How to Enable or Disable an Archive Mailbox in Office 365

Updated On - December 22, 2022 by Nasir Khan |

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Several Office 365 users can’t get the benifit of archive mailbox because they don’t know the process to enable or disable an archive mailbox in Office 365. If you’re also unware of this, then this write-up is for you.

Archiving mailboxes in Microsoft Office 365 (also known as In-Place Archiving) provides users with additional mailbox storage space. An archive mailbox provides an alternate storage location to users for storing old messaging data. In-Place Archiving helps you regain control of your organization’s messaging data and eliminates need for MS Outlook PST files. Also, In-Place Archiving allows meet your organization’s message retention and eDiscovery requirements.

After turning ON archive mailboxes, user’s current mailbox becomes primary mailbox and an additional mailbox is created known as Archive Mailbox. With archiving enabled, users can store messages in an archive mailbox that can be accessed with MS Outlook and Outlook on Web.

This article discusses the following ways to enable or disable an archive mailbox in Office 365:

1. In Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal
2. Using PowerShell
3. Using Exchange Admin Center (EAC) or Exchange Management Shell
4. In the Security and Compliance Center

Method 1: Enable an Archive Mailbox Using Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal

Perform the following steps to enable an archive mailbox using Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal:

1. Visit Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal and sign in.
2. In the left pane of the compliance portal, select Data lifecycle management > Archive.
   On the Archive page, the Archive mailbox column identifies whether an archive mailbox is enabled or disabled for the user.
   Note: The Archive page displays information for 500 users. Use search box to find the desired username.
3. In the list of mailboxes, select the user to enable their mailbox for archiving. Click Enable archive.
   
   A warning message appears stating “If you enable the archive mailbox, items in the user’s mailbox that are older than the archiving policy assigned to the mailbox will be moved to the new archive mailbox”.
4. Click Enable to confirm.
   Creation of archive mailbox might take a few moments, once created Enabled is displayed in the Archive mailbox column for the selected user. It is recommended to refresh the page to see the change of status.

Disable an Archive Mailbox Using Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal

The way you enable an archive mailbox, use the Archive page in Microsoft Purview compliance portal to disable a user’s archive mailbox. Perform the following steps to disable an archive mailbox using Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal:

1. Visit Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal and sign in.
2. In the left pane of the compliance portal, select Data lifecycle management > Archive.
   On the Archive page, the Archive mailbox column identifies whether an archive mailbox is enabled or disabled for the user.
   Note: The Archive page displays information for 500 users. Use search box to find the desired username.
3. In the list of mailboxes, select the user to disable their mailbox for archiving. Click Disable archive.

After you disable an archive mailbox, you can reconnect it to the user’s primary mailbox within 30 days of disabling it. The original contents of the archive mailbox will get restored. After 30 days, contents of original archive mailbox will be permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. So, if you re-enable archive more than 30 days after disabling it, a new archive mailbox will be created.

Method 2: Using Exchange Online PowerShell to Enable or Disable Archive Mailboxes

Using Exchange Online PowerShell to enable or disable archive mailboxes, you can quickly enable or disable the archive mailbox for all users in the organization.

Enable an Archive Mailbox Using Exchange Online PowerShell

Perform the following steps to enable an archive mailbox using Exchange Online PowerShell:

1. Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell.
2. Run the following command to enable the archive mailbox for a single user:
   Enable-Mailbox -Identity <username> -Archive
3. Run the following command to enable the archive mailbox for all users in your organization (whose archive mailbox is currently not enabled).
   Get-Mailbox -Filter {ArchiveGuid -Eq “00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000” -AND RecipientTypeDetails -Eq “UserMailbox”} | Enable-Mailbox -Archive

Disable an Archive Mailbox Using Exchange Online PowerShell

Perform the following steps to disable an archive mailbox using Exchange Online PowerShell:

1. Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell.
2. Run the following command to disable the archive mailbox for a single user:
   Disable-Mailbox -Identity <username> -Archive
3. Run the following command to disable the archive mailbox for all users in your organization (whose archive mailbox is currently enabled).
   Get-Mailbox -Filter {ArchiveGuid -Ne “00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000” -AND RecipientTypeDetails -Eq “UserMailbox”} | Disable-Mailbox -Archive

Method 3: Using Exchange Admin Center (EAC) to Enable or Disable Archive Mailboxes

Using Exchange Admin Center, you can enable or disable an archive mailbox in Office 365 for the users that already have a primary mailbox.

Enable an Archive Mailbox Using Exchange Admin Center (EAC)

Perform the following steps to enable an archive mailbox using Exchange Admin Center (EAC):

1. Login to your Office 365 account, click the app launcher icon, then click Admin.
2. Click Admin centers from the lower-left navigation of the Office 365 admin center, then click on Exchange option.
3. In the EAC, navigate to Recipients > Mailboxes.
4. Select a required mailbox that you want to archive, under In-Place Archive click Enable option in the details pane.
5. To perform bulk archives, select multiple mailboxes by using Shift and Ctrl keys. Click on More options in the details pane, then click Enable under Archive.
6. On Create In-Place Archive page, click OK to have Exchange automatically select a mailbox database for the archive or click Browse to specify one.

