Batch migration of Exchange mailboxes using CSV file

Megha Sharma    Megha Sharma     Updated On - 10 Apr 2019

Many times, Exchange administrators have to move mailboxes in bulk to a different database. Manually moving them would be a difficult task. So, you need a different approach to migrate multiple mailboxes. That is why you need to perform a batch migration. Batch migration involves the use of a CSV file containing both the source and target details, like username, address, password, etc.


Here, we are providing the procedure of batch migration in Exchange Server 2013.

  1. Open Exchange admin center (EAC). Navigate to recipients > mailboxes, click more (…) and select Export data to a CSV file.
  2. Select the data (given as column names) for the export and click export to continue.
  3. A CSV file with all the mailboxes details is created and is saved in the Downloads location of the system. You can add or remove any mailbox from the list. The CSV file in notepad will be seen like this.
  4. Now, go to the migration tab, click + and select Move to a different database.
  5. In the new local mailbox move page, select Specify the users with a CSV file radio button. Click Choose File to add the CSV file.
  6. Note: If you come across an error asking to add email address column, modify the CSV file as shown and try adding it again.

  7. Now, the CSV file is added, click on Next to progress.
  8. Enter New migration batch name, select the required options, add the Target database and click Next.
  9. In Start the batch page, select the mailbox for receiving the migration report. Select the migration options and click new.
  10. The mailbox synchronization gets started. After some time, the migration gets completed displaying the Completed status.

This manual way to migrate data from one database to another database is feasible but takes too much time; also, it and does not use any filters for selective migration. Risk of data loss is always there during the migration. Also, you cannot perform migration to other destinations like Office 365. That is why professional Exchange migration tools like Kernel Migrator for Exchange are preferred for bulk mailbox migration to Office 365.

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With Kernel Migrator for Exchange (KME), batch migration is easier. In KME, you need to create a migration project and then a migration job, which involves the addition of a source and subsequent selection of mailboxes as shown below.

Instead of proceeding with the manual selection of mailboxes, you can use the Import from CSV option of the tool to add mailboxes. This is the sample CSV file which you have to create. With such a CSV file, the addition of mailboxes is easier.

Once you add the destination for migration, you can map the source mailboxes with the destination mailboxes as shown below:

The Map button of the dialogue box provides multiple options to map the mailboxes.

When you click the Map using CSV option in the software, the Select CSV to Map wizard gets opened. Browse and select the mapping CSV file. Finally, click OK.

Note: This is the sample of the CSV file that you can use for mapping.

After the mapping, you can proceed with the migration as usual.


Here, we have discussed the native and professional ways to migrate a batch of mailboxes to the target. Limitations of the manual way are also mentioned. You can easily understand how an advanced tool is more beneficial for Exchange administrators.

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