Remote mailboxes

When you create a user account in a hybrid domain of the on-premises Active Directory, you can create a remote mailbox for that user. On the Mailbox tab, turn on the Create Mailbox toggle and select Remote Mailbox to create a remote mailbox for the user. You must specify a licensing group that is configured with an office 365 policy and a remote routing address for the mailbox.

You can also create an archive mailbox for the user’s remote mailbox. Select the user account for which you want to create an archive mailbox, and then click Exchange > Create Archive Mailbox.

If a user account does not have a mailbox, you can create a remote mailbox by selecting Exchange > Create Mailbox. On the Create Mailbox page, select Remote Mailbox, and specify a licensing group that is configured with an office 365 policy and a remote routing address for the mailbox.

After you create a remote user mailbox, you can view and configure the following mailbox properties:

When you delete a user account with a remote mailbox from the on-premises Active Directory, you also delete the remote mailbox from the cloud-based service. If the Recycle Bin is enabled for the hybrid domain, deleting a remote user mailbox moves it to the Recycle Bin. The deleted user account with the remote mailbox can be restored.

To delete a remote mailbox from the cloud-based service, you must disable the remote mailbox by selecting Exchange > Delete Mailbox. If an archive mailbox exists, it is also deleted. Deleting a remote mailbox from the cloud-based service does not delete the associated user account in the on-premises Active Directory.

You can also delete only the archive mailbox while keeping the mailbox in the cloud-based service.

When you create a shared mailbox in the on-premises Active Directory, you can choose to create the shared mailbox as a remote mailbox. On the General tab, under Mailbox Options, select Remote Mailbox. Specify a remote routing address and Send As permission for the mailbox.

To create an archive mailbox for the remote shared mailbox, select the remote shared mailbox, and then click Exchange > Create Archive Mailbox.

After you create a remote shared mailbox, you can view and configure the following mailbox properties.

For more information, see Configure Remote Mailbox Properties.

When you delete a remote shared mailbox from the on-premises Active Directory, you permanently delete the shared mailbox account from the on-premises Active Directory as well as the associated mailbox from the cloud-based service. If an archive mailbox exists, it is also deleted. If the Recycle Bin is enabled for the hybrid domain, deleting a remote shared mailbox moves it to the Recycle Bin. The deleted remote shared mailbox can be restored.

You can also delete only the archive mailbox while keeping the mailbox in the cloud-based service.

Limit the size of incoming and outgoing messages for a specific object, as well as accept or reject incoming messages.

Limit the size of the remote mailbox and prevent the sending and receiving of messages when the remote mailbox reaches the configured size. You can also configure warnings to be sent when the remote mailbox’s size exceeds the predefined limit.

Set a storage limit for the archive mailbox and configure warnings to be sent when an archive mailbox's size exceeds a predefined limit.

Use the mailbox store’s settings to retain deleted mailbox objects or to specify how long the deleted mailbox objects are retained before they are permanently deleted and cannot be restored.

Modify existing addresses or create new addresses for the remote mailbox including the primary email address. You can also specify whether to apply email address policies to the remote mailbox and update the remote routing address for the user’s remote mailbox.

Specify whether the user is visible in the address list and prevent the remote mailbox from sending messages to an X400 type email address.

Add informational text that you want to be displayed when a message is sent to users.

Set a litigation hold on a remote mailbox to preserve all mailbox content, including deleted items and original versions of modified items. Placing a user's remote mailbox on litigation hold also preserves content, if it exists, in the archive mailbox as well. The hold can last for a specified period, or until you remove the Litigation Hold from the remote mailbox.

Delegate the remote mailbox to other users and groups who can use the mailbox to read and send messages. You can delegate three types of permissions to users: send as, send on behalf of, and full access.

Configure the remote mailbox to forward messages sent to it to another mailbox and specify the maximum number of recipients to whom a message can be forwarded.