Microsoft Exchange online archiving allows for policies that automatically move Exchange account items such as messages that meet certain criteria to an online archive. This online archive can be accessed from Microsoft Outlook, available for Windows, macOS, ios, Android and on the web. Automatic archiving is an efficient way to store items that are accessed infrequently.
Starting in July, 2024, all University of Delaware Exchange accounts and Exchange shared mailboxes will have an automatic archiving policy set so that Exchange account items older than five years will be moved to the account holder’s individual online archive. This five year automatic archiving policy will be applied to the top level of each mailbox and will apply to all subfolders in the account.
Exchange online archiving has been available for years at UD but required activation and configuration by the Exchange account holder. Applying the automatic online archiving policy will help people to stay within their Microsoft Exchange storage limits.
Key points about Online Archiving
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Your individual online archive is visible and searchable from the Microsoft Outlook interface.
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Messages in the online archive do not count against your Exchange storage limit, which makes online archiving an effective way to manage mailbox size.
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Online archiving helps to keep mailboxes cleaner and more organized.
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Your existing mailbox structure will be mirrored in your online archive.
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Any deleted message in the archive will be retained in recoverable items for at least 30 days after deletion.
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Online archive is not available in non-Microsoft Outlook clients, such as mac mail or Mozilla Thunderbird.
Accessing Archived Items
Your individual online archive has the same folder structure as your mailbox and will be shown on the folder pane towards the bottom of the window. Items and entire folders can be dragged into and out of the archive. Be aware that when items are dragged out of the archive they are still subject to the destination folder's retention policy, so if a six-year-old item is moved to a folder with the five-year-policy, the system will move it back automatically.
Caution: Be careful not to confuse your Online Archive with the Archive mail folder. The Archive folder in Outlook is one of the default folders like Sent Items and Deleted Items. It can be used to organize emails, but messages in this folder count against your storage limit. Messages in the Online Archive do not count towards your storage limit and include older items being moved automatically to clear up space.
Questions and Answers
Q. Can I remove the five year automatic online archive policy?
A. No, but you can override the policy on a per folder basis.
Q. Can I archive messages sooner than five years?
A. Yes. You can choose this by applying a different policy to your account. You also have the option to manually move messages and folders to the online archive.
Q. I’d like to apply different policies to different subfolders in my mailbox. How do I do that?
A. Right-click on the folder in Outlook, choose Assign Policy, and choose the policy you want to apply.
Q. What happens if I already have automatic archiving set up on my folders? Will the new policy override the existing policy?
A. No.
Q. When I retire, can I move my online archive back to GMail?