Archiving provides mailboxes with additional mailbox storage space. By default, online mailbox archiving (also known as in-place archiving) is turned off for all mailboxes (for example Microsoft Office 365). When you enable an archive mailbox, the contents of your inbox are migrated to the archive mailbox in line with your archiving policy. In this blog post, we’ll see how to enable online archive in Office 365.
A mailbox can have up to 100GB of additional storage after enabling the archive. If you need more storage for a mailbox, you can utilize an auto-expanding archive. You may handle archiving using the admin center or PowerShell. Let’s have a look at how to manage your online archive mailbox in Office 365.
What is Outlook Online Archive
Let’s first take a closer look at what Outlook Online Archive is in order to better understand the requirements and usage guidelines for the Online Archive. Additionally, how it differs from a normal archive.
Note: The documentation uses many names for the Outlook Online Archive. It is also known as Exchange Online Archive or In-Place Archive.
It functions as an online archive mailbox, as the name implies. This provides the Exchange Online Archive with a few crucial characteristics such as:
- It can only be accessed with an internet connection
- The user’s computer doesn’t store any data which as a result saves disk space.
- It is a separate mailbox.
Online Archive vs Archive folder
An Archive folder is included with each Outlook mailbox. Users can click the Archive button or move emails to their archive folder to clear out their inboxes. The difference between the Archive folder and the Online Archive is that the Archive folder is a part of the user’s main mailbox. This indicates that the mailbox size is not reduced and that the search result still shows email items from the archive.
You can also archive your mail to local PST files, but you must ensure that they are backed up. Otherwise, you risk losing data if the user’s device is lost or the hard drive crashes. PST files can also only be accessed from the computer where the PST file is located, whereas the online archive can also be accessed from Outlook Online or the Outlook App.
Online Archive Size Limit
It’s worth noting that the 1.5TB archive limit does not apply to the initial archive size. The initial capacity of the online archive is 100 GB. When the sole archive is nearly full (at 90%), auto-expanding archiving can be used to increase it.
This will increase the archive’s storage limit by 100 GB till it reaches 1.5 TB. Keep in mind that the additional storage capacity may not be available for up to 30 days.
Note: Journaling and bulk archiving techniques (such as transport rules) can no longer be utilized with Online Archive mailboxes. Microsoft has set a daily growth limit of 1 GB for archiving mail. The archive mailbox can only be accessed by the individual user or shared mailbox to which it is assigned.
Features of Online Archive
Online Archive is available in two versions: Exchange Online and Exchange Server. Each has its own unique features but we’ll be outlining a few general features. The variations are minor. It’s practically the same for non-administrative users.
The following features are included in the list:
- Messages from.pst files can be moved.
- Using the Outlook Import and Export wizard to import messages.
- Messages are moved from the primary mailbox (either manually or automatically using Retention Tags and Retention Policies).
- Recover deleted emails (through Deleted Items or Recover Deleted Items).
- Redundant mailbox servers.
- We won’t see it, but our mailbox is replicated across multiple Microsoft data centers.
- We don’t need to sign in to Online Archive separately because of Autodiscover. We receive it automatically in Outlook.
Additionally, many security and compliance features are supported by Online Archive. We will not go into detail because this post is not designed for admins. Now let’s dive right into how to enable online archive mailbox in Office 365.
Enable Archive Mailbox in Office 365
Exchange Online Archive is enabled for all of your users by default. If you want to use the online archive, you must enable it either per user or for your entire business. To enable it, we can use either the Microsoft Exchange Admin Center or PowerShell.
The main disadvantage of using the Exchange Admin Center is that you must enable it for each individual user:
- Open the Exchange Admin Center.
- Expand Recipients and then select Mailboxes.
- Click on the user and then on Others.
- Open Manage Mailbox Archive.
- Enable the Mailbox Archive.
