How to Restore a Mailbox from an Exchange Server 2013

Restoring mailboxes in Exchange Server 2013 can be a critical task, especially if you have lost important data due to corruption or accidental deletion. Right here, you will learn how to serve this job. This guide focuses on different methods and approaches to restore a mailbox on the Exchange Server 2013. It will, therefore, help you recover the Exchange Server quickly and offer a simple way to resolve any related issue.

After having a brief understanding of Exchange Server 2013 and the way it works, let us consider the need to recover it. At times, mailboxes may become inaccessible possibly because of a hardware failure, corrupted database, or mistakes made by the users. Luckily, you can leverage numerous built-in and third-party utilities to restore mailboxes quickly.

Method 1: Restoring Mailbox via Microsoft Exchange Admin Center (EAC)

The Exchange Admin Center (EAC) is a graphical user interface that can help recover a mailbox. The steps below will help you to restore a mailbox:

1. Open the EAC to enter your administrator’s username and password.
2. Go to the Recipients -> Mailboxes.
3. In particular, look for the mailbox you want to recover under the disconnected mailboxes tab.
4. To connect, right-click the mailbox and then click on the connect tab.
5. Select mailbox type (user, shared, etc.).
6. Follow the displayed instructions to continue with the recovery process.

As you can infer, the EAC offers a straightforward procedure for reconnecting disconnected mailboxes. Still, this procedure may help only if the mailbox is not overly large or the database is not severely corrupt. 

This method can be useful for small or moderately sized mailboxes or if the database is free from corruption. For larger mailboxes or more significantly corrupted databases, Exchange Management Shell can be a better alternative.

Method 2: Restoring Mailbox via Exchange Management Shell

Here is how you can restore a disconnected mailbox using the Exchange Management Shell:

1. Log on to the Exchange Management Shell of your Exchange Server recovery.
2. Identify the disconnected mailboxes by running the following command:

Get-MailboxStatistics -Database “MailboxDatabase” | Where-Object { $_.DisconnectDate -ne $null }

This command shows all disconnected mailboxes that belong to a given mailbox database.

1. Once you identify the mailbox, you can reconnect it using the cmdlet below:

Connect-Mailbox -Identity “User Mailbox” -Database “MailboxDatabase” -User “Domain\User”

Replace User Mailbox and MailboxDatabase with the actual names of the mailbox and database.

The method to restore mailbox through Exchange Management Shell is suitable for administrators who prefer shell operations and require more recovery options. However, this process may not be effective in more severely affected databases.

Limitations of Manual Methods

While the methods involving EAC and EMS can resolve several issues arising with mailbox recovery, they have some limitations:

• Time-Consuming: These methods can take considerable time to restore big databases. 
  
• Risk of Data Loss: In the case of a heavily infected database, the manual approach may lead to a loss of data in the system.
  
• Complexity: Tackling several situations needs adept technical expertise, this may be hard for an inexperienced user. 

In such circumstances, third-party recovery tools like Stellar Repair for Exchange can be more efficient.

Method 3: Mailbox Recovery Using Stellar Repair for Exchange

Stellar Repair for Exchange is a professional exchange recovery tool used to perform mailbox recovery from corrupt or inaccessible databases. It is a quick, simple, and efficient mode for the recovery of mailboxes.  

Key Features of Stellar Repair for Exchange

Mentioned here are some of the prominent features of this popular Exchange Server Recovery tool.

1. Recover Corrupted Databases: Anyone who has worked with MS Exchange will testify that it is almost impossible to repair mailboxes from damaged or inaccessible EDB files. This is why the application stands out from the manual fixes.
   
2. Granular Recovery: It can help to perform a single mailbox or item-level recovery, which includes restoring email messages, contact lists, and even calendar events without restoring the database.
   
3. Multiple File Formats: You can save data in multiple formats such as PST, MSG, HTML, PDF, RTF, and EML.
   
4. Preview Option: Before you start recovering the mailbox, Stellar enables the user to preview the recoverable items to gain confidence and correct the data you wish to recover.
   
5. Supports multiple versions: The tool is compatible with MS Exchange 2019, 2016, 2013, and previous versions
   
6. No Downtime: Stellar enables one to recover the mailbox without any effect on the Exchange Server.
   
7. User-Friendly Interface: The software is so easy to use that even novices do not require any guidance to work through the tool.
   
8. Fast and Efficient: As the tool works with large databases, the speed of its work is higher than manual methods of recovery.

How to Use Stellar Repair for Exchange for Mailbox Recovery?

Here are the simple steps to use this Exchange Server recovery tool to recover mailboxes.

1. Download the tool: Download and install Stellar Repair for Exchange software on your computer system.
   
2. Launch the Software: Run the software and locate the contaminated Exchange database known as the EDB file.
   
3. Scan the EDB File: The software will find out the mailboxes that are possible to restore and will list them in the file.
   
4. Preview the Mailboxes: Look at the recovered mailboxes and then pick the ones you wish to recover.
   
5. Recover the Mailboxes: Select the output option for which you wish to salvage the mailbox (PST, Live Exchange or Office 365 and go on to the actual recovery.

Despite having an advanced interface, Stellar Repair for Exchange is easy to use for mailbox recovery. This makes it the preferred software among professionals and amateurs. 

It supports Exchange of all types including Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2019, and other versions. Overall, it guarantees that you get a reliable solution in times of testing different complications.

Why Choose Stellar Repair for Exchange?

Methods involving EAC or EMS are appropriate only when you are dealing with smaller or less complicated recovery operations. Nevertheless, despite the effectiveness of these methods in small, complex cases, they are not ideal for complex recovery tasks. 

You can say that they have several drawbacks and are less suitable for restoring mailbox data from large or corrupted Exchange databases. This is where Stellar Repair for Exchange can deliver excellent results. It provides a quick and accurate recovery solution without worrying about data loss. 

In the cases of corrupted databases, multiple disconnected mailboxes, or deleted data, Stellar Repair for Exchange gives you everything required for effective mailbox repair and restoration. It presents an efficient, automatic tool to perform rapid Exchange Server recovery.

To use this software for the recovery of Exchange mailboxes from large corporate databases, you can connect with Stellar today. You can buy any of your preferred versions of Stellar Repair for Exchange – Corporate, Technician, or Toolkit. It will surely set you free from worries related to your database protection.