PST Import Service: Import Job Common Issues

By Ashwin Venugopal -

 











Issues That Affect PST Import Jobs

When utilizing the Import service in the Security & Compliance Center to bring PST files into user mailboxes within your organization, the final step in your process is to initiate the import job you have created. During the execution of the import process, you may encounter problems, including sluggish performance or the failure of the job. 

Import Job is Stuck Or Running Slowly

The Microsoft 365 Import service typically ingests PST files into mailboxes at a rate of around 24 GB daily. While this rate is common, it cannot be assured since the Import service operates within a shared environment that accommodates multiple tenants. 

Note- You should use the Import Service UI in Microsoft 365 to create new Import jobs. Using PowerShell for this task isn't supported. 

If your import process is slow or seems to be halted, the PST file may exceed the recommended maximum size of 20 GB. For the ongoing job, anticipate delays if the size surpasses 20 GB. For any further imports, verify the size of the PST file. If it is larger than 20 GB, look for and remove items that do not comply with your company's guidelines regarding age, size, and other criteria. Alternatively, consider dividing the PST into several smaller files.

When importing multiple PSTs into the same mailbox, the ingestion speed of each file will be influenced by the other files being imported one after the other into that mailbox. PST files imported into different target mailboxes do not impact the ingestion speed. 

Import Job Skipped Items Due to Errors

If there are corrupted items within the PST files, they are skipped during the import job. The number of skipped items is indicated in the Items Skipped (corrupted) column of the Status message in the Import Service UI. To fix the skipped items:
  1. Run Scanpst.exe to diagnose and fix the errors in the PST files.
  2. Upload the PST files again to the Azure storage location. 
  3. Create a new import job to import the PST files.
Note- If you reimport the PST into the same target root folder, items that have already been imported will be skipped, and no duplicates will be created. 

Import Job Fails with "MapiExceptionShutOffQuotaExceeded" Error

The "MapiExceptionShutoffQuotaExceeded" error is triggered when the amount of data being imported exceeds the available space in the destination mailbox during the import process. 

When the destination mailbox is an archive mailbox, it is possible to import a maximum of 100 GB of data from PST files into it. However, you cannot activate the auto-expansion feature for the archive mailbox because it does not work with PST import and migration scenarios. 

To avoid this error for future import jobs, make sure that you do the following:
  1. Check the available space in the target mailbox, and the size of the source PST file. 
  2. If the total size of the PST files is greater than the available space in the target mailbox, delete unnecessary data. 
  3. Upload the data PST files, and create a new import job to import the PST files.  
However, if you have to import more than 100 GB of data or increase the available space in the target mailbox, contact Microsoft Support to have your scenario evaluated. 

Conclusion

The common import job issues are resolved. 











































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