Setting up auto-expanding archive for mailboxes in Office 365 and its key features

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital communication, managing mailbox storage efficiently is crucial. This article provides a comprehensive guide to leveraging the powerful feature of auto-expanding archives in Office 365.

Learn how to set up auto-expanding archives for mailboxes in Office 365. For a detailed, step-by-step guide, click here to read the full blog post.

Objective

This guide aims to help set up an auto-expanding archive, also known as unlimited archive, for Office 365 mailboxes. It delves into the key features of archiving, helping users understand why and how to enable this feature.

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Scenario

Office 365 offers additional storage with Archive mailboxes, which can initially hold up to 100 GB. When this limit is reached, auto-expanding archives automatically add more storage, ensuring users never run out of space.

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User Story

Consider the example of a user, Lee from Skill Crafterz, demonstrating the process and benefits of enabling auto-expanding archives:

• Once the archive mailbox is enabled, an additional 100 GB of storage is added, with a warning at 90 GB.
• When Lee’s archive mailbox reaches the 100 GB limit, the archive process stops.
• Previously, the Exchange administrator would have to request additional storage from Microsoft. Now, they can enable Auto-Expanding Archive for Lee.
• Once enabled, Lee’s archive mailbox is converted to an auto-expanding archive.
• Microsoft automatically adds more storage to Lee’s archive mailbox as it nears the current storage limit, incrementing until it reaches 1.5 TB.

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Key Features

• Seamless Storage Management:?Auto-expanding archives eliminate the need for manual storage management, as additional space is automatically provisioned.
• Enhanced Productivity:?Users can continue their work without interruptions due to storage limits, leading to increased productivity.
• Scalability:?This feature supports mailboxes with a growth rate of less than 1GB, making it suitable for most organizational needs

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Prerequisites

• Exchange Administrator permissions are required to configure archives for mailboxes in Office 365.
• The archive mailbox must be enabled to activate the auto-expanding archive feature.
• The mailbox needs an Exchange Online Plan 2 license or an additional Exchange Online Archiving license. Some higher bundled plans, like Office 365 E5 and Microsoft 365 E5, already include this feature.
• Shared mailboxes also need to be licensed with the above licenses.
• Exchange Online PowerShell is necessary to enable Auto-expanding archive, as this feature cannot be enabled from the GUI.

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Access and Limitations

Auto-expanded archive messages can be accessed from various Outlook clients, including Outlook 2016, 2019, and Outlook Web Access (OWA). However, there are limitations, such as the feature not being available for Exchange on-premises versions.

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Summary

Auto-expanding archives in Office 365 provide a robust solution for managing mailbox storage efficiently. By automating storage expansion, organizations can enhance productivity and ensure seamless access to emails. For detailed configuration steps and more information, check out the full blog here.