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Outlook Online Archive

The Microsoft 365 Outlook email Online Archive is a special mailbox where older messages are stored. 

This article applies to: Email @ Cornell , Outlook for Mac , Outlook for Windows , Outlook on the Web

CIT will be piloting the Online Archive mailbox feature to CIT and some campus IT staff during the early part of 2025. It is anticipated that the feature will be available to the general Cornell community later in Spring 2025.

About the Email Online Archive

The Microsoft 365 Outlook email Online Archive is a special mailbox where older messages are stored. Because this mailbox is located in the cloud rather than on your device, it saves space in your primary Outlook mailbox.

The Online Archive will move all messages, calendar appointments, notes, and tasks that are more than one (1) year old to the Online Archive folder.

Archiving messages older than one (1) year to the Online Archive is mandatory and cannot be turned off. The Online Archive mailbox cannot be deleted. 

Find Archived Email Messages in the Online Archive

The Online Archive is found in Cornell-provided instances of Outlook for Mac, Outlook for Windows, and Outlook on the Web (sometimes called OWA). 

In Outlook on the Web, the online email Archive is labeled In-Place Archive - <your name>.

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Automatic Message Archiving

All email messages older than one (1) year will automatically be moved to the Online Archive mailbox. 

Archived folders and messages will retain their organizational structure from the Inbox.

Removing (deleting) an empty or unwanted folder from your active Inbox folders will not delete the corresponding folder and mailbox items in your Online Archive mailbox.

Search for Archived Email Messages

Email messages, Notes, and Tasks more than a year old are moved to the Online Archive. 

All of this content can be still searched just like messages located in your Inbox, with a single search, by selecting, in the Search bar drop-down, All Mailboxes to search from all email items, or All Outlook Items to search for all types of Outlook items.

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View Archived Calendar Items 

In the Outlook desktop client for Windows or the Mac, meetings and appointments more than a year old are archived to a calendar named Calendar - Online Archive - <your NetID email address>.

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In Outlook on the Web, archived calendar items are integrated into the active calendar and can be found simply by scrolling back to the desired date. 

View Archived Notes and Tasks Items

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To find archived notes in the Outlook desktop client, it may be easiest to switch to the Folders view in Outlook. 

To do this, select Folders from the Outlook Quick Access toolbar (usually a series of icons located to the left of your Inbox). Folders gives a complete list of Outlook folders and items in your account, both for your active mailbox and the Online Archive mailbox.

In Folders view:

  1. Scroll down to show the Online Archive. 
  2. If you have archived Notes or Tasks items, you can select the folder to show a list of the archived items of that type.

If you didn't have any Notes or Tasks items, folders for those item types will not appear in the Online Archive.

Manually Move Messages to the Online Archive

Drag and drop messages or folders that you wish to manually archive into the Online Archive mailbox. 

Alternatively, manually archive a message by right-clicking the message and selecting Move, then Online Archive. 

The contents of an entire email folder can be manually archived by right-clicking the folder name and selecting Move Folder. Then choose Online Archive and click OK.

The Online Archive Versus Local Archive Folders

The Online Archive mailbox should not be confused with any local Archive mail folders that might already exist in your Outlook Inbox. 

Outlook email folders panel showing both the Archive folder and the email Online Archive mailbox.

Be aware that the Archive button in the Outlook ribbon archives messages to the old-style Archive folder, NOT the new Online Archive mailbox.

Any items you have previously archived to the Archive folder in your active Inbox that are older than one year will be found in the Online Archive in a folder called Archive.

Screen capture of Outlook client ribbon showing Archive button (white rectangle with green "lid").

 

Why Is Cornell Implementing the Online Archive?

Microsoft Online Archiving provides features to manage emails, ensure compliance, and maintain productivity.

  • Compliance and eDiscovery
    The Online Archive helps organizations meet regulatory requirements and supports eDiscovery, making it easier to manage legal and compliance needs.
  • Security and Reliability
    The Online Archive provides robust security and reliability, ensuring that archived emails are protected and accessible.
  • Productivity
    Seamlessly access archived emails through Outlook for desktop or Outlook on the web, which helps maintain productivity without interruptions. For details, see below under "Use the Online Archive." Archiving also helps manage mailbox size by moving older emails to the archive, freeing up space in the primary mailbox and potentially improving device performance.
  • Search Capabilities: Admin-level search and Microsoft Purview-based search operate normally for archived content, although end-user search is currently not supported.
  • Integration with Email Clients: Archived emails can be accessed using clients on various operating systems (Windows, browser, Mac, and mobile).

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