How to Create an Archive Policy in Microsoft 365 Exchange Online.
If you want to learn how you can create an Exchange Online Archive Policy in Microsoft/Office 365, then this guide is for you.
An Exchange online archive policy is a rule that defines after how long time an email will be automatically moved from a user's primary mailbox to the In-Place Archive (aka "Online archive") in Microsoft 365 Exchange Online. This helps keep your mailbox size within limits and preserve important emails for a long time.
Benefits of an Archiving Policy
- Automatically moves older emails to the archive based on retention settings.
- Prevents the primary mailbox from reaching storage limits.
How to Create an Exchange Online Archive Policy (Microsoft 365 /Office 365).
Step 1. Enable Mailbox Archive for users.
For an archiving policy to work, you must first enable the mailbox archive for users in your organization. To do this:
1. Navigate to Exchange Online admin center and go to Recipients > Mailboxes.
2. Click on the mailbox* you want to enable the "Mailbox archive" and in Others tab click Manage mailbox archive.
* Note: To enable Mailbox archive to all mailboxes, read these instructions.
3. Here set the Manage mailbox archive to Enabled and click Save. Then continue to step-2 below.
Step 2. Create a new Retention Policy Tag.
To create an archiving policy, you must first define an email retention policy tag that determines after how long time an email message will be automatically moved from the user's primary mailbox to the archive.
1. In the Office 365 Admin center > click Show all and then click Compliance to open the Microsoft Purview portal.
2. In Microsoft Purview, click Solutions and then Data Lifecycle Management.
3. In Data Lifecycle Management expand Exchange (legacy) and then click MRM Retention tags.
4. In 'MRM Retention tags' page,* click New tag.
* Note: In 'MRM Retention tags' page you'll see a list of the current Office 365 predefined retention tags that can be manually applied by users to emails or folders and the "Default" retention tag which specifies that emails older than 2 years will be automatically moved to the Online Archive (aka "Mailbox archive").
5. Type a Name (1) for the new retention tag (eg: "1 Year move to archive") and below type a more detailed description (2) for the tag (eg. "Move emails older than a year to the mailbox archive"). Then click Next (3).
* Note: In this example, we will create a new retention tag, which will move emails older than 1 year to the mailbox archive.
6. At the next screen select the option Automatically to entire mailbox (default) and click Next.
7. In the retention settings, specify after how many days (1) an email will be automatically moved to archive (e.g. after "365" in this example) and in the "Retention action" section, select the Move item to archive (2) option. Then click Next.
8. Now, review your settings and click Submit to create the retention policy tag. When the tag is created, click Done and continue to next step.
Step 3. Create a New Retention Policy using the Retention tag you created.
After creating the retention tag, proceed and create a retention policy and link it to this tag.
1. Select MRM Retention policies and click New policy to create an new retention policy using the retention tag you created before.
2. At "Configure your policy" options, do the following:
a. Type a friendly Name for the new policy or name it the same as the retention tag name you gave before.(e.g. "1 Year move to archive") and then click Add tag
b. Now, choose the "1 Year move to archive" tag and click Add.
c. Click Next to continue.
3. Review your settings and click Submit.
4. At this stage you have completed creating the new retention policy. The next step is to assign the new policy to the mailboxes of the desired users through the Exchange admin center. To do this immediately, navigate to Exchange admin center and follow the instructions in next step.
Step 4. Apply a new Retention Policy to User Mailboxes.
After creating the new retention policy, proceed and assign it to user mailboxes as instructed below:
1. In Exchange admin center, go to Recipients > Mailboxes and click on the mailbox where you have enabled the Mailbox archive and you want to apply the new retention policy you created. *
* Note: To apply the new policy to multiple mailboxes, select the mailboxes you want and on the menu above click Mailbox policies.
2. Select the Mailbox tab and at "Retention policy" area click Manage mailbox policies.
3. Change the Retention policy from the "Default MRM Policy" to "1 Year move to archive" and click Save.
4. You're done! Now, wait 24 hours up to a week* for the new policy to take effect and start archiving.
* Notes:
1. By default the retention and archive policies are automatically applied from Managed Folder Assistant (MFA) every 7 days. If you want to to immediately apply the new policy and start the archiving after 5-10 minutes, give the following command after connecting to Exchange Online via PowerShell:
-
Start-ManagedFolderAssistant -Identity MailboxName
For example: To start the archiving in mailbox "user1@yourdomain.com", give this command:
-
Start-ManagedFolderAssistant -Identity user1@yourdomain.com
2. To Start the Managed Folder Assistant on all mailboxes, issue this command:
That's it! Let me know if this guide has helped you by leaving your comment about your experience. Please like and share this guide to help others.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Exchange Online Archive Policy in Microsoft 365 Exchange Online?
An Exchange Online Archive Policy is a rule that specifies when emails will be automatically moved from a user's primary mailbox to the In-Place Archive in Microsoft 365 Exchange Online. This helps manage mailbox size and ensures important emails are preserved over time.
What are the benefits of using an archiving policy?
Archiving policies automatically move older emails to the archive based on retention settings, preventing the primary mailbox from reaching storage limits and preserving important emails for the long term.
How do I enable Mailbox Archive for users?
To enable Mailbox Archive, navigate to Exchange Online admin center, go to Recipients > Mailboxes, select the desired mailbox, click 'Manage mailbox archive' in the Others tab, set it to Enabled, and click Save.
How can I create a new retention policy tag for email archiving?
In the Office 365 Admin center, open the Compliance section in the Microsoft Purview portal, go to Data Lifecycle Management, expand Exchange (legacy), and click MRM Retention tags. Click New tag, provide a name and description, select the automatic mailbox option, set retention settings, and then submit to create the tag.
March 27, 2026 @ 4:27 pm
Thank you! This article was perfect. Answered my need in a clear and easy to follow way!