When something goes wrong with an Exchange database, most admins check backups, use Recovery Database, run ESEUtil if things are bad enough. That workflow handles a lot of situations. But it doesn’t cover everything and when you need granular mailbox-level access, or you simply can’t afford to run a hard repair against a production database, you start looking for alternatives.
That’s what led me to put Stellar Repair for Exchange through its paces. I wanted to see how it holds up in a realistic Exchange recovery scenario not just whether it runs, but whether it actually earns a place in the toolkit.
My Test Environment
Environment Details
- Microsoft Exchange Server 2019 CU15
- Windows Server 2022
- 16 GB RAM
- SSD Storage
- Sample EDB file: 10 GB
The database contained emails, attachments, contacts, calendar entries, deleted items, and shared mailbox data.
Common Recovery Scenario
To give this a proper test, I started with an EDB file that was already in a Dirty Shutdown state
Running:
eseutil /mh DB01.edb
returned:
State: Dirty Shutdown
Under normal circumstances, the next step would be a soft recovery attempt, with a hard repair on standby if that failed. But the whole point here was to see what Stellar Repair for Exchange could do, so I bypassed that route entirely and handed the EDB directly to the software.
Screenshot 1: ESEUtil /mh output confirming Dirty Shutdown state on DB01.edb
Installation
Setup was quick. The installer ran without issues, and I was inside the main interface within a couple of minutes, no configuration wizard to wade through, no prerequisites to chase down.
Browsing corrupt EDB file
The workflow follows a logical sequence: point it at your EDB file, and start scanning process.
What I noticed right away, No documentation to read before getting started, no PowerShell prerequisites to sort out first.
Screenshot 2: Stellar Repair for Exchange — main application window after launch
The tool offers two scan modes: Quick Scan for minor corruption, and Extensive Scan for more severe damage. I opted for Extensive Scan given the Dirty Shutdown condition.
Screenshot 3: Choosing between Quick Scan and Extensive Scan modes
Scanning the Database
With the EDB selected, I launched the scan and stepped back.
For a 10 GB database, the scan wrapped up in a reasonable amount of time. The UI stayed responsive throughout no hanging, no crashes.
Screenshot 4: Database scan in progress — real-time progress on a 10 GB EDB
It’s also worth flagging that the original database file is never touched during the process. If something goes sideways, you’re not making the situation worse.
Previewing Mailbox Contents
Once the scan finished, I spent time digging through the recovered mailboxes to see what had actually come back.
My usual approach at this stage is to start clicking around open a handful of emails, check a few attachments, confirm that the structure makes sense before trusting anything.
I checked each of the following:
- Email messages
- Attachments
- Calendar entries
- Contacts
- Tasks
- Notes
- Deleted Items
Everything was there. The Outlook-style folder layout made navigation feel natural, and none of the content looked garbled or truncated.
The preview feature ended up being one of the things I valued most. Being able to verify what’s actually recoverable before committing to an export matters.
Screenshot 5: Recovered mailbox contents in the Outlook-style preview pane
Saving Scan Information
This one is easy to overlook, but it’s genuinely useful.
After finishing the initial scan, I saved the session and came back to it later without having to rescan from scratch.
On a 10 GB database it saves some time. On a 50 GB or 100 GB database, this feature stops being a convenience and starts being a necessity.
Screenshot 6: Saving and reloading scan session data — no need to rescan
Exporting to PST
PST export was the first thing I tested, since it covers the most common recovery scenario.
I exported a few mailboxes and loaded the resulting PST files into Outlook. Folder hierarchy was intact, attachments opened fine, and calendar entries and contacts were right where they should be.
Clean output, no exceptions. That’s the standard you want to hold this kind of tool to.
Screenshot 7: Exporting recovered mailboxes to PST format
Screenshot 8: Mailbox Priority Settings — configure export order for critical users first
Export to Exchange Server
After PST, I moved on to direct Exchange Server export, the more operationally useful path in a real outage.
The mailbox mapping process was clean, and the mailbox priority feature caught my attention. Being able to push executive or critical mailboxes to the front of the export queue is exactly the kind of thing that matters when leadership is calling during an outage.
Any admin who has had to explain why the CTO’s mailbox is still offline will appreciate having that option.
Screenshot 9: Direct export to live Exchange Server with mailbox mapping
Microsoft 365 Export
Given how many migrations are underway right now, I also ran the Microsoft 365 export path to see how it handles cloud destinations.
The tool supports automatic mapping, manual mapping, and parallel exports which covers most of the scenarios you’d run into when pushing data into a Microsoft 365 tenant.
The overall flow was intuitive and didn’t introduce extra steps just to justify itself.
Screenshot 10: Microsoft 365 Export Wizard with auto-mapping and parallel export options
Recovering Deleted Emails
I also spent some time with the deleted item recovery side of things, which is often where the real questions come up.
Deleted emails showed up in the preview and exported cleanly alongside everything else.
That’s relevant in any situation where someone realizes they need an item after it’s already gone from their mailbox, compliance requests, legal holds, or just a user who deleted something they shouldn’t have.
Screenshot 11: Deleted items visible in preview and available for export
Export Formats Beyond PST
Beyond PST, I ran a quick check on the other supported save formats.
- MSG
- EML
- HTML
- RTF
These aren’t formats I reach for regularly, but they have a clear place in compliance and eDiscovery workflows where PST isn’t always the right output.
Screenshot 12: Additional save formats — MSG, EML, PDF, HTML, and RTF alongside PST
Final Thoughts
After testing Stellar Repair for Exchange in a realistic recovery scenario, I found it to be a capable and practical solution for Exchange recovery. The combination of mailbox preview, scan resume, flexible export options, and mailbox prioritization helps simplify what is often a complex recovery process. While no tool can eliminate the challenges of Exchange database corruption, Stellar Repair for Exchange provides the control and flexibility administrators need to recover critical mailbox data quickly. If you’re responsible for managing an Exchange environment, it’s a tool worth having in your recovery toolkit before you need it.
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