Microsoft Adds New Feature to Prevent Accidental Delicensing of Exchange Online Accounts

Microsoft has released a new delicensing resiliency feature for Exchange Online customers, providing better protection against the accidental removal of user licenses. This feature includes a 30-day grace period, giving administrators more time to address issues and prevent disruptions in mailbox access.

In Exchange Online, each user requires a license to access their mailbox. If a license is removed from an Entra ID user account, the mailbox becomes inaccessible, preventing the user from accessing their emails. Additionally, any new emails sent to that mailbox may not be delivered, and the sender will receive a notification that the email couldn’t be delivered.

How does delicensing resiliency work in Exchange Online?

Microsoft has noted instances where customers accidentally removed thousands of user licenses due to group-based licensing issues. To address this problem, Microsoft has introduced a 30-day grace period during which unlicensed mailboxes remain fully functional. This gives administrators time to identify and resolve issues, allowing them to either remove the user’s license, reassign a license, or leave the user unlicensed until the grace period ends.

“Once the 30-day grace period expires and we remove the license, the user mailbox follows its own default 30-day grace period, during which time the user cannot access the mailbox. However, if the license is added back, access is restored, and the mailbox becomes active. After the 30-day grace period, the data is deleted and can’t be recovered,” the Exchange team explained.

Microsoft has released a new Get-PendingDelicenseUser cmdlet that allows IT admins to track when the 30-day grace period will expire. Additionally, a “Licenses Removed Recently” tab in the Microsoft 365 admin center helps admins monitor mailboxes currently in the grace period.

The Service Health advisory notifications allow administrators to receive alerts when “delicensing activity” occurs within their tenant. Moreover, email notifications inform users that their Exchange Online license has been removed and that their mailbox is in the 30-day grace period.

Microsoft notes that the new Exchange Online delicensing resiliency feature is available only to tenants with more than 10,000 non-trial licenses. It may take 24 to 48 hours for this feature to be enabled within an organization. If you’re interested, you can find more details on this support page.