How to use New-MailboxRepairRequest in Exchange Server

In your Exchange organization, users accessing their email accounts via Outlook may encounter issues with the mailbox at any time. For example, this may happen due to problems with the Exchange mailbox, database, or server.

In such cases, administrators are required to repair the mailbox and fix issues that users are encountering. These issues may include but are not limited to the following:

• Outdated mail folders
• Missing mail folders or mail items
• Delay in sending or receiving emails
• Wrong number of public folders or mail items
• Issues with search (zero or delayed results)
• Inaccessible mail folders

If the users are experiencing these issues with their mailbox, you may need to repair the user mailboxes using NewMailboxRepairRequest PowerShell cmdlet in Exchange Management Shell (EMS). It can also be used to fix database errors and resolve mailbox-related issues.

How to Use New-MailboxRepairRequest PowerShell Command

Before we head into the repair side of things, there are a few things you need to take into consideration when repairing specific or multiple mailboxes using the NewMailboxRepairRequest cmdlet.

• You need permission and roles assigned to use the cmdlet. Make sure to assign the required permission to the user account you are or will be using to repair mailboxes or databases using the NewMailboxRepairRequest cmdlet.
• Once the repair process starts, there’s no way to stop it unless you force dismount the database, which isn’t recommended. In addition, this will affect all the users and not just the user’s mailbox being repaired. Thus, verify the database or mailbox before executing the NewMailboxRepairRequest cmdlet.  
• The command can be executed for repairing one database at a time or up to 100 mailboxes.  
• When the NewMailboxRepairRequest cmdlet is running, the access to the mailbox being repaired is disrupted for the repair duration.  
• It works on mounted databases only. You are not required to dismount the database. This allows other users to continue accessing their mailboxes in the database and use their email services.

To avoid disruption, you may use Exchange recovery software, such as Stellar Repair for Exchange. It lets you repair the database and extract all the mailboxes to PST files with complete integrity. You can also export the mailboxes recovered from the faulty database to a new healthy database copy on your Exchange Server directly using the software. With the help of the software, you can save time and fix problems related to the Exchange database and mailboxes in a few clicks.

With the New-MailboxRepairRequest cmdlet, you can use the following parameters for mailbox or database repair:

• SearchFolder: To fix Search Folder errors.
• AggregateCounts: To fix Aggregate Counts on folders that don’t reflect the correct values or number of mail items.
• FolderView: Views on folders.
• ProvisionedFolder: To fix folders that are not pointing correctly to the parent folders.

Steps to Run NewMailboxRepairRequest Cmdlet

To run the command New-MailboxRepairRequest, assign the permission and roles required by executing the following cmdlets in the EMS.

Once the required roles and permissions are assigned, you may refer to the few examples of commands below to run the New-MailboxRepairRequest cmdlets against a user’s mailboxes or mailbox database:

New-MailboxRepairRequest -Mailbox User1 -CorruptionType ProvisionedFolder,SearchFolder -DetectOnly

The above command only detects the issues. It does not repair the problems found in the mailbox or database. To run a repair against a mailbox, you can run the following command in the Exchange Management Shell (EMS):

New-MailboxRepairRequest -Mailbox User@domain.com -CorruptionType FolderView

The above command goes and detects and repairs all folder views for the mailbox listed above, user@domain.com

New-MailboxRepairRequest -Mailbox User1 -CorruptionType ProvisionedFolder,SearchFolder,AggregateCounts,Folderview -Archive

The above command detects and repairs all corruption types for User1’s mailbox, including their Archive.

New-MailboxRepairRequest -Database DB01 -CorruptionType AggregateCounts

The above command detects and repairs AggregateCounts for all mailboxes on mailbox database DB01.

You may also combine all the parameters to repair all corruption types. The command is as follows:

New-MailboxRepairRequest –Mailbox user@test.local –CorruptionType SearchFolder, AggregateCounts, ProvisionedFolder, FolderView

Similarly, you can check and repair the mailbox database using the New-MailboxRepairRequest cmdlet.

New-MailboxRepairRequest –Database “MBXDB01” –CorruptionType ProvisionedFolder –DetectOnly

To Wrap Up

Although New-MailboxRepairRequest is a handy cmdlet that allows you to fix issues with Exchange mailboxes and databases without dismounting the database, it is important to highlight that the cmdlet is available in Exchange Server 2010 SP1 and later versions only. Also, it may not repair a dismounted database or mailbox stored in a dismounted database. For such cases, you need to use the EseUtil utility or Exchange recovery software, such as Stellar Repair for Exchange. It supports all Exchange versions, including Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange Server 2019.

It can fix large, severely corrupt, or damaged Exchange databases, recover mailboxes and save them as individual PSTs. You may also export the recovered mailboxes directly to Office 365 or Live Exchange Server.

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About The Author

Edward van Biljon (MVP)

Experienced Messaging Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in WSUS, Domain Name System (DNS), Data Center, Printer Support, and System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM). Strong information technology professional with a International Diploma in Programming focused in Computer Programming from CTI.