Summary: Recovering deleted mailbox or mailbox items in Exchange Server is a tedious task, especially when you don’t have any backup. In this post, we will discuss different methods to recover accidentally deleted mailboxes or mail items in Exchange Server 2016. We will also mention an advanced Exchange recovery tool that can help you quickly restore deleted mailboxes and items in Exchange Server.
You may accidentally delete a mailbox from the Exchange Server while managing the mailboxes and performing regular server maintenance tasks or when an employee leaves the organization. By default, the deleted mailbox is not removed from the server immediately. Instead, it’s moved to the disconnected mailbox list until the retention period is over. By default, the retention period is between 14 and 30 days in the Exchange Server 2016. The deleted mailbox remains disconnected and hidden from the network until the retention period expires or you permanently delete the mailbox.
If you don’t have backup of deleted mailboxes, then you need to recover these mailboxes for compliance and other purposes. Below, we will discuss the ways to recover deleted mailboxes or items in Exchange Server 2016 – before and after the retention period expires.
Methods to Recover Deleted Mailboxes in Exchange 2016
To recover deleted mailbox in Exchange Server 2016, you can use the following methods.
Method 1: Recover Deleted Mailbox in Exchange 2016 via EAC
Exchange Server 2016 keeps deleted mailboxes for 14-30 days by default (based on the server settings and configurations). You can recover deleted mailboxes before this retention period expires without using the backup. Follow the below steps to restore the deleted mailbox using Exchange Admin Center (EAC):
Step 1: Log in to Exchange Admin Center (EAC) and go to recipients > mailboxes.
Step 2: Click the More icon (three dots) and choose to connect a mailbox. This opens a list of disconnected or deleted mailboxes.
Step 3: Click No, I want to connect to a different user account.
Step 4: Select User mailbox from the options and click Next.
Step 5: Click Browse to select the AD user. If no user is displayed, create a new user in Active Directory (AD) and follow this step again.
Step 4: Click Finish.
This will connect the deleted mailbox to the selected user account. You can now log in to the user account in Outlook or OWA to access the mailbox and mail items.
Method 2: Recover Deleted Mailbox through Exchange Management Shell (EMS)
You can restore or reconnect deleted or disconnected mailboxes in Exchange Server 2016 using the PowerShell cmdlets in Exchange Management Shell (EMS). Below we will share the process to restore deleted mailbox to a new user account and an existing mailbox.
Scenario 1: Restore Deleted Mailbox to a New User Account in AD
You can use the Connect-Mailbox command in Exchange Management Shell (EMS) to connect a deleted mailbox to a new user account.
First, run the below command to get the list of all the mailboxes, including the deleted and disconnected ones.
Get-MailboxDatabase | Get-MailboxStatistics | FlFind and note the deleted or disconnected mailboxes, you want to recover or restore. Then, run the below command to restore the deleted mailbox to a new user account.
Connect-Mailbox -identity “John” -Database “EDB1” -User “John”In the above command,
-Identity refers to the name of the deleted mailbox.
-Database refers to the name of the database from where the mailbox was deleted.
-User specifies the user account name in Active Directory to which you want to connect the deleted mailbox.
Scenario 2: Recover Deleted Mailbox to Existing Mailbox
You can also recover and restore deleted mailbox to an existing Exchange mailbox. Use the following command in Exchange Management Shell (EMS) to get information on disabled and deleted mailboxes.
Get-MailboxDatabase | Get-MailboxStatistics | FlCopy the MailboxGuid of the mailbox you want to restore and then paste in the following command.
New-MailboxRestoreRequest -SourceStoreMailbox GUID -SourceDatabase EDB1 -TargetMailbox "Maria" -AllowLegacyDNMismatchHow to Verify If Deleted Mailbox is Successfully Connected and Restored?
You can verify if a deleted mailbox is successfully connected to a user account and restored using EAC, AD Users and Computers, and EMS.
Verify via EAC,
- Click on recipients and then go to the page where mailboxes are listed
- Click the Refresh icon, and check if the mailbox is visible in the list
To verify using Active Directory Users and Computers,
- Right-click on the user account connected to the mailbox and choose Properties.
- Under the General tab, check if the E-mail box contains the email address for the connected mailbox.
To verify via EMS,
You can run the following command in the Exchange Management Shell to check the status.
Get-User <identity>
Get-Mailbox <identity>
This command will display the UserMailbox value for the RecipientType property. In addition, the command will help verify if the user account and the mailbox are connected.
