Users can't access their cloud-based archive mailbox

2025-06-25
Applies to: Exchange Online Archiving, Exchange Online, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Server 2016

Original KB number: 2860302

Symptoms

Users in your hybrid Exchange environment who have a cloud-based archive mailbox encounter one or both of the following issues.

Issue 1

Users can't access their archive mailbox in Microsoft Outlook even though the archive mailbox exists in their Outlook profile.

Issue 2

When users try to access their archive mailbox in Outlook on the web, they receive the following error message:

Your archive appears to be unavailable. Try to access it again in 10 seconds. If you see this error again, contact your Help Desk.

Cause

Issue 1 can occur because of Cause 1. Issue 2 can occur because of either Cause 1 or Cause 2.

Cause 1

One or more root certificates on a Windows server that runs Microsoft Exchange Server are missing or corrupted. Root certificates are necessary to validate the on-premises side of your hybrid environment.

Cause 2

One or more settings are misconfigured:

Domains are missing from the Exchange Online organization relationship because the organization relationship parameters, TargetApplicationUri and TargetAutodiscoverEpr, have incorrect values.
The domain in the primary SMTP address of the on-premises FederatedEmail arbitration mailbox isn't a federated domain.

Note: The primary SMTP address is stored in the PrimarySMTPAddress parameter of a mailbox.
The domain in the user's primary SMTP address doesn't exist in the federated organization identifier.

Resolution

For either issue, complete the resolution for Cause 1. If users experience Issue 2 after you complete the resolution for Cause 1, also complete the resolution for Cause 2.

Resolution for Cause 1

Update the root certificates on the Windows servers that run Exchange Server.
Rerun the Hybrid Configuration Wizard to update the hybrid Exchange environment.

Resolution for Cause 2

Verify that the domain in the user's primary SMTP address is in the cloud organization relationship. Run the following PowerShell cmdlet to list the domains in the cloud organization relationship:
```
(Get-OrganizationRelationship -Identity "<name of organization relationship>").DomainNames
```
Note

For information about how to add a domain to the organization relationship, see Modify an organization relationship in Exchange Online.
Run the following cmdlet both to verify that the FederatedEmail arbitration mailbox exists and to determine the primary SMTP address of the mailbox:
```
(Get-Mailbox -Identity "FederatedEmail.4c1f4d8b-8179-4148-93bf-00a95fa1e042" -Arbitration).EmailAddresses
```
For information about how to re-create a missing arbitration mailbox, see Re-create missing arbitration mailboxes.
Verify that the domain in the primary SMTP address of the FederatedEmail arbitration mailbox is included in the list of domains for the cloud organization relationship from step 1.
Use the following steps to verify that the msExchOrgFederatedMailbox attribute in on-premises Active Directory is set to the primary SMTP address of the FederatedEmail arbitration mailbox. The domain in the primary SMTP address must be a federated domain.
1. Run the following PowerShell cmdlet to determine the value of the msExchOrgFederatedMailbox attribute:
```
Get-ADObject -SearchBase "CN=Transport Settings,CN=<organization name>,CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=contoso,DC=com" -Filter 'ObjectClass -eq "msExchTransportSettings"' -Properties msExchOrgFederatedMailbox
```
  Note: In this cmdlet, substitute your domain for contoso.
2. If the msExchOrgFederatedMailbox attribute value isn't set correctly, run the following PowerShell cmdlet to correct it:
```
Set-ADObject -Identity "CN=Transport Settings,CN=<organization name>,CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=contoso,DC=com" -Replace @{msExchOrgFederatedMailbox="FederatedEmail.4c1f4d8b-8179-4148-93bf-00a95fa1e042@contoso.com"}
```
  Note: In this cmdlet, substitute your domain for contoso.
Run the following PowerShell cmdlet to verify that the values of the TargetAutodiscoverEpr and TargetApplicationUri parameters in the organization relationship are correct:
```
Get-OrganizationRelationship | FL Name,Target*
```
- TargetAutodiscoverEpr parameter value should be https://autodiscover-s.outlook.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.svc/WSSecurity.
- TargetApplicationUri parameter value should be outlook.com.

Verify that none of the following PowerShell cmdlets return the error message "Federation information could not be received from the external organization":

- Get-FederationInformation contoso.com -Verbose -BypassAdditionalDomainValidation | FL
- Get-FederationInformation contoso.onmicrosoft.com -Verbose | FL
- Get-FederationInformation contoso.mail.onmicrosoft.com -Verbose | FL

Note: In these cmdlets, substitute your domain for contoso.

Run the following PowerShell cmdlet to verify that the domains that are listed in the command output include the domain in the user's primary SMTP address:
```
Get-FederatedOrganizationIdentifier | FL Domains
```

After you complete these steps, ask users to try again to access their archive mailbox.