In Fall 2025, Cornell will implement Microsoft’s Online Archive, a dedicated archive mailbox for Outlook into which content—email, Calendar items, Notes, and Tasks—will be automatically archived after a set retention period.

To prepare for this change, Cornell Outlook users can expect the following changes to take place:

• Starting Saturday, August 9, 2025, the Online Archive mailbox will begin to be added to Cornell accounts and will become visible in desktop clients and Outlook on the web. This process may take several days to complete for all Cornell accounts.
• On Wednesday, September 3, 2025, a self-service form will be available to allow Cornell Outlook account holders to opt in to the Online Archive in advance of the general launch and to change the retention period content is kept before archiving.
• In October 2025, the Outlook archiving process will be turned on for all Outlook accounts.
  See below for more about what to expect when the archive is turned on for an account. 

What to Expect with the Online Archive

Once activated for an account:

The Online Archive policy will move ALL Outlook content that is older than the retention period set for an account to a dedicated archive mailbox. The default retention period will be four (4) years before the content is archived.
Archived content will include emails, Calendar items, Notes, and Tasks. The Online Archive is a cloud-based mailbox and should not be confused with pre-existing email “Archive” folders in the main Inbox. A self-service form will be available to let users set a shorter retention policy.

The Online Archive is a separate mailbox from the main Inbox—but is still accessed in Outlook.
Account holders will still have easy access to the archived content by opening the Online Archive mailbox. Outlook’s Search feature can look for content in both the Inbox and the Online Archive for Outlook content at once.

Online Archive is a required feature that cannot be undone once implemented. 
Archived content cannot be moved back to your active Inbox. It will be possible to change the retention period for content before archiving, but one cannot opt out entirely from the Online Archive. For IT staff who took part in the pilot, the Online Archive will continue to archive content more than one (1) year old, unless the individual uses the self-service form to change the retention policy for their account.

The retention period, which determines how long content is kept before archiving, can be set using a self-service form.
Account holders will be able to choose a one-, two-, three-, or four-year period for content to be retained before archiving. More information about the self-service form will be provided when it becomes available in September 2025.

For more details about the Online Archive, visit the IT@Cornell webpage Outlook Online Archive.

Why Is Cornell Making This Change?

The email Online Archive will reduce the cost of email storage and management, improve mailbox performance and accessibility, ensure compliance with existing data retention policies, and bring Cornell Ithaca campus policies in line with those at Cornell Weill.

The Online Archive was piloted in Spring 2025 for CIT and other IT staff with few issues. The pilot program provided valuable information about the feature’s impact on Cornell customers.

Questions or Concerns

If you have comments or questions, contact the Email Services at email-online-archive@cornell.edu.