TIP: You can extend the deleted mailbox retention period in MS Exchange via EAC or using the Set-Mailbox PowerShell cmdlet in EMS for single or multiple users at once.
To extend the retention period for a single or specific mailbox, use the below command:
“Set-Mailbox -Identity “John Russell” -RetainDeletedItemsFor 30”To extend the retention period for multiple or all user mailboxes, use this command:
“Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited -Filter {(RecipientTypeDetails -eq ‘UserMailbox’)} | Set-Mailbox -RetainDeletedItemsFor 30”How to Recover Deleted Emails in a Mailbox?
In Exchange Server, there is a feature, named recoverable deleted items, which can be set from the admin section to retain deleted emails/items for a specific number of days. As these items are deleted and purged from the mailbox by the users, these can only be recovered from the admin section using the in-place eDiscovery.
In the Exchange Management Shell (EMS), you can run the Get-RecoverableItems command as given below:
Get-RecoverableItems -Identity "<mailbox>” -SubjectContains "<subject>" -FilterItemType IPM.Note -FilterStartTime "<date time start>" -FilterEndTime "<date time end>”This will search for the items specified and will list them. If the query is successful and shows the items you’re looking for, then use the below command to recover the found items from the discovery mailbox to a specific folder in the user’s mailbox.
Restore-RecoverableItems -Identity "<mailbox>" -SubjectContains "<subject>" -SourceFolder "<destination folder>" -FilterItemType IPM.NoteAfter the operation is complete, you can check the folder (specified in the command) in the user’s mailbox.
Method 3: Recover Deleted Mailbox using an Exchange Recovery Software
If you’re not able to recover the deleted mailboxes using any of the manual methods explained above, then use an advanced third-party Exchange recovery software. Stellar Repair for Exchange is an efficient third-party Exchange recovery software that can recover deleted mailboxes and deleted mail items from Exchange Server 2016 database.
The software can also recover deleted mailboxes and items from previously stored offline or dismounted Exchange database files. The only condition to restore the deleted Exchange mailboxes or emails is that they must lie within the Set-Mailbox retention period. It can restore deleted mailboxes and items to PST file or directly export them to live Exchange database.
It only takes three simple steps to restore the mailboxes. Install the Exchange recovery software, launch it, and then follow these steps:
- Select the database from where the mailboxes were deleted for the scan.
- After the scan, the software lists all the mailboxes, including the ones deleted from the database. Select them and click Save.
- Choose PST or any other desired format and location to save the mailboxes or mail items.
Conclusion
Although you can restore deleted mailboxes via EAC or EMS PowerShell cmdlets, it’s a tedious process and requires significant time and effort. However, with the help of an Exchange recovery software, like Stellar Repair for Exchange, you can find and restore deleted mailboxes in just a few simple steps. You can also create a new user via the software interface, map the recovered mailbox, and export it directly to the newly created user mailbox. The best part is that you can create multiple users and export all recovered (deleted) mailboxes at once to PST, live Exchange, or Office 365. You can use the software to recover mailboxes from any database file created by any version. It supports Exchange Server 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, 2000, and 5.5.
FAQ
A. If a hold placed on the mailbox before it’s deleted, the contents of the mailbox are preserved or discoverable. However, if the hold isn’t placed on the mailbox before it’s deleted, the contents of the mailbox won’t be preserved or discoverable. The deleted mailbox can be recovered within 30 days of deletion. The mailbox and its contents will be permanently deleted after 30 days.
A. If there is a litigation hold and the retention period hasn’t passed, the emails will be recovered from the mailbox in the admin section. If a mailbox is deleted, the mailbox can be restored from the disabled mailboxes before the 30-day retention period. After that, the items can only be recovered from the backups.
A. You can restore a deleted shared mailbox via the Exchange Admin Center (EAC). You can look into the disabled mailboxes. These will be available for 30 days. Once restored, it is associated with either an existing or new domain user object.
A. If a mailbox has been purged, the mailbox can only be recovered from the backup.
A. You can find a disconnected mailbox in the Mailboxes section. Alternatively, you can use the Get-Mailbox command in Exchange Management Shell (EMS) to get the information on all the mailboxes, including the disconnected ones.
A. Until the 30 days period is passed, you can find the mailbox in the disabled mailboxes section. You can then connect it with a domain user.
