How to Enable or Disable an Archive Mailbox in Office 365

In this article, we will guide you on how to enable or disable an Archive Mailbox in Office 365, using both the graphical user interface (GUI) and PowerShell.

Managing and organizing mailboxes has become increasingly important with the growing volume of emails. Microsoft’s Office 365, a popular cloud-based productivity suite, offers a feature called Archive Mailbox that allows users to store infrequently accessed or older emails in a separate location.

Enable or Disable an Archive Mailbox in Office 365

Before we dive into the steps, let’s explore the benefits of an Archive Mailbox and understand its purpose.

What is an Archive Mailbox?

An Archive Mailbox in Office 365 serves as a secondary mailbox that provides additional storage space for storing historical or less frequently accessed emails. It acts as a repository for older messages, allowing users to free up space in their primary mailbox without permanently deleting emails. The Archive Mailbox seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Outlook, making it easy to manage and access archived emails.

Why Use an Archive Mailbox? Enabling an Archive Mailbox offers several advantages for individuals and organizations:

1. Efficient Mailbox Management: Moving less critical emails to the Archive Mailbox helps declutter the primary mailbox, making it easier to locate important messages.
2. Improved Performance: Reducing the size of the primary mailbox enhances the performance of the email client, as it has to process a smaller volume of data.
3. Regulatory Compliance: Industries with strict data retention policies, such as finance and healthcare, can meet regulatory requirements by securely storing important communication for the required duration.

How to Enable or Disable an Archive Mailbox in Office 365

Now, let’s proceed with the steps to enable or disable an Archive Mailbox in Office 365 using both the GUI and PowerShell:

Enable or Disable an Archive Mailbox in Office 365

Enable archive mailbox Office 365 GUI

In-place archive Office 365 GUI

Enable archive mailbox Office 365 hybrid

1. Sign in to your Office 365 account using your credentials.
2. Access the Microsoft 365 admin center by navigating to the admin portal.
3. In the left-hand navigation pane, select “Admin centers,” and then click on “Exchange.”
4. The Exchange admin center will open. From the left-hand menu, choose “Recipients,” and then click on “Mailboxes.”
5. Select the desired mailbox for enabling the Archive Mailbox, and then click on “Enable.”
6. In the “Enable Archive Mailbox” dialog box, review the default settings or configure the desired options for the Archive Mailbox.
7. After making the necessary changes, click “Enable” to enable the Archive Mailbox for the selected user.

Enable or Disable an Archive Mailbox in Office 365

Disable archive mailbox Office 365 GUI

1. Follow steps 1 to 4 from the “Enabling an Archive Mailbox via GUI” section above to reach the Exchange admin center and select the desired mailbox.
2. Click on “Disable” to disable the Archive Mailbox for the selected user.
3. In the confirmation dialog box, click “Yes” to confirm the action.
4. Once disabled, the Archive Mailbox will no longer be available for the user.

Enable archive mailbox Office 365 PowerShell

In-place archive Office 365 via PowerShell

Enable archive mailbox powershell

Step 1: Open PowerShell on your computer.

Step 2: Connect to your Office 365 account using the following command:

Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName <UPN> -ShowProgress $true

Replace <UPN> with the user principal name of the account with administrative privileges.

Step 3: To enable the Archive Mailbox, use the following command

Enable-Mailbox -Identity <User> -Archive

Replace <User> with the name or email address of the user for whom you want to enable the Archive Mailbox.

Step 4: Close the PowerShell console once the command execution is complete.

Enable or Disable an Archive Mailbox in Office 365

Disable archive mailbox Office 365 PowerShell

Step 1: Open PowerShell on your computer.

Step 2: Connect to your Office 365 account using the following command:

Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName <UPN> -ShowProgress $true

Replace <UPN> with the user principal name of the account with administrative privileges.

Step 3: To disable the Archive Mailbox, use the following command:

Disable-Mailbox -Identity <User> -Archive

Replace <User> with the name or email address of the user for whom you want to disable the Archive Mailbox.

