Microsoft to Deprecate Search-Mailbox Cmdlet in Exchange Online – What You Need to Know

Cloud Computing

Key Takeaways:

  • Microsoft is deprecating the Microsoft 365 Purview eDiscovery standard search-mailbox cmdlet in March 2024.
  • The Search-Mailbox cmdlet allows administrators to search and export mailbox data for legal and compliance purposes.
  • Microsoft advises users to switch to the New-ComplianceSearch and New-ComplianceSearchAction cmdlets.

Microsoft is set to retire the Microsoft 365 Purview eDiscovery standard search-mailbox cmdlet. The company has recently announced in a message on the Microsoft 365 Admin Center that this change will go into effect in March this year.

The Search-Mailbox cmdlet is a PowerShell command that allows administrators to search for particular items in Exchange mailboxes. It helps retrieve different types of mailbox data such as calendar items, messages, and tasks. This cmdlet is particularly useful for eDiscovery and compliance scenarios, as well as for removing spam and malicious content from user mailboxes.

In 2020, Microsoft first announced its plans to deprecate the search-mailbox cmdlet, along with various other search and compliance features exclusive to Exchange Online. However, the company had to delay the retirement of the cmdlet due to the absence of similar capabilities in the Security and Compliance Center.

Last week, Microsoft announced that it’s ready to proceed with the retirement plan for the Search-Mailbox cmdlet. The retirement process will begin on March 1, 2024, and it’s expected to be completed across all tenants by the end of March.

“Originally announced in 2020, this was postponed as this cmdlet has been a valuable tool for searching and exporting mailbox data for legal and compliance purposes. However, as we continue to improve and enhance our eDiscovery capabilities, we are moving to other means of providing similar functionality,” Microsoft explained.

Microsoft to Retire Search-Mailbox Cmdlet in Exchange Online
Image Credit: Petri

Microsoft has urged customers to switch to the New-ComplianceSearch and New-ComplianceSearchAction cmdlets in Office 365 Security & Compliance PowerShell. The company recommends IT administrators to validate that the alternative methods meet their specific requirements.

Limitations

Keep in mind that compliance searches may take longer to execute compared to Search-Mailbox, as they are specifically crafted to search through all mailboxes within an organization. Furthermore, applying purge actions to the results of a compliance search could also be time-consuming.

It’s worth noting that a search action has a limitation of deleting only 10 items per mailbox at a time. However, the Search-Mailbox cmdlet can remove up to 10,000 items from a mailbox, which makes it a faster option when it comes to removing a large number of items. Additionally, compliance search actions do not support the copying of items between mailboxes.