Email Address Hard Coded Removal failure

Question

Email Address Hard Coded Removal failure

Administrator IT 40

How do I remove external/ Guest email contacts that I think have been hard-coded in the mailing Exchange Server? I have removed them through Microsoft Admin Centre, and also Exchange Contacts Portals, but those external users still insist they are getting emails from us. I have checked the distribution list contacts, but they are not there. I'm wondering where else they can be as I only have access to the Admin and Exchange Portals, which I usually use to remove such requests

0 comments

1 answer

Your answer

Answer 1

Vergil-V 12,955 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @Administrator IT

Based on your description, this behavior appears to be related to the current state within the Microsoft 365 Exchange Online environment.

If that is the case, you may consider the following troubleshooting steps to gain further insight into what might be triggering the email delivery to the external address.

1/ Use the Get‑Recipient PowerShell command to identify any related external email object.

You can run the following command to check whether an external recipient object exists for the email address:

Get-Recipient -Identity "External+domain.com"

This helps confirm whether the external address is still present or referenced within the Exchange Online environment.

2/ You may use Message Trace to further investigate the mail flow and determine how or why messages are being routed to the external email address. This can provide visibility into the sender, recipient, and delivery path.

For more details on Message Trace, please refer to the following Microsoft documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/monitoring/trace-an-email-message/message-trace-modern-e…

In addition, it may be helpful to review common configurations that can automatically trigger outbound emails. These include:

Automatic forwarding settings configured in Outlook: Turn on automatic forwarding in Outlook - Microsoft Support
Mail flow rules configured in Exchange Online: Manage mail flow rules in Exchange Online | Microsoft Learn
Inbox rules set within Outlook: Manage email messages by using rules in Outlook - Microsoft Support

I hope these steps provide some helpful direction. If you discover any new information or have updates after reviewing the above, please feel free to share them.

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.

Administrator IT 40 Reputation points

2026-04-21T09:26:01.4266667+00:00

I don't have access to Exchange server Powershell.
Vergil-V 12,955 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-21T10:10:04.74+00:00

Hi @Administrator IT
Thank you for the update.
May I kindly confirm what role is currently assigned to your account? You can verify this by going to the Microsoft 365 admin center > Users > Active users > selecting your account > Roles section, as shown in the example image below. This information would help me better understand whether your account has the required permissions to run Exchange Online PowerShell commands using the Exchange Online module.
Administrator IT 40 Reputation points

2026-04-21T11:10:57.4966667+00:00

Yes, My account has Global Administrator Rights. I do manage Intune, Active directory etc.
Vergil-V 12,955 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-21T12:23:24.9433333+00:00
Hi @Administrator IT
Thank you for sharing.

With the Global Administrator role, you should be able to run PowerShell using the Exchange Online module. Below are the steps you can follow to proceed:

Step 1: Open Windows PowerShell and select Run as Administrator.

Step 2: Install the Exchange Online module by running the following command:

Install-Module ExchangeOnlineManagement -Repository PSGallery –Force

Step 3: Import the module:

Import-Module ExchangeOnlineManagement

Step 4: Connect to Exchange Online using:

Connect-ExchangeOnline

Step 5: Run the following command to check the recipient:

Get-Recipient -Identity "external+domain.com"

Please note that you should replace external+domain.com with the affected external email address.

Additionally, may I clarify whether there are any findings from the message trace that could provide more insight?

Please feel free to share any updates at your convenience.
Administrator IT 40 Reputation points

2026-04-21T13:10:05.91+00:00

As I try the above, this is the Message Trace details are as below:

Don't mind the dates and time...
Vergil-V 12,955 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-21T13:27:38.9433333+00:00

Hi @Administrator IT
From the screenshot, it appears that a transport rule may be involved.

Could you please identify the related transport rule and confirm what action it applies to external emails?

To check transport rules, you can navigate to Exchange Admin Center > Mail flow > Rules.

Additionally, at this time, would you be able to run the Get-Recipient command to help verify the recipient details?
Vergil-V 12,955 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-04-22T10:59:31.5066667+00:00

Hi @Administrator IT
Hope you're having a good day.

May I ask if there have been any updates since our last exchange?

Have you had a chance to review the responses shared so far?

I’d appreciate any updates you can provide.
Administrator IT 40 Reputation points

2026-05-04T11:04:26.1466667+00:00

Hi Vergil-V,
I haven't tried the Windows Powershell but I will do it in the course of this week. I had "Turned Off" the transport rule above but the external users were still receiving the mails.
There is another development now where the affected external users are all under the same domain. Can there be a reason as to why it's only their domain is affected?
Vergil-V 12,955 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-04T13:36:35.9733333+00:00

Hi @Administrator IT
Thank you for sharing the details.

There can still be several reasons why the behavior appears to be specific to one external domain, so further verification would be helpful.

For additional investigation, you may try running another message trace around 30 minutes to 1 hour after turning off the transport rule. This timeframe helps ensure the change has fully taken effect across the service.

Whenever you have any new updates, please feel free to share them with us.
Vergil-V 12,955 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-05-05T08:26:15.83+00:00

Hi @Administrator IT
If there are any updates after running additional message traces or verifying with the affected recipient, please feel free to share them with me.

Share via

Email Address Hard Coded Removal failure

1 answer

Your answer