Can't move emails between accounts in New Outlook

Question

Hi All,

there is a who tries to move emails from his personal work mailbox (say ******@company.xyz) to a shared mailboxes ******@company.xyz in new Outlook.

However, he gets the following error "Can't move emails between accounts. You administrator has restricted moving emails to or from this account. Contact your administrator for details."

Tried the same operation in Classic Outlook - emails can be moved.

Does that mean New Outlook doesn't support\allow moving emails between mailboxes and the error is misleading?

Answer 1

Dear @X-Box-11-2021,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on your description, I understand your confusion between Classic Outlook and the New Outlook when moving emails between a user mailbox (e.g., ******@company.xyz) and a shared mailbox (e.g., ******@company.xyz).

The error message: "Can't move emails between accounts. Your administrator has restricted moving emails to or from this account." is not misleading, but it does lack context.

In New Outlook, the ability to move or copy emails between a user mailbox and a shared mailbox is disabled by default due to the ItemsToOtherAccountsEnabled policy setting in Exchange Online. This is a tenant-level restriction, not a limitation of the client itself.

In New Outlook, this functionality is disabled by default due to a tenant-level policy setting in Exchange Online called: ItemsToOtherAccountsEnabled

When this setting is set to false, users will encounter the following error when attempting to move or copy emails between accounts:

To enable this feature in New Outlook, your Microsoft 365 administrator can run the following PowerShell command (Note: If you are user, please ask your IT admin to do):

• Set-OwaMailboxPolicy -Identity "<PolicyName>" -ItemsToOtherAccountsEnabled $true
• For reference: New-OwaMailboxPolicy

If you are using Macbook, please visit Outlook for Mac - Microsoft Support

Classic Outlook doesn't enforce this modern policy, which is why the same drag-and-drop operation works there. New Outlook, however, is built on a modern architecture that respects these newer Exchange Online policies more strictly.

However, the new Outlook is not yet complete, and some options may not be available or work as expected. You can switch back to the classic Outlook at any time by clicking the toggle button in the top right corner of the window.

Besides, many features of our current products are designed and upgraded based on customers’ feedback. With requirements like this increase, the problem may well be released in the future. I highly recommend submitting your feedback directly to Microsoft Ideas · Community  where our product development team can know your requirements and ideas for product improvements. If enough users raise ticket for the same idea, Microsoft may consider adding this feature in the future. 

Note: As Microsoft Community moderators, please note that we are not involved in product design decisions and do not have direct access to the development roadmap, we want to assure you that your feedback has been acknowledged and is valued.  

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. I'm looking forward for your reply.

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Answer 2

Hi! New Outlook can move or copy mail between a user mailbox and a shared mailbox, but the feature is switched off by default in the tenant’s Exchange, thats why the client shows the message you captured. Classic Outlook is probably not compatible with modern policy, so it still lets the operation go through.

The error message is not misleading, 365 administrator must change this “ItemsToOtherAccountsEnabled” to “true”, the same drag and drop you tested in Classic Outlook will work in New Outlook as well.