Office 365 are:

• Access from anywhere, anytime.
• Real-time collaboration within the team.
• Wider integration with the application.
• Centralized search facility for a specific email.

Now, let’s take you through how to import .eml files into Microsoft 365.

Step-by-Step Guide to Import EML to Office 365 Mailbox

Here are two ways, other than the email migration tool, that you can follow to import EML to Office 365 effectively. The stepwise process of each method is given below. You can try them at your preference:

Approach 1: Drag and Drop EML Files to Office 365 Folder

If you are an Outlook user, then you can manually import .eml files into Office 365. However, this method is quite long and requires dependency on Outlook. But the other options to import email to Office 365 are quite tedious, and no guarantee that it will work. The steps to import EML to Office 365 Mailbox via Outlook are as follows:

1. Locate and navigate to the folder where your EML file is saved.
2. Now open Outlook in your system and configure your Office 365 account.
3. Once configured, create a new folder under your mailbox.
4. Select your EML files and drag and drop them to the newly created folder.
5. Wait for a while. Outlook will sync emails with Office 365.

A few limitations with this approach are:

• Not usable for bulk EML import.
• Time-consuming process.
• High risk of data loss or corruption.
• Chances of technical as well as human error.
• Doesn’t import multiple EML files into Office 365 in one go.

Approach 2: Convert EML Files and Import to Office 365

If you’re failing to configure an Office 365 account in Outlook, then import emails into Outlook and export them as PST. Once you export the EML file as PST, import that to Office 365 via the Network Upload method. Here are the steps you can follow:

1. Open Outlook, create a new folder, then drag & drop your EML files one by one.
2. Go to the File menu, tap on Open & Export, then Import/Export.
3. Select Export to a file. Click Next.
4. Tap on Outlook Data File (.pst). Click Next.
5. Select the newly created folder when you save the EML file. Click Next.
6. Now tap on Browse and provide the saving location of PST. Click Finish. (A new PST file containing your EML messages will be created.)
7. Now, log in to Microsoft Purview portal using the Office 365 admin credentials.
8. Create a new job to import the PST file and name it.
9. Copy the SAS URL and download AzCopy.
10. Upload your PST files to AzCopy & view the list of uploaded files.
11. Create the PST Import mapping file, then a PST Import job.
12. Filter data as you need and start the PST import job.

Wait for a few minutes, your EML file (in PST file) will be imported to Office 365 effectively.

Limitations of this method are as follows:

1. Requires installing various dependencies.
2. Needs technical knowledge.
3. No bulk import greater than 50 GB.
4. Outlook performance may slow down.
5. Chances of error & process disruption.

Author Verdict

If you need to import EML to Office 365, you can go with the above-mentioned stepwise procedure. You should have:

• Sufficient time to perform the steps.
• Outlook application in your system.
• Familiarity with the Office 365 PST import process.
• Ability to deal with unexpected errors and issues.
• Awareness about the limitations & drawbacks of approaches.

Once you prepare yourself according to the above pointers, you’re ready to import email into Office 365.