Disable an Archive Mailbox Using Exchange Admin Center (EAC)

Perform the following steps to disable an archive mailbox using Exchange Admin Center (EAC):

1. Login to your Office 365 account, click the app launcher icon, then click Admin.
2. Click Admin centers from the lower-left navigation of the Office 365 admin center, then click on Exchange option.
3. In the EAC, navigate to Recipients > Mailboxes. Select a required mailbox that you want to disable, under In-Place Archive click Disable option in the details pane.

Method 4: Enable Office 365 Archive Mailboxes in the Security and Compliance Center

Perform the following steps to enable an archive mailbox in the Security and Compliance Center:

1. Visit https://protection.office.com.
2. Login to Office 365 using your work or school account.
3. In the left pane of the Security & Compliance Center, click Data governance > Archive.
   The Archive page is displayed. The Archive mailbox column indicates whether an archive mailbox is enabled or disabled for each user.
4. In the list of mailboxes, select the user that you want to enable the archive mailbox for.
5. In the details pane for the selected user, click Enable.
6. Click Yes to enable the archive mailbox.

Disable Office 365 Archive Mailboxes in the Security and Compliance Center

Perform the following steps to disable an archive mailbox in the Security and Compliance Center:

1. Visit https://protection.office.com.
2. Login to Office 365 using your work or school account.
3. In the left pane of the Security & Compliance Center, click Data governance > Archive.
   The Archive page is displayed. The Archive mailbox column indicates whether an archive mailbox is enabled or disabled for each user.
4. In the list of mailboxes, select the user that you want to disable the archive mailbox for.
5. In the details pane for the selected user, click Disable.
6. Click Yes to disable the archive mailbox.

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• Exports all MS Outlook email items to Office 365 platform including email messages, notes, drafts, calendars, events, attachments, appointments, contacts, journals, etc.
• Exports archive and shared mailboxes to Office 365.
• Allows migrating unlimited Outlook PST files to Office 365.
• No file size limit to import Outlook PST file to Office 365.
• Allows migrating Outlook PST file to Live Exchange Server.
• Allows exporting bulk Outlook PST files to Office 365 platform or Live Exchange Server using CSV files.
• Allows users to apply filters like Date Range, Item Type, etc.
• Facilitates users with option to exclude empty and deleted folders.
• Allows skipping items that are already migrated to get rid of duplicity.
• Does not require installation of Microsoft Outlook on the computer system.
• No administrator privilege required to perform Outlook PST to Office 365 migration.
• Maintains the email properties, integrity and folder hierarchy of original data.
• Displays preview of mailboxes before exporting.
• Offers an easy-to-use, self-descriptive, easy-to-understand graphical user interface (GUI) to perform PST to Office 365 migration, no specific technical skills required. Even a novice or non-technical user can perform the Outlook PST files to Office 365 platform migration using this PST to Office 365 migrator.

Software Compatibility:

• Supports all versions of MS Outlook including MS Outlook 2019, MS Outlook 2016, MS Outlook 2013, MS Outlook 2010, MS Outlook 2007, MS Outlook 2003, MS Outlook 2000, and earlier versions.
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• Available as a free to download trial version. Free demo version saves only 30 items per folder. To save unlimited items per folder, purchase the full licensed version of the software.
• Safe to download and install the software, free from viruses and malware.

Steps to perform while performing PST to Office 365 Migration

Perform the following steps to migrate Outlook PST files to Office 365 using PST to Office 365 Migrator:

1. Download, install and Launch Regain PST to Office 365 migrator software.
2. Enter login credentials and select desired Outlook PST files to be exported to Office 365 platform.
3. Click Add button for adding Outlook PST files as source.
4. Click Add button for adding Office 365 mailbox as destination.
5. Map source mailboxes with destination mailboxes, click Set Filter and Migrate.
6. Select the type of migration among Archive mailbox, mailbox and Public folder, click Migrate.
7. Select filters to migrate specific data, click Start Migration to initiate the migration process.

The PST to Office 365 migrator will import all selected Outlook PST files to Office 365 platform or Live Exchange Server.

Conclusion

This article discusses methods to enable or disable an archive mailbox in Office 365 using three methods – using Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal, using PowerShell, and using Exchange Admin Center (EAC). Also, if you are looking for how to import Outlook PST files to Office 365, then this article suggests using third-party tool PST to Office 365. Download PST to Office 365 Migrator for free and check the functionalities offered by the utility. Purchase the full licensed version to avail full functionality of the software.