How to Export Google Vault to Outlook PST Format – Learn the Right Way

In today’s digital age, where information management is crucial, Google Vault serves as a robust tool for businesses to archive, retain, and search their data, especially within the G Suite ecosystem. However, when it comes to migrating or accessing data outside the Google environment, such as in Outlook PST format, a structured approach is necessary. Hence, in this write-up, we are going to provide you with the easiest way to perform Google Vault export to PST. 

Google Vault allows exporting archived emails to Outlook PST format directly. However, before explaining how to export Google Vault to Outlook PST we are going to disclose a few basic concepts related to this topic. So read the entire information carefully and get an exact solution for your queries related to the Google Apps Vault.

What About Google Vault?

Google Vault is an add-on, especially provided for Google Apps, that helps you; search, retain, archive, and export your organization’s email. Using this add-on you can search particular emails or export selected emails for your eDiscovery and compliance requirements. Google Apps Vault is completely web-based, so there is no requisite to install or maintain any other application in support of the tool. The Vault is not available for free, Google charges $5/month for 1 user.

Top Most Feature Provided by Google Apps Vault :

• Email and Chat Archiving – A user can customize retention rules to control, how long email messages & chats sustain, before they are removed permanently from user mailboxes.
• Drive File Search – This function lets you search Google Drive results, including non-Google file types like DOCX, PDF, JPG, etc.
• Email Search – It is the most powerful function, and is preferred by users for email investigations that allow searching emails for a particular email account, keyword, or date. Google Vault also supports Gmail-specific, wildcard operators and Boolean searches.
• Export – It is the second most liked function used by Vault users to export selected emails or archived emails to a separate file.
• Audit Reports – Use Vault audit reports to find out about the activities that Vault users may have carried out during a specified time period.

How to Export Google Vault to Outlook PST?

There are two ways available, that you can use to perform Google Vault export to PST file. The first way is by using the Google Vault native export method. The second is by using modern professional tool. Both methods export Google Vault to PST format. Let’s discuss both of them step by step.

Manual Method to Perform Google Vault Export to PST

• Step 1. Log in to your Google Vault account and select “Matters.”
• Step 2. Click on “Create” to initiate a new matter within Google Vault.
• Step 3. Name the matter and proceed by clicking “Create.”
• Step 4. Choose the desired service (Gmail, Drive, Groups, or Chat) for email export.
• Step 5. Select the data source among options such as All data, held data, and unprocessed data.
• Step 6. Opt for a specific entry like All accounts, designated accounts, or organizational units for export.
• Step 7. Input the targeted email address for data export, apply filters if needed, then click “Search.”
• Step 8. Review your email data and select “Save” to proceed.
• Step 9. Assign a name to the Save Query and confirm by clicking “Ok.”
• Step 10. Use the “Count” option to tally the emails and mailboxes.
• Step 11. Click on “Export” to commence the process.
• Step 12. Name the exported PST file from Google Vault.
• Step 13. Choose “PST” as the saving format from the dropdown menu.
• Step 14. Click “Download” to export Google Vault mailboxes to PST format for Outlook.

Limitations of Using the Manual Method

The manual methods have their own set of challenges in terms of time, customization, errors, scalability, compliance, automation, and connectivity dependency.

• Manual exporting from Google Vault to PST can be time-consuming, especially for large datasets.
• Limited customization options restrict specific data export criteria such as date-based data export etc.
• Technical expertise is often required to manage export settings and troubleshoot potential errors.
• Since the manual method is handed by humans, hence, chances of errors, interruptions, or mishandling can lead to data loss or corruption.
• Scalability challenges arise when handling vast amounts of data manually.
• Users can not fully address compliance and legal considerations using manual methods.
• The lack of automation and scheduling options in the manual approach makes recurring exports inconvenient.

In order to overcome all the above limitations, users can switch to automated software. Let’s discuss it in the coming section.

Export Outlook PST from Google Vault Using Reliable Solution

The most efficient and fastest method for exporting Google Vault emails is by using an automated tool such as SysTools Google Vault Downloader. This utility is capable of exporting emails as well as documents from Google Vault in just a few clicks. Moreover, during the export process, the tool provides multiple features such as category filters, date-range filters, quick user fetch options, etc.

Following are the step-by-step methods to export vault emails into PST format:

Step 1. Download the tool from the below button and launch it on your machine

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Step 2. Go to the Activation tab from the left panel and enter the activation code of the tool, otherwise, skip to use the demo version.

Step 3. Next from the destination section, select the Outlook (PST) format.

Step 4. Go to the workload section and select the category of items that need to be exported.

Step 5. In the source tab, enter the Google Vault Admin ID, Application ID, and P12 file path. If you haven’t created the project yet, the click on Project Settings button in the tool window to get the steps. Click on the Validate button for the authentication.

Step 6. In the destination tab, browse the location where you wish to save the exported vault emails and click on the Validate button.

Step 7. Next, choose the option to enter the user ID whose vault emails need to be exported. The tool provides two options: Fetch users and import CSV.

Step 8. After successfully fetching the user, select the users whose data needs to be exported, and apply priority.

Step 9. Finally, click on the Validate button for the authentication of user IDs and then click on the Start Download button.

Have You Already Archived Google Vault Data?

If a user deletes precious emails permanently by mistake, then it can be restored using Google Vault.  Generally, deleted data can be recovered within 25 days (default retention period) of deletion, through the Google Admin Console. But once the retention period gets exceeded, the Gmail messages covered by the retention rule can be restored using the Vault.

Some users export Google vault emails into MBOX and they are left with a local file containing all the mailbox items which is incompatible with the Microsoft Outlook platform.

Suitable Way to Open and View Emails from Exported Files

1. Using Desktop Email Clients: MBOX is a reliable format to hold a number of emails and can be opened using; Mozilla Thunderbird, Entourage, Apple Mail, Eudora, etc.
2. Export Google Vault to PST: It is the best solution if you want to view your Google Vault archive file with MS Outlook. Just export the file to Outlook PST file using a commercial MBOX to Outlook Converter Tool. It will simply move your entire emails to Outlook PST file, keeping their metadata (to, cc, bcc, date, etc.) and attachments intact, throughout.

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed about Google Vault and how to export its data to PST. For MS Outlook users it is better to use the above-mentioned tool that further makes it possible for them to access exported Vault emails in MS Outlook. If you still have any confusion, please feel free to comment about the same, below and we will be there to answer all your concerns.