Can Office 365 also store all emails on local PC

[DaveBlue001]

Hi,

I would like some advice whether Office 365 could provide the following functionality please, and also steps how to do it.

I currently use Outlook 2013 and have a large Outlook.pst (3 Gb) and larger Archive.pst (10 Gb).

I would like to be able to synchronise my Outlook between my laptop (Windows 10) and my desktop (Windows 10) so that when I send an email, it will show up in the ‘Sent’ folder on both machines.

Similarly, if I delete an email… or move it from one folder to another… that this would be reflected on the other machine.  Or if I create a new folder it would appear on the other machines.

We have poor WiFi connection where we live, so I would want to be able to store a copy of all emails on both my desktop and laptop.  So I can see all emails… work on them offline… and when I go online, that any changes that have been made are then reflected on the other machines.

I will be the only person using this for 1 single email address.

Can Office 365 handle this?

I also have an iPhone and it would be great if this could also synch with mail on the iPhone?

Will Office 365 Business suffice?

If so, what would be the steps to install Office 365… and then to upload all my existing emails etc. from the Outlook.pst and the Archive.pst files?

And also maintain a local copy of all emails on both machines?

Would I need any particular settings such as IMAP instead of POP3 ?

If there is a URL that describes to me the steps to do, that would be great.

Thanks in advance

Dave

[#2]

Hi @DaveBlue001 

Yes, this can all be done in Office 365; If you already have Office then you can either use Office 365 Business essentials or just Exchange Online if you don't want to have SharePoint/teams etc.

How it works is the mailbox will be hosted by Microsoft on their servers - when you send and email it on your laptop, it'll show the sent email on your desktop (and on the web) so you can see what was sent from anywhere. Same goes for creating/deleting/moving an email - the change is made on the mailbox in the cloud, the Outlook client on laptop/desk will just sync up the changes.

There is an option to run Exchange in 'cached' mode - this will create a special file on the laptop/desktop called a .ost which will have a local copy of emails going back to however long you need - 3 days, 6 months, or everything so if your internet plays up you can still get emails. Once your device has internet again, changes will be synchronized up. 

Will also work will with iPhone/Android - the Outlook app is pretty good imo

Should also be fine for a single address - you can have alias' on the address, but if you want a seperate mailbox it'll be an additional licence. 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptions/exchange-online-service-description/e... - MS official docs on setup. There are plenty of good guides on the web to check out.

Part of set up is adding/changing a DNS record for autodiscover.yourdomain.com - MS will give you all of the details you need for this, and once set up it'll automatically connect your Outlook/mobile to the mailbox without having to add specific server settings.

There is also a migration wizard in Office 365 that can help getting the PST's you have up in Office 365

Hope this helps,

Mark

[#3]

@HidMov 

Hi Mark,

Thanks for you very informative reply!

I have used Outlook (2007 and 2013) for many years but never Exchange. 

I have the emails on a Blacknight server… and use POP3 to get them sent to my laptop/desktop.

Do I have to use Exchange when using email with Office 365 or is there some way I can just use Outlook within Office 365 to do this without needing Exchange?

Best Wishes,

Dave

[#4]

Hi @DaveBlue001 

Yes, it is possible to have Outlook 365 connect to a 3rd party POP3 server rather than use Exchange, but you won't get the benefits previously listed. Outlook 365 is just a mail client the same as 2010/2013 so you can connect Outlook 365 to the Blacknight POP3 server like you do now.

Exchange is an email server, so it's dealing with the email routing as well as storing data in a mailbox. If you opt not to assign a EOL licence to a O365 user then it won't create a mailbox in Exchange Online. With regards to synchronisation and the other questions, it may not work without Exchange as that is what manages the mailbox and keeps it all in check. 

[#5]

@DaveBlue001 

In-Office 365, you can store your work in either OneDrive for Business or on SharePoint sites. .When you create and save files to a OneDrive folder, they sync to the cloud so you can access them from anywhere a web browser, computer, or mobile device.

[#6]

@HidMov 

Thanks Mark,

I will try to set it up using Exchange.

And hopefully there will be some way I can upload all my old Emails (currently in my 2013 pst files) to the Exchange server.... and then on an ongoing basis, some

setting so that I can keep the local .ost files in synch with all the emails on the Exchange server.

If you know of any URLs that explain how to do this, it would be appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

Best Wishes,

Dave

[#7]

Hi @DaveBlue001 

Importing .PST's via network upload into office 365:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/securitycompliance/use-network-upload-to-import-pst-files

Turn on Cache mode for Outlook so emails are available offline:

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Turn-on-Cached-Exchange-Mode-7885AF08-9A60-4EC3-850A-E221C1...

Hope this helps,

Mark

[#8]

@DaveBlue001 

You can do this steps. 

Make a copy of .pst file, 

This step create  .ost file

1. Use outlook client and add your office 365 email as "exchange"

2. Use the import/export of outlook

3. Choose the out data  .pst

4. You can choose specifoc mailbox or entire pst

5.browse the pst you make and choose the location where you import

6. Choose Avoid duplicate items and clic finish

This is a one way sync means if you delete an email you can do that in office 365 online and once you online in outlook client it will sync. 

[#9]

@DaveBlue001 

Yes, please consider PST for local copy while cache mode for mobility

[#10]

@Kidd_Ip 

@DaveBlue001

I have a very similar need to this thread but cannot figure out how to make it work. 

I used to primarily use Outlook for Mac 2018. I have a very large outlook file, of over 100GB, stored on the local machine. I have just upgraded to Office365 and I would like to be able to export the Outlook data file up to the 'Microsoft Cloud' where it would be stored permanently. The main reason for wanting to do this, besides saving space on the machine, is that I want to view, use and edit all past emails etc on any machine. I want to be able to write an email on the Mac and then log on on a phone/iPad or PC and see that email in the sent folder. Moreover though I want to export the huge file archive from Outlook so that I can access this from different machines, and everything is always kept up to date across the machines. 

I have exported the file archive before upgrading to 365, but I can't figure out how to 'upload it' and have this saved in the cloud so that it is the 'master copy' and always accessible across different devices. 

I would appreciate some help, 

Thanks, 

[#11]

@Leeg78 

I don't know if this helps you in any way... as this is what I did with Outlook 365 on Windows 10 and not on the MAC as I don't have any experience with MAC yet.

I realized that having such a large Outlook pst file could severely impact the performance, so I created 2 pst files.

The first PST file has all emails (Inbox, Sent, Deleted and over 200 other folders) from the previous 18 months.

And a second archive pst file, that contains all older emails.

The first PST file is the one that is synch'ed to the Cloud... and can be seen on my Windows desktop, Windows laptop and iPhone.  It is also stored locally on my machines... as an .OST file.

The 2nd Archive PST file is just a local file.  I have a copy of this on my desktop and laptop.  And can choose to search this archive pst file when needed.

But I understand that the real question is whether Outlook for MAC can provide local copies of PST files (or OST files) that can be accessed when not connected to the internet.

Hopefully, someone with more in-depth experience of Outlook on MAC might be able to provide a solution for this.