Using PowerShell to enable Online Archive
If you only need to enable the archive mailbox for a few Office 365 users, these approaches are ideal. You can use PowerShell to enable the archive mailbox for all or a subset of your organization’s users.
Note: Before proceeding, ensure that you have installed the Exchange Online Module.
The online archive mailbox must be activated for each mailbox. The benefit of using PowerShell is that we can quickly choose all users or a specific group of users. To begin, open PowerShell and connect to Exchange Online:
# Connect to Exchange Online
Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName [email protected]’The following PowerShell command can be used to enable the archive mailbox for a single user:
Enable-Mailbox -Identity [email protected] -ArchiveAfter you enable the Online Archive, it will appear in Outlook beneath the primary mailbox. The user may need to restart Outlook before they can access the online archive.
To enable the archive mailbox for all users, we must first obtain all mailboxes that lack an archive GUID, indicating that an archive mailbox is not active. And then limit the option to only user mailboxes.
# You can first verify the list of mailboxes with:
Get-Mailbox -Filter {ArchiveStatus -Eq "None" -AND RecipientTypeDetails -eq "UserMailbox"} | ft# Enable archive mailbox for all users:
Get-Mailbox -Filter {ArchiveStatus -Eq "None" -AND RecipientTypeDetails -eq "UserMailbox"} | Enable-Mailbox -ArchiveRead Also
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Enable Auto-Expanding Archive
If your license allows it, you can enable auto-expanding archives when your online archive runs out of space. The Auto-Expanding Archive feature can be enabled for the entire tenant or a single user. However, there are several limitations that you should be aware of before allowing it:
- You can’t disable it once you’ve enabled it.
- When an auto-expand archive is activated for a mailbox, recovering or restoring it is not possible. To restore it, you’ll need to use content search (or a third-party backup service).
- It may take up to 30 days before more storage is made available.
To activate auto-expanding archives for all users in your tenant, ensure that you are connected to Exchange Online in PowerShell and perform the following command:
# Connect to Exchange Online
Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName [email protected]# Enable auto-expanding archive
Set-OrganizationConfig -AutoExpandingArchiveYou may check the setting by using the following command:
Get-OrganizationConfig | select AutoExpandingArchiveEnabledWhen you allow auto-expanding for your organization, it will be enabled for both new and existing mailboxes in your tenant.
Given the limitations and impossibility of restoring inactive mailboxes, it is sometimes preferable to activate the expanding archive only for selected users. Connect to Exchange Online again and enable the growing online archive for a mailbox using:
# Enable it for a single mailbox
Enable-Mailbox [email protected] -AutoExpandingArchiveUsing the Exchange Online Archive
Mailbox items are archived in accordance with policies. The default policy, which applies to all mailbox folders, is to move the item (email) to the online archive after two years. It’s useful to know that your inbox’s organizational structure is immediately recreated in the Online Archive. So, for example, if you have a subdirectory Invoice in your Inbox, you will get the same subfolder in the Online Archive.
Manually move items to Online Archive
Items can also be manually moved to the Online Archive. This is useful when you need to clean out your mailbox or run out of storage space.
- Choose the items to be moved to the Online Archive.
- Right-click on the objects you’ve chosen.
- Select Move, then the Inbox – Online Archive folder.
If you use the Archive button in the toolbar, the selected items will be moved to the archive folder in the primary inbox.
Conclusion
Enabling an online archive in Office 365 provides numerous benefits, such as additional mailbox storage space and improved mailbox management. By understanding the features and differences between Outlook Online Archive and the Archive folder, users can make informed decisions on organizing and accessing their emails effectively.
With an initial capacity of 100GB, online archives can be expanded using auto-expanding archiving, providing up to 1.5TB of storage. It’s important to note that online archive mailboxes have limitations regarding journaling, bulk archiving, and a daily growth limit of 1GB. However, they offer convenience, as they can be accessed from multiple devices through Outlook Online or the Outlook App.
