Enable and Monitor Microsoft 365 Mailbox Archiving

Having trouble managing your Microsoft 365 mailbox storage? Learn how to enable and monitor mailbox archiving to better organize your email data and gain additional storage capacity.

Alternative Names

• Exchange Online Archiving
• In-Place Archiving
• Online Archive
• Auto-Expanding Archive

Affected Systems

Storage limits vary by license type:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic/Standard: 50GB mailbox + 50GB archive
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium: 50GB mailbox + 1.5TB archive (auto-expandable)
• Office 365/Microsoft 365 E3: 100GB mailbox + 1.5TB archive (auto-expandable)

Resolution Steps

1. Navigate to the Exchange admin center
   • Go to Exchange admin center
   • Select the target mailbox
   • Take note of current mailbox usage
2. Enable the archive
   • Go to Others tab Manage mailbox archive
   • Enable Mailbox archive status
   • Choose a name for the archive folder
3. Accelerate the archive process (Optional)

   # Import the Exchange Online Management module
   Import-Module ExchangeOnlineManagement
   
   # Connect to Exchange Online
   Connect-ExchangeOnline
   
   # Prompt for mailbox email address
   $mailbox = Read-Host -Prompt "Enter the mailbox email address"
   
   # Start the archive process
   Write-Host "Starting managed folder assistant for $mailbox..."
   Start-ManagedFolderAssistant -Identity $mailbox
   
   # Check the progress of archiving
   Write-Host "`nChecking archive folder statistics..."
   Get-MailboxFolderStatistics -Identity $mailbox -FolderScope Archive | 
       Select-Object Name, FolderSize, ItemsInFolder |
       Format-Table -AutoSize
   
   # Monitor mailbox quota usage
   Write-Host "`nChecking mailbox statistics..."
   Get-MailboxStatistics -Identity $mailbox | 
       Select-Object DisplayName, TotalItemSize, TotalDeletedItemSize, ItemCount
   
   Write-Host "`nArchive process initiated. Please allow 5-30 minutes for changes to take effect."

Additional Notes

• The default retention policy moves items to archive after 2 years
• Archive storage doesn't count against the primary mailbox quota
• Auto-expandable archives (Premium and E3 licenses) will automatically increase storage as needed up to 1.5TB
• Users with Basic/Standard licenses should monitor their 50GB archive limit
• The archiving process can take several hours for large mailboxes
• Users can still access archived items through Outlook

Troubleshooting

If you don't see changes after 30 minutes:

1. Verify the archive is enabled correctly
2. Check the retention policy settings
3. Run Start-ManagedFolderAssistant again
4. Review the mailbox audit log for any errors

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