How to Cancel a Stuck PST Import Job in Office 365

Learn how to stop or remove an ongoing PST import job in Office 365 that is stuck on “import in progress” for a long time.

Problem

If you are trying to import a PST file into an Exchange Online mailbox, you may encounter a situation where the import job gets stuck and does not finish. This can happen due to various reasons, such as a corrupted PST file, a wrong CSV file, or a network issue. In this article, you will learn how to cancel a stuck PST import job in Office 365 using PowerShell or the Microsoft 365 admin center.

What is a PST Import Job?

A PST import job is a process of uploading PST files from your local computer or network to Office 365 and mapping them to the corresponding mailboxes. PST files are Outlook data files that store email messages, contacts, calendars, and other items. You can use PST import jobs to migrate your data from on-premises Exchange servers or other email systems to Office 365.

How to Check the Status of a PST Import Job?

You can check the status of a PST import job in two ways:

Method 1: Using PowerShell

You can use the Get-MailboxImportRequest cmdlet to view the details of all PST import requests in your organization. You can also use the -Status parameter to filter the requests by their status, such as Queued, InProgress, Completed, or Failed. For example, to view all PST import requests that are in progress, you can run the following command:

Get-MailboxImportRequest -Status InProgress

Method 2: Using the Microsoft 365 admin center

You can use the Import data to Office 365 page in the Microsoft 365 admin center to view the status of your PST import jobs. You can access this page by going to Data migration > Import PST files. You can see the name, status, start time, and end time of each PST import job. You can also click on a job name to see more details, such as the number of PST files, the total size, and the progress percentage.

How to Stop or Remove a Stuck PST Import Job?

If you find that a PST import job is stuck on “import in progress” for a long time, you may want to stop or remove it and start a new one. You can do this in two ways:

Solution 1: Using PowerShell

You can use the Remove-MailboxImportRequest cmdlet to delete a PST import request. You can use the -Identity parameter to specify the name of the request, or the -Status parameter to delete all requests with a certain status. For example, to delete all PST import requests that are in progress, you can run the following command:

Remove-MailboxImportRequest -Status InProgress

You can also use the Suspend-MailboxImportRequest cmdlet to pause a PST import request. You can use the same parameters as the Remove-MailboxImportRequest cmdlet. For example, to pause all PST import requests that are in progress, you can run the following command:

Suspend-MailboxImportRequest -Status InProgress

To resume a suspended PST import request, you can use the Resume-MailboxImportRequest cmdlet with the same parameters.

Solution 2: Using the Microsoft 365 admin center

You can use the Import data to Office 365 page in the Microsoft 365 admin center to stop or remove a PST import job. You can do this by clicking on the Cancel job button next to the job name. This will delete the job and all the associated PST import requests. Alternatively, you can click on the job name and then click on the Cancel import button to cancel the import process for a specific PST file.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Question: How long does it take to import a PST file to Office 365?

Answer: The time it takes to import a PST file to Office 365 depends on several factors, such as the size of the PST file, the network bandwidth, the number of concurrent PST import jobs, and the performance of the Office 365 servers. According to Microsoft, it may take several hours or even days to import a large PST file.

Question: How can I prevent PST import errors in Office 365?

Answer: You can prevent PST import errors in Office 365 by following some best practices, such as:

• Make sure that the PST file is not corrupted, password-protected, or encrypted.
• Make sure that the CSV file is correctly formatted and matches the PST file name and the mailbox name.
• Make sure that the network connection is stable and has enough bandwidth.
• Make sure that the mailbox has enough storage space and does not exceed the quota limit.
• Make sure that the PST import job does not conflict with any other data migration or retention policies.

Question: How can I monitor the progress of a PST import job in Office 365?

Answer: You can monitor the progress of a PST import job in Office 365 by using the Get-MailboxImportRequestStatistics cmdlet in PowerShell or the Import data to Office 365 page in the Microsoft 365 admin center. You can see the progress percentage, the number of items imported, the number of items skipped, and the status message of each PST import request.

Summary

In this article, you learned how to cancel a stuck PST import job in Office 365 using PowerShell or the Microsoft 365 admin center. You also learned how to check the status of a PST import job, how to prevent PST import errors, and how to monitor the progress of a PST import job. We hope this article was helpful and informative. If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. You should always consult with your IT administrator before performing any data migration or import tasks. We are not responsible for any data loss or damage that may occur as a result of following this article.