How to get the dates of In-place Holds (eDiscovery Holds) applied to a list of mailboxes

Question

Hello All,

How to get the dates of In-place Holds (eDiscovery Holds) applied to a list of mailboxes using PowerShell

Answer 1

Hello，

Below are a few different ways you can retrieve the dates of in-place (eDiscovery) holds via PowerShell. In Exchange (both on‐premises and online) when you place a mailbox on hold, the mailbox object gets properties such as LitigationHoldEnabled and LitigationHoldDate populated. The LitigationHoldDate property records when the hold was applied.

Below are sample approaches:

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1. For All Mailboxes (Exchange Online or On‑Premises)

To see all mailboxes that have a litigation hold along with the date it was enabled, you can run:

  Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited |

   Where-Object { $_.LitigationHoldEnabled -eq $true } |

   Select-Object DisplayName, UserPrincipalName, LitigationHoldDate |

   Format-Table –AutoSize

This command does the following:

•  Retrieves all mailboxes.

•  Filters for mailboxes with LitigationHoldEnabled set to true.

•  Selects the DisplayName (or you might choose another property such as UserPrincipalName) and LitigationHoldDate.

•  Formats the output as a table.

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2. For a Specific List of Mailboxes

If you have a list of mailboxes (for example, stored in a CSV file that includes an “EmailAddress” or “UserPrincipalName” column), you can import the list and then query each mailbox. For example, if your CSV file is located at C:\MailboxList.csv and contains a header such as “EmailAddress”, use:

  $mailboxes = Import-Csv "C:\MailboxList.csv"

  foreach ($mb in $mailboxes) {

   Get-Mailbox -Identity $mb.EmailAddress |

    Select-Object DisplayName, UserPrincipalName, LitigationHoldDate |

    Format-Table –AutoSize

  }

This script:

•  Imports the CSV into the variable $mailboxes.

•  Loops through each mailbox and queries its properties.

•  Displays DisplayName, UserPrincipalName, and LitigationHoldDate.

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3. Directly Query a Specific Mailbox

If you only need to examine one mailbox, simply specify the identity:

  Get-Mailbox -Identity "user@example.com" | Select-Object DisplayName, LitigationHoldDate

This outputs the display name and the date when the in-place hold was applied (if any).

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Notes

•  Ensure you have connected to your Exchange environment before running these commands. For Exchange Online, you might need to use the EXO V2 module (Connect-ExchangeOnline) or for on-premises use the Exchange Management Shell.

•  The LitigationHoldDate property will be null if the mailbox is not on hold.

•  The property names may differ for older versions of Exchange or if you’ve customized the setup. Always verify with Get-Mailbox | Get-Member if needed.

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