Enable or disable POP3 or IMAP4 access to mailboxes in Exchange Server
Article
After you enable and configure POP3 or IMAP4 on an Exchange server as described in Enable and configure POP3 on an Exchange server and Enable and configure IMAP4 on an Exchange server, all user mailboxes (with the exception of the Administrator mailbox) can be accessed by using POP3 or IMAP4. You can use the procedures in this topic to disable POP3 and IMAP4 access to specific mailboxes.
The procedures in this topic don't apply to the Administrator mailbox, because you can't use POP3 or IMAP4 to connect to the Administrator mailbox. This limitation was intentionally included in Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019 to enhance the security of the Administrator mailbox.
You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure or procedures. To see what permissions you need, see the "Recipient provisioning permissions" section in the Recipients Permissions topic.
Having problems? Ask for help in the Exchange forums. Visit the forums at Exchange Server.
Enable or disable POP3 or IMAP4 access to a single mailbox
Use the EAC to enable or disable POP3 or IMAP4 access to a mailbox
In the EAC, go to Recipients > Mailboxes.
In the list of mailboxes, find the mailbox that you want to modify. You can:
Scroll through the list of mailboxes.
Click Search () and enter part of the user's name, email address, or alias.
Click More options () > Advanced search to find the mailbox.
Once you've found the mailbox that you want to modify, select it, and then click Edit ().
In the mailbox properties window that opens, click Mailbox Features.
In the Email connectivity section, configure one or more of the following settings:
POP3: To disable POP3 access to the mailbox, click Disable, and then click Yes in the warning message that appears. If POP3 is already disabled, click Enable to enable it.
IMAP: To disable IMAP4 access to the mailbox, click Disable, and then click Yes in the warning message that appears. If IMAP4 is already disabled, click Enable to enable it.
When you're finished, click Save.
Use the Exchange Management Shell to enable or disable POP3 or IMAP4 access to a mailbox
To enable or disable POP3 or IMAP4 access to a single mailbox use the following syntax:
After you change the POP3 or IMAP4 access settings on a mailbox, you need to restart the POP3 and IMAP4 services on the server. You can do this by using the Windows Services console, or the Exchange Management Shell.
Use the Windows Services console to restart the POP3 or IMAP4 services
On the Exchange server, open the Windows Services console. For example:
Run the command services.msc from the Run dialog, a Command Prompt window, or the Exchange Management Shell.
Open Server Manager, and then click Tools > Services.
In the list of services, do one or both of the following actions:
POP3:
Select Microsoft Exchange POP3, and then click Action > Restart.
Select Microsoft Exchange POP3 Backend, and then click Action > Restart.
IMAP4:
Select Microsoft Exchange IMAP4, and then click Action > Restart.
Select Microsoft Exchange IMAP4 Backend, and then click Action > Restart.
Use the Exchange Management Shell to restart the POP3 or IMAP4 services
To restart the POP3 services, run the following command:
To verify that you've enabled or disabled POP3 or IMAP4 access to a mailbox, use any of the following procedures:
In the EAC, go to Recipients > Mailboxes > select the mailbox > click Edit > Mailbox features > Email connectivity.
If POP3 access is enabled for the mailbox, you'll see POP3: Enabled and the Disable link. If POP3 access is disabled, you'll see POP3: Disabled and the Enable link.
If IMAP4 access is enabled for the mailbox, you'll see IMAP4: Enabled and a Disable link. If IMAP4 access is disabled, you'll see IMAP4: Disabled and the Enable link.
In the Exchange Management Shell, replace <MailboxIdentity> with the identity of the mailbox (for example, name, alias, or email address), and run the following command:
PowerShell
Get-CasMailbox - Identity <MailboxIdentity>
Use the same filter that you used to identify the mailboxes, but use the Get-CasMailbox cmdlet instead of Set-CasMailbox. For example: