Migrate ZDB Files to Office 365 – Step By Step Most Secure Way Discussed

This write-up endeavors to provide you with a comprehensive step-by-step solution to migrate ZDB to Office 365. If you have a similar query then, follow along with this article and discover the best way to execute this task without facing any error or data loss.

The Zimbra Connector for Outlook (ZCO) delivers real-time, two-way synchronization of the user mailbox between Outlook & Zimbra accounts. ZCO stores a copy of your account data on your computer system in a database called a ZDB.

Now, ZDB stands for Zimbra Database File and it stores the entire account information such as emails, contacts, calendars, tasks, notes, journals, and user-created folders.

However, there are several scenarios & drawbacks that can be overseen in smaller enterprises, they might appear to be major deficiencies in a larger organization while using the Zimbra email client. 

Let’s learn more about the reasons behind the shift toward Office 365.

Why Do Users Want to Migrate ZDB to Office 365?

Zimbra is an open-source, fast, & lightweight email client, it is being used by various small business organizations across the web. However, when the requirements of organizations become more complex, they have to compromise in terms of functionality if they want to stick with it. Moreover, the filters & search facilities are fairly inflexible if compared to Microsoft 365 suite. 

Whereas, Microsoft 365 formerly known as Office 365 is a unified business productivity suite that offers various cloud software solutions. It provides a consistent experience while accessing e-mails, contacts, and documents, across any device which is connected to the internet.

It comes on a subscription basis with various smart features & regular security updates. Being a cloud-based suite, many business organizations find it more adaptable to scale and descale as per their business needs. 

Whereas, several users have experienced issues with synchronization and the necessary account configuration which led to Zimbra migration to Office 365.

Not only does Office 365 take care of all such problems, but it has also been designed in such a way that it can cater to organizations of all types.

Note: Before moving on to the solution, you must perform this step. Follow the following steps:

1. First, navigate to the directory where you have saved ZDB files:
   For example: C:\Users\Admin\Documents\Outlook Files\Abc.zdb
2. Make a copy of your ZDB files in a different location as a backup.
3. Change the.zdb file extension to .pst and save the file.
4. Now, you can load the PST file in the below-mentioned utility.

Best Way to Migrate ZDB to Office 365 Effortlessly

Once, you have changed the .zdb file extension to the .pst extension, now you can easily migrate them to Office 365 by using the SysTools Office 365 Import Tool. It is industry-leading software that allows users to migrate ZDB files including emails, contacts, calendars, and tasks to Office 365 efficiently. 

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Top 5 Smart Features Of This Software

It comprises various modern features that help users for a safe & reliable data transfer, some of them are mentioned below. 

1. Import ZDB to Admin & User Accounts

You can easily import ZDB files into an Office 365 account using this software. It allows users to import multiple ZDB files into respective Office 365 user or admin accounts. The software automatically authenticates the account & allows you to easily transfer PST files to Office 365 Webmail. 

2. Import ZDB files selectively

With the help of this tool, you can import selective data to the respective O365 accounts. 

• Category Based Selective Migration: Using this feature, you can migrate specific mailbox category items, you can select the required mailbox items such as email, contact calendars & tasks. 
• Date-based Selective Migration: Further, you can apply this date filter on mailbox items, it allows you to migrate only those data that fall within a specific date range that you specify.

3. Incremental Migration

One of the most remarkable features of this tool is that it supports Incremental Migration. It means, that if any user has already migrated ZDB file into Office 365 once, then in the next attempts, the software will only migrate those data which has not been migrated previously.

4. Pause and Resume Option

It is one of the most loved features of this tool, as it allows you to Pause the ongoing migration if anything goes wrong or unexpected. Furthermore, you can Resume the process again after resolving your concerns and in this way, It can greatly save your time.

5. Generates Migration Report

It generates a summary and a detailed report at the post-migration stage which shows the completed migration counts of emails, contacts, calendars, etc, & the failed migration counts too.  In a nutshell, the user can receive a detailed report of the process of importing ZDB files to Office 365 online.

Also Read About: Free ZDB Viewer to Read ZDB File on Windows

Software Steps to Migrate ZDB Files to Office 365

Step 1. Opt for Outlook as the source platform and Office 365 as the target platform.

Step 2. On the same screen, enable the required categories for import into Office 365 under Workload Selection.

Step 3. Utilize the Date-Range Filter to specifically import mailbox data based on chosen dates. Proceed by clicking Next.

Step 4. Navigate to the Source screen. From here, specify the folder path containing the Outlook PST files. Arrange PST files into folders named according to the respective O365 email IDs:

Establish folders in the root drive, such as E:/PST/[email protected]/ (place all of user1’s PST files here)

Then, choose the folder “E:/PST/” within our tool as the Import Folder Path.

Step 5. Click Validate to ensure the requisite permissions are granted to the files. Post-validation, permissions will be authorized for the source platform. Proceed by clicking Next.

Step 6. Input the Office 365 admin email account and application ID for the destination. Click Validate to verify the credentials. Upon validation, permissions will be granted to the admin account. Click Next.

Step 7. On the Users screen, various options exist to include users from the source account requiring processing:

• Fetch Users – Automatically retrieves users from the Source.
• Import Users – Imports users through CSV.
• Download Template – Downloads a template for generating a CSV file.

Select the appropriate method for adding users.

Step 8. The list of source users is showcased on the screen. You can search for a particular mailbox and choose that user for data import. Employ the Show Selected toggle bar to show only the chosen users, streamlining selective data import.

Step 9. Users are now required to add destination user accounts. Two options are available:

• User List Template – Offers a sample CSV file for manually adding source users.
• Import Users-  Imports users through CSV.

Step 10. Click Validate to authorize the selected source and destination user accounts. Once validation is completed, click the “OK” button.

Step 11. Users can prioritize the import task. Choose accounts based on priority, as illustrated in the image.

Step 12. Finally, click the Start Import button to import ZDB files to Office 365.

Must Read: Best ZDB File Converter for ZDB to Multiple Format Conversion

Final Words

Organizations’ needs are getting complex nowadays, and Office 365 suite is fulfilling the same in a more unified way. Hence, ZDB to Office 365 migration is quite a common scenario. Understanding the users’ pain in executing this task, this article describes the utmost way to migrate ZDB to Office 365. 

You can also avail the free demo of this software and it will allow you to migrate two user accounts ZDB data into Microsoft 365.