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Public folders are displayed in GAL despite having been cleaned up

  • Applies to: Exchange Online

Symptoms

Public folder entries still appear in the global address list (GAL) after removing the public folder mailboxes and/or the public folders.

Cause

Mail-enabled public folders weren't removed properly. The mail-enabled public folder (MEPF) objects may still be present.

Resolution

Check if the stale entry appears in Outlook on the Web or Outlook online mode. If the entry appears in cached mode and not in Outlook on the Web or Outlook online mode, the Offline Address Book (OAB) may not be updated on the Outlook cached mode client yet.

If the stale entry appears in Outlook on the Web and Outlook online mode as well:

  1. Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell.

  2. Run the following cmdlet to list mail-enabled public folders:

    Get-MailPublicFolder

  3. Check whether the stale public folder entry is exists.

  4. If the stale public folder entry exists, run the following cmdlet to remove the mail-enabled public folders:

    Get-MailPublicFolder <name of stale public folder> |foreach{Disable-MailPublicFolder $_.guid.guid}

    If you want to remove all mail-enabled public folders at once, run the following cmdlet:

    Get-MailPublicFolder -ResultSize unlimited |foreach{Disable-MailPublicFolder $_.Guid.Guid}

    You may get the following warning, which is expected if the public folder isn't present:

    WARNING: Failed to locate the public folder <name of public folder> because the following error occurred: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.StoreObjects.ObjectNotFoundException: No active public folder mailboxes were found. This happens when no public folder mailboxes are provisioned or they are provisioned in 'HoldForMigration' mode. If you're not currently performing a migration, create a public folder mailbox.

    Note

    Make Sure the MEPF's are no longer needed before removing them.

    After removing the entry, run the Get-MailPublicFolder cmdlet to check that the output doesn't list the entry. Alternatively, use Outlook on the Web to check whether this entry still appears in the GAL.

  5. If Get-MailPublicFolder doesn't show a stale entry, run this cmdlet to check if there's any other object with the same name or email address:

    Search by name:

    Get-Recipient |?{$_.Name -like "*pub*"}'

    Search by email address:

    Get-Recipient |?{$_.EmailAddresses -like "*pub*"}

    If you find another object with the same name or email address, remove it using the appropriate cmdlet, i.e. Remove-mailbox if it's a mailbox object type.

  6. Use Outlook on the Web to verify if the entries have been removed.

    Note

    Address list changes take a while to be reflected in Outlook client .