Enable and configure archive mailboxes

Enabling and configuring archive mailboxes in Microsoft 365 Messaging provides a seamless solution for managing large volumes of mail. Archiving helps organizations comply with legal and regulatory requirements, optimize mailbox storage, and enhance overall productivity. In this article, we will explore how to enable and configure archive mailboxes using the features provided by Microsoft 365.

Enabling Archive Mailboxes:

To enable archive mailboxes, you need to follow these steps:

Step 1: Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell:

Launch PowerShell as an administrator and connect to Exchange Online using the following command:

#Connect to Exchange Online
$UserCredential = Get-Credential
$Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid/ -Credential $UserCredential -Authentication Basic -AllowRedirection
Import-PSSession $Session -DisableNameChecking

Step 2: Enable Archive Mailboxes for Users:

Once connected to Exchange Online PowerShell, you can enable archive mailboxes for individual users or a batch of users. To enable it for a single user, use the following command:

Enable-Mailbox -Identity -Archive


To enable archive mailboxes in bulk, you can use the commands:

$users = Get-Mailbox -Resultsize Unlimited -Filter {RecipientTypeDetails -eq "UserMailbox" -and ArchiveStatus -ne "Active"}
foreach ($user in $users) {
Enable-Mailbox $user.Identity -Archive
}

Note: Remember to replace <UserPrincipalName> with the actual user’s UPN.

Configuring Archive Mailboxes:

Once archive mailboxes are enabled, you can configure various settings to meet your organization’s requirements. Let’s explore some important configurations.

1. Retention Policies:

Retention policies are essential to manage the lifecycle of emails within archive mailboxes. These policies define how long mailbox items should be retained before they are automatically moved to the archive. To create a retention policy, you can use the following command:

New-RetentionPolicy -Name "ArchivePolicy" -RetentionPolicyTagLinks "Inbox1Week", "SentItems1Month", "DeletedItems30days" -Type Archive

This command creates a retention policy named “ArchivePolicy” and associates it with specific retention tags.

2. Retention Tags:

Retention tags specify the retention settings for different mailbox folders. For example, you can have different retention settings for the Inbox, Sent Items, or Deleted Items folders. To create a retention tag, use the following command:

New-RetentionPolicyTag -Name "Inbox1Week" -Type Inbox -RetentionEnabled $true -AgeLimitForRetention "7"

This command creates a retention tag named “Inbox1Week” with a retention period of 7 days for the Inbox folder.

3. Determine the Default Archive Policy:

To set a default policy for all archive mailboxes, you can use the following command:

Set-OrganizationConfig -DefaultArchivePolicy "ArchivePolicy"

This command sets the “ArchivePolicy” as the default archive policy for all users.

4. Assigning Archive Policies to Users:

To assign an archive policy to a user, you can use the following command:

Set-Mailbox -Identity -RetentionPolicy "ArchivePolicy"


Replace <UserPrincipalName> with the actual user’s UPN.

Conclusion:

Enabling and configuring archive mailboxes in Microsoft 365 Messaging is crucial for effective mailbox management. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can enable archive mailboxes for users and configure various settings such as retention policies, retention tags, default archive policies, and assignment of policies to users. Implementing these configurations will enhance compliance, optimize mailbox storage, and improve productivity within your organization.