[HELP] How to save Outlook e-mails from expiry?

[Noyu]

Hi! So our company recently transitioned to MS Exchange using Outlook 2016 (coming from IBM SmartCloud).

 

What I did was transfer all of my e-mails from SmartCloud (using the IMAP server) to my MS Exchange account.

It was basically drag-and-drop. HOWEVER, I did ignore the warning regarding retention policy because I thought that meant offline retention.

 

APPARENTLY, we have the default 1 year retention policy in our MS Exchange account. And only the admin has an option to change the policy.

Now my problem is that I have a ton of >1y/o emails that came from SmartCloud that are getting deleted on a daily basis due to this retention policy.

 

Our SmartCloud server has since been closed and I can only make backups through Outlook.

How would one archive these e-mails offline?

 

Rants:

I really don't understand why we need a retention policy when the Mailbox size per user is like a 100GB.

My only guess that it may be a requirement for ISO on information security.

There also seems to be an oversight from the IT Department as they did not inform people about the retention policy.

[KarathKasun]

5 minutes ago, Noyu said:

Hi! So our company recently transitioned to MS Exchange using Outlook 2016 (coming from IBM SmartCloud).

 

What I did was transfer all of my e-mails from SmartCloud (using the IMAP server) to my MS Exchange account.

It was basically drag-and-drop. HOWEVER, I did ignore the warning regarding retention policy because I thought that meant offline retention.

 

APPARENTLY, we have the default 1 year retention policy in our MS Exchange account. And only the admin has an option to change the policy.

Now my problem is that I have a ton of >1y/o emails that came from SmartCloud that are getting deleted on a daily basis due to this retention policy.

 

Our SmartCloud server has since been closed and I can only make backups through Outlook.

How would one archive these e-mails offline?

 

Rants:

I really don't understand why we need a retention policy when the Mailbox size per user is like a 100GB.

My only guess that it may be a requirement for ISO on information security.

There also seems to be an oversight from the IT Department as they did not inform people about the retention policy.

The problem is the mail database complexity.  The 100gb limit is good for sending/receiving large files, but the database/mailbox can get REALLY slow once it reaches ~20gb of pure text (hundreds of thousands of DB entries).  It will also create an inordinate amount of server strain when searching through e-mails.

 

Best solution is to use Outlook and save the messages to a local mailbox.

[Radium_Angel]

Make an Archive file that's not connected to the server. Move all mail older than 1 year into it, problem solved as the archive doesn't count as it's not part of the main mailbox

(My company has the same policy)

[Noyu]

10 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

Make an Archive file that's not connected to the server. Move all mail older than 1 year into it, problem solved as the archive doesn't count as it's not part of the main mailbox

(My company has the same policy)

OH shoot there's an offline archive right on Outlook's sidebar. dammit I wish I saw that sooner. thanks!

 

BTW, I can copy and paste archive files between computers right? So I'll be able to access any archive file using Outlook, without any credentials required?

[Radium_Angel]

6 hours ago, Noyu said:

OH shoot there's an offline archive right on Outlook's sidebar. dammit I wish I saw that sooner. thanks!

 

BTW, I can copy and paste archive files between computers right? So I'll be able to access any archive file using Outlook, without any credentials required?

The archives are in a .pst, as long as your network is set up for it, yes, you can install/red it on multiple systems. I can't speak for how your network is set up, but that works for us.

[Noyu]

1 hour ago, Radium_Angel said:

The archives are in a .pst, as long as your network is set up for it, yes, you can install/red it on multiple systems. I can't speak for how your network is set up, but that works for us.

oh no i meant if I transfer the pst file itself. Is there some option where I can point Outlook to that archive file?

[Radium_Angel]

3 hours ago, Noyu said:

oh no i meant if I transfer the pst file itself. Is there some option where I can point Outlook to that archive file?

Yes, typically under "File", "Account Settings", "Data File", then "Add" and point to the .pst file