Exchange 2010 Purge Mailbox Contents with Remove-StoreMailbox Cmdlet

CREATED by PAUL RYAN, Date: Thursday, 02 July, 2014 | Download Complete PDF:

When an Exchange user-account that was 'mailbox-enabled' is deleted or disabled, it is disjoined from the user object of active directory account. All attributes of the mailboxes are removed but the mailbox does not get permanently deleted on the spot. These mailboxes that are disabled or deleted are called Disconnected Mailboxes that get purged from the database automatically after retention period or manually by using remove-StoreMailbox cmdlet. Also, if needed, disconnected mailboxes can be again connected with mailbox database.

Types of Disconnected Mailboxes:

• Disabled Mailboxes: When a mailbox is deleted using the Remove-Mailbox or Disable-Mailbox cmdlet, is it considered to be in disabled mode where Exchange retains the mailbox for a defined time interval (retention period). A disabled mailbox is permanently deleted if it overpasses the retention period or is deleted using the remove-StoreMailbox cmdlet.
• Soft-Deleted Mailboxes: When a mailbox is moved from one database to another, the source mailbox does not get permanently deleted and gets into the soft-deleted mode. Exchange 2010 purge mailbox after move is possible if retention period is passed or with Remove-StoreMailbox cmdlet.

Disconnected Mailbox Properties:

• Details of how a disconnected mailbox will be treated can be checked out through the "Limits" tab in Mailbox Database Properties dialog box. By default, a disconnected mailbox is retained for a time period of 30 days.

Follow the Path:

Console Tree: Exchange Management Console » Organization Configuration » Mailbox

Work Area: Database Management » Select Mailbox » Right-Click and choose Properties » Mailbox Database Properties.

Notice that retention period for the disconnected mailbox is set 30 days which means when it is deleted, it will be retained by Exchange for this number of days. However, this limit can be extended using the Set-MailboxDatabase cmdlet: Set-MailboxDatabase < DatabaseID > -MailboxRetention DD.MM:HH:SS

To open Queue Viewer:

For example: 60 days retention period for a disconnected mailbox can be set with following cmdlet: Set-MailboxDatabase MDB1 –MailboxRetention 60.00:00:00

Permanently Delete Disconnected Mailbox Exchange 2010

To remove a disabled or soft deleted mailbox and its content, PowerShell cmdlet "Remove-StoreMailbox" can be used. This way, a mailbox data is permanently deleted which means the mailbox is purged. However, note that you cannot directly run this command against an active mailbox on Server as it would result in error (stating process failure). It is strictly recommended to process this command against a disconnected mailbox only.

Exchange 2010 Remove-StoreMailbox Cmdlet: Remove-StoreMailbox –Database < DatabaseID > –Identity < MailboxID > –MailboxState [Disabled|SoftDeleted]

Say you want to remove source mailbox named "Alena" after moving it to another database, the command that will be used is: (Here, you can notice that state of disconnected mailbox (Soft deleted or disabled) has to be defined) – Remove-StoreMailbox –database DB1 –identity Alena –MailboxState SoftDeleted

If all soft deleted mailboxes from a database have to be purged, following cmd can be used: (Here exemplified through database named DB1) – Get-MailboxStatistics –Database DB1 | where {$_.DisconnectReason –eq "SoftDeleted"} | foreach {Remove-StoreMailbox –Database $_.database –Identity $_.mailboxguid –MailboxState SoftDeleted}

Using these PowerShell Commands will help you to purge disconnected mailboxes Exchange 2010!