Step 4: Close the PowerShell console once the command execution is complete.

Note: PowerShell requires administrative privileges and the Exchange Online PowerShell module installed on your computer.

Enable or Disable an Archive Mailbox in Office 365

Manage Office 365 archive policy

1. Log in to the Office 365 admin center using your administrator credentials.
2. Access the Microsoft 365 compliance center by clicking on the “Admin” app launcher on the left side and selecting the “Compliance” app.
3. Within the compliance center, navigate to “Policies” in the left menu and choose “Retention” from the available options.
4. On the Retention page, you will find a list of retention policies. Click on the desired policy for management or create a new policy by selecting the “+ Create” button.
5. Inside the policy, configure the archive settings, such as specifying the retention period for different types of content like emails, documents, or other Office 365 data.
6. Define the conditions that trigger the content to be moved to the archive, such as specific dates, locations, or keywords.
7. Review additional policy options like deletion settings and exceptions.
8. Save the policy after making any necessary changes.
9. Assign the policy to specific users or groups by returning to the Retention page, selecting the policy, and clicking on the “Assign” button. Choose the relevant users or groups and save the modifications.
10. Regularly monitor the archive policy to ensure its effectiveness and make adjustments when required.

Enable or Disable an Archive Mailbox in Office 365

Office 365 archive mailbox size

The size of the archive mailbox in Office 365 depends on the type of user account and the subscription plan. Here are some general guidelines regarding the archive mailbox size in Office 365:

1. Exchange Online Plan 1: Users with Exchange Online Plan 1 typically have a default archive mailbox size of 100 GB.
2. Exchange Online Plan 2: Users with Exchange Online Plan 2 or Office 365 Enterprise E3/E5 plans enjoy the benefit of an unlimited archive mailbox size. This means that their archive mailbox can expand as needed without any specific size limitation.
3. Office 365 Business Essentials, Business Premium, and Microsoft 365 Business: Users with these plans do not have a separate archive mailbox. Instead, they can utilize the in-place archive feature in Exchange Online, which provides additional storage space for their primary mailbox. The size limit for the primary mailbox is usually set at 50 GB.

Expand Online archive in Office 365

Expand Online archive in Office 365 Powershell

1. Open the Exchange Online PowerShell module or connect to Exchange Online using remote PowerShell.
2. Execute the following command to retrieve a list of mailboxes along with their archive status:

Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited | Select Name, ArchiveStatus

3. Identify the specific mailbox for which you want to enable the archive.

4. Run the following command to enable the archive for the selected mailbox:

Enable-Mailbox -Identity <MailboxIdentity> -Archive

Replace <MailboxIdentity> with the actual identity of the mailbox, such as user@example.com.

5. Once the command is executed, the archive mailbox will be enabled for the designated user.

Expand Online archive in Office 365 Admin Portal

1. Sign in to the Office 365 admin center using your administrator credentials.
2. Navigate to the Exchange admin center.
3. Access the “Recipients” tab and choose “Mailboxes.”
4. Locate the mailbox you wish to expand and click on it to open the properties.
5. Switch to the “Mailbox Features” tab within the Mailbox properties window.
6. Find the “Archive” feature and enable it by clicking “Enable” or toggling the switch.
7. Save the changes to apply the modifications.

Upon completion of either method, the archive mailbox will be expanded, allowing the user to access it.

Recoverable items expand via Online archive

When you expand online archive recoverable items will also expand. It depends upon the size of the recoverable item and the Online archive/ In-place archive

To expand the online archive you can read the above article.

Conclusion

By the above article, you will effectively Enable or Disable an Archive Mailbox in Office 365 whether you prefer the GUI or PowerShell, enabling or disabling an Archive Mailbox can significantly contribute to efficient email management. Follow the step-by-step instructions provided in this article to take control of your email storage in Office 365.

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