Share via

Reduce Mailbox Size in Exchange 2019

Exchange_Newbie 121 Reputation points
2021-04-14T07:46:19.153+00:00

Hello,

I have been assigned an ask to reduce the mailbox size in my Exchange organization and would like to know what are the native options available. I have also checked the Quota option but not sure on the impact of changing it.

Exchange | Exchange Server | Management
0 comments
Accepted answer
  1. Ashok M 6,846 Reputation points
    2021-04-14T07:56:53.727+00:00

    Hi @Exchange_Newbie ,

    To my understanding, this looks like a generic requirement. Please let us know the below,
    1.If you are looking to reduce mailbox size for some users or all?
    2.Is it due to any storage constraint?
    3.Any new changes on the mailbox quota limits?

    You can reduce the mailbox size using the below options,

    1.Export user mailbox to PST either via Exchange management shell or console and attach it to the users outlook
    2.Enable In-Place Archive and apply retention policies to move items from primary mailbox to archive mailbox

    In the second method, you might have to create an Archive Database and host all the archive mailboxes. You can also Quota limits to this database.

    Ideally, changing the Quota limits (reducing) before checking the user mailboxes can cause issues with send/receive emails, mailbox connectivity issues if the mailboxes already crossed the limit you are going to set.

    If the above suggestion helps, please click on "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

    1 person found this answer helpful.

3 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Manu Philip 20,206 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-04-14T16:37:04.137+00:00

    If you are looking for reducing the size of the mailbox database itself, you can plan for creating a new database and move the existing mailboxes to the new database and delete the old database. This will remove whitespaces in your existing database and saves some space

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Joyce Shen - MSFT 16,701 Reputation points
    2021-04-15T02:41:32.55+00:00

    Hi @Exchange_Newbie

    Are suggestions above helpful to your issue?

    I will attach some links below which will help you have a better understanding about the points above.

    1.In-Place Archiving in Exchange Server
    2. Why we need to create a new database and move the existing mailboxes to the new place: Using PowerShell to Get Mailbox Database Size and Available New Mailbox Space
    3. From outlook client side: Reduce the size of your mailbox and Outlook Data Files (.pst and .ost)

    If an Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.
     

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Exchange_Newbie 121 Reputation points
    2021-04-15T06:13:23.837+00:00

    Thank you all for your suggestions. I will sure discuss with the management on the exact requirement and take further actions as suggested.

    0 comments

Your answer

Answers can be marked as Accepted Answers by the question author, which helps users to know the answer solved the author's problem.