How to Export cPanel Email to PST File Format?

Quick Answer: cPanel doesn’t offer direct option specifically for any proprietary Microsoft system files making it impossible to export cPanel email to PST file format directly. The best solution in such cases is to connect cPanel email account in Microsoft Outlook with the help of the IMAP settings. Thus, once the synchronization is complete and all your online folders from the server are downloaded, you can easily export your email – simply go to the File tab, click on Open and Export and select Import/Export to convert your email.

Reasons to Export cPanel Email to PST

• Empowers you to effortlessly check, control, and hunt down your webmail communications right from Microsoft Outlook interface.
• Gives full local access to each and every previous email, files and folders, all without needing to be connected to the Internet.
• Creates a safe and self-sufficient offline archive of important business or personal communications to keep them protected from the server crash.
• Helps to make the transition quick and easy during the change of the mail providers, reconstruction of the system, or merging several email accounts into Outlook.

How to Export cPanel Email to PST Manually?

There is no way to get the mailboxes directly downloaded to the PST format, so the manual procedure will need two steps of preparation: connecting the cPanel email to desktop Outlook first and then utilizing the Import/Export option in Outlook to create the PST.

Step 1: Setup Your cPanel Email in MS Outlook

To start the process of email exporting, you need to make an IMAP connection between your Outlook account and your server.

1. Open Outlook and Start Setup: Start Outlook on your PC. Click File at the top left corner, then click Info. Afterwards click Add account.
   
2. Input Account Information: Fill in the full email address existing on cPanel. Click on Advanced options or select “Let me set up my account manually”. Make sure that IMAP box is checked.
   
   
3. Set Up Incoming/Outgoing Server Settings: To do that, input the configuration of your mail server found in the cPanel panel’s section Email Accounts > Connect Devices.

• Incoming Mail Server: mail.yourdomain.com (or your specific server hostname)
• Incoming Port: 993 (Encryption: SSL/TLS)
• Outgoing Mail Server: mail.yourdomain.com
• Outgoing Port: 465 (Encryption: SSL/TLS)
• Secure Password Authentication (SPA) can be checked. Click Next and enter your email password when prompted.

Step 2: Saving Synced Mailbox to PST File

1. Sign in and open Outlook: By signing in to your cPanel account and opening Outlook, you will be able to see your cPanel mailbox folders listed under the sidebar.
   
   
2. Using the Import/Export Assistant: In Outlook, click on File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
   
3. Choosing the Export option: Choose the Export option from the list and then click Next. Select the Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next.
   
   
4. Choose Folders: Select the cPanel account name or folders you would like to save. Make sure to click on ‘include sub-folders’ and then click Next. Click on Browse to select where to save your PST file on your desktop.
   

Cons of Using Manual Process

• It uses up time. Syncing large mailboxes containing hundreds of thousands of mails would take hours using IMAP.
• It relies on Microsoft Outlook. You need a working installation of Microsoft Outlook in order to replicate the necessary environment.
• It does not provide filtering options. The import/export wizard does not allow filtering based on time.

Export cPanel Email to PST Using Professional Tool: MailsWare

MailsWare Email Backup Toolkit is a sophisticated and user-friendly program that allows users to export their emails right onto a local hard drive. The program has advanced features which allow users to save directory structures, messages headers, and attachments intact. The software supports many export options with famous formats like PST, MBOX, PDF, EML and MSG as well as directly migrating to various online services. This flexibility allows users to have everything they need for easy email backup and migration. By merging a simple interface with advanced features like email filters, custom file names, automated scheduling and batch processing, MailsWare makes data management look very easy and straightforward.

How to Export cPanel Email to PST File Format? [Step-by-Step]

1. Download, install and launch the MailsWare utility on your PC.
2. Select IMAP Server option from the email source list. On the right-side, input your email account credentials, i.e. ID & Password along with IMAP Host & Port details below. Further, ensure that any additional security parameters such as Authentication codes, Backup Codes, etc. are kept handy so as to authorize the login. In case you want to backup multiple email accounts from the same platform, select the checkbox Use Batch Mode to input multiple credentials simultaneously.
3. Click Login. It will successfully fetch your email data that you can preview and select items to backup as per your choice.
   
4. Then click on the drop-down button of Select Saving Options and select PST option to export the files in PST format on the hard drive of your PC.
   
5. An other option called Split PST will become visible, using which this tool allows you to split the target PST file in your desired size for an easy data management and usage.
6. After that, set the Destination Path or location where you want to store the backup files on your computer.
7. Click the Backup button. It will allow the software to start the backup process of your source email account(s) on your PC locally in the selected saving option or format.
   
8. Once the process gets successfully completed, a notification dialog message will be shown to the user confirming the same.

Powerful Features of the Tool

• The tool does not hamper the integrity of emails during the process.
• Preserves email metadata, body, formatting and other vital/essential attributes of the email contents.
• It backs up your emails along with their attachments in their original format.
• The tool works fast and eliminates all the complications faced by users during backup.
• Allows you to backup selective email data using filter options or criteria such as, Sender, To, From, etc.
• Enables user to schedule the backup process by setting the timestamps.
• Provides multiple target file-formats and destination cloud-based platforms where the data could be backed-up or migrated.
• Besides hard drive, also enables backup to other useful storage media such as, USB, NAS Storage, etc.
• Allows bulk export of your emails using the advanced & inbuilt Batch Mode feature.
• Offers the most powerful and dynamic Incremental Backup feature.
• Customized file-naming feature enables user to save the backed-up files in a specific naming format.
• Seamlessly compatible with both Windows & Mac powered PCs.

FAQ

Q: Does cPanel allow users to save their emails to PST directly?

No, there is no such functionality in cPanel to enable email saving in PST format.

Q: How is it possible to implement the manual cPanel to PST export process?

For the cPanel to PST migration to succeed, you will have to install Microsoft Outlook on the machine to collect the emails through the IMAP process.

Q: Is it possible to carry out the email export operation without the use of IMAP?

No, before the manual export process can be began, the cPanel email account must be synced to the desktop version of Outlook.

Q: Is the sub-folders feature available in the manual export method?

Yes, this option can be activated easily during the manual exporting process.

Q: How long does it usually take to carry out an export process manually?

The entire process will take a different amount of time depending on the size of the mailbox and the speed of IMAP synchronization.

Summary – Key Takeaways

• MBOX format is used by cPanel for webmail, while Outlook uses PST format, hence a conversion is required.
• By linking the cPanel account to Outlook through IMAP, you may also use the built-in Import/Export utility to save your mailbox as PST file free of charge.
• Be sure to take a complete backup of your email data locally before the start of the migration process.

Also See: How to Transfer cPanel Emails to Gmail?