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Learn How to Enable Online Archive Office 365 with Step By Step Guide

Mohit Jha | Modified: October 14, 2022 | Exchange Online, User Management | 5 Minutes Reading

The archiving of mailboxes is allowed in MS Office 365 so that users get additional mailbox storage space. This option is called In-Place Archiving. The archive mailbox also acts as an alternate storage location to store old data. Enabling or Disabling Archive Mailbox in Office 365 account can be implemented via Powershell command or through EAC (Exchange Admin Centre).

By default, the email in-place archive is disabled for all mailboxes. The user can enable it and use it to store messages. The email in-place archive can be accessed by the user with the help of Outlook Web App and Outlook. These applications help the user to view the messages quickly in the archive mailbox. Also, MS Office allows users to easily move/copy messages between the primary mailbox and the archive mailbox.

If you want to enable in-place archive Office 365 then read this guide and you will get to know the different methods using which anyone can easily enable / disable archive mailbox Office 365

Some Points Regarding the Email In-Place Archive

Before proceeding further, it is for the user’s knowledge that some points regarding the email in-place archive should be clear, as follows:

  • Every Exchange Online plan can have an in-place email archive.
    The email in-place archive is disabled by default for all users. Hence, an administrator must enable it to be accessed.
  • The contents of the email in-place archive are stored in the cloud. As in the Inbox, they are not synced to the local disk.
  • Only the Outlook version of the Professional Plus product has the email in-place archive visible. They may be present in other versions of Outlook, but they will not be displayed. Hence it is important to learn how to enable or disable an archive mailbox in Exchange Online Server.

Also Read: How to import PST into Office 365 account?

Manual Methods to Enable In-Place Archive Office 365 Mailboxes

There are some manual ways, that one can use for free without paying a penny to sort things out. Sure they do a good amount of technical intelligence, so for those endowed with such capabilities, such methods can prove a boon to enable archive mailbox in Office 365
Let’s start:

Method 1: Enable Archive Office 365 Using Exchange Admin Center (EAC)

  1. Sign in to the Office 365 account and click Admin.
  2. In the lower-left navigation pane, click Admin Centers -> Exchange.
  3. In the Exchange Admin Center (EAC), go to Recipients -> Mailboxes.
  4. Select the mailbox that you want to disable. You can select multiple mailboxes also to disable archive mailbox office 365.
  5. In the right-side details pane, click Disable which is under the In-Place Archive option.

 Disable Online Archive Mailbox Office 365 Through EAC

  1. The user has to log in to the Office 365 Admin Portal.
  2. In the lower-left corner of the window, select exchange to log into the Exchange Admin Center at //outlook.office365.com/ecp/
  3. Select Recipients -> Mailboxes
  4. Now select the mailbox for which you want to enable the in-place archive in Office 365.

    Note: Multiple inboxes can be selected to perform bulk archiving. The user has to use the Shift + Cntr keys to select multiple mailboxes. Click the More options in the detail pane and then click Enable under In-Place Archive.

  5. In the right-hand panel, select Enable under the In-place Archive heading
  6. You get a window asking ‘Are you sure you want to enable the archive?’ Select Yes.
  7. After some time, a new folder appears in Outlook Web and is named as In-Place Archive- or is visible in Outlook desktop as Online Archive- <name>.
  8. The archive is ready and the users can drag and drop items into the archive folder.

    Note: Under the in-place archive, the administrators can see an option to View Details. You will find the details of the mailboxes when you will select them.  This option may vary depending on the subscribed Exchange Online Plan.

Method 2: Enable Online Archive Office 365 Using PowerShell

The other method to enable in-place online archive mailbox Office 365 is through a PowerShell command.

  • The user has to connect the Exchange Online using Windows PowerShell. Use the enable-mailbox command to enable the archive for a particular mailbox-
    • Enable-Mailbox –Identity user@domain.com –Archive
  • To enable an archive for all user mailboxes, use the following command:
    • Get-Mailbox –Filter {ArchiveStatus –Eq “None” –AND RecipientTypeDetails –eq “UserMailbox”} | Enable-Mailbox –Archive

Method 2: Disable Online Archive Office 365 PowerShell

  • To disable an archive use the following PowerShell command-
    • Disable-Mailbox –Identity user@domain.com –Archive

Disadvantages of Manual Methods for Enabling / Disabling  Online Archive Office 365

The manual methods are time-consuming and lengthy processes whereas the user has to have the technical expertise to execute the commands. The question “How to enable archive mailbox in Office 365 using PowerShell” still remains the question. Hence, in a nutshell, the manual way to enable or disable an archive mailbox in Exchange Online server is difficult to interpret so it’s better to automate the process through some tool.

Most Reliable Way to Archive Mailboxes in Exchange Online Office 365

One of the best-automated approaches to exporting archive mailboxes in Exchange Online is using SysTools Office 365 Export Tool. It is a sure-shot and error-free way that helps users to save data safely without enabling / disabling the in-place archive mailboxes in Office 365.

Steps to Archive In-place Archive Mailbox in Office 365 Using Software Solution

Step 1. Download, install and run the tool on your computer from the given link below.

Download Tool Purchase Now

Step 2. Click on the login button and provide Office 365 Admin or User credentials.

Step 3. Select the user accounts to export from the list of users associated with that admin account.

Step 4. Now, select the required workload that you want to archive from mailbox accounts.

Step 5. Click on the start button to initiate the process.

Conclusion

This blog deals with both the manual and the automated approach to enable or disable an archive mailbox in exchange online. Moreover, the manual method that helps to archive Office 365 mailboxes is very typical to understand. Hence, it’s better to use the automated way to archive mailboxes in Microsoft Office 365.