Exchange Online Archive Mailbox Missing in Outlook: Complete Fix Guide

Exchange Online Archive Mailbox Not Displaying in Outlook: Why?

Before proceeding with the solutions, understanding the root causes is essential for smart recovery. The substantial reasons for the online archive folder not showing in Outlook 365 are:

• Missing/Incorrect Licence: All the Exchange Online Plan 2, Microsoft 365 Business Standard/Premium, or E3/E5 are a must to access online archive mailboxes. 
• Un-enabled Archive Mailbox: It must be turned on in EAC or PowerShell. 
• Outdated Versions: Older versions don’t support the In-place archive within MS Outlook. 
• Cache Interferences: Cache Exchange mode usually hides the online archive and needs to be disabled/reset. 
• Incomplete Access with Delegates: Complete access permissions are required; it doesn’t work with folder-level permissions. 
• Corruption: Detecting archives with corrupted profiles or failed Autodiscovery lookup is impossible. 
• Delays in Provision: It takes upto 24 hrs for the online archive mailboxes to appear in Outlook. 

How to Fix Exchange Online Archive Mailbox Missing in Outlook?

Exchange Online Archive is an Office 365 mailbox feature for additional storage of up to 100 GB. It contains all the old and unused or less-used mailbox emails and frees up the space in the primary mailboxes. With the new AutoArchive feature, users can now even set retention policies and transfer data at regular intervals. The In-place Archive not showing in Outlook 2019 or any other version is thus critical and needs immediate resolution with the free methods and the paid tool explained here. 

Free Fix Exchange Online Archive Mailbox Not Visible in Outlook

This part elaborates on the manual troubleshooting you can try to fix the disappearance of the online archive folder. These are:

1) Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant 

Accessing online archive mailboxes of other users? Use this to scan Outlook and find the issues with advanced diagnostics of the configurations. Steps are:

1. Download the tool and initiate the scan. 
2. Then, it prompts to opt for a problematic app. Choose Advanced Diagnostics. 
3. Click Next, pick Outlook, and again click Next. 
4. Further, it prompts if you are running the application on the same system. Click Yes. 
5. Input the details of the Exchange Online Archive Account and click Next. 
6. Afterward, validate your account credentials and run the scan. Wait for it to complete. 
7. The detailed report after the scan with all errors appears. You can check the complete configuration summary too. Tap Next. 
8. Complete and follow the on-screen instructions to recover the Exchange Online Archive mailbox missing in Outlook. 

2) Verification of Full Access Permissions 

The administrator needs to assign the complete permissions so that both primary and archive mailboxes can be accessed easily in Outlook Web App and desktop Outlook. The steps for it are:

1. In EAC, go to the Recipients tab, and you’ll find three options: Mailboxes, Resources, and Shared. 
2. Then, select Mailboxes and opt for the one you need complete permissions for. Tap the Edit icon. 
3. The Mailbox Properties page shows up. Here, move to Mailbox Delegation. 
4. Within it, you get three options to choose from, i.e., Send As, Send on Behalf, and Full Access. 
5. Opt for Full Access and, within it, select the mailbox for which permissions are needed. Press Save >> OK.

3) Check Your Availability of Account Licence 

Accessing the Online Archive Mailbox in Office 365 requires the Office 365ProPlus Licence. To verify whether you have it or not, follow these steps:

1. Go to Microsoft 365 Admin Center, open it, and log in to your account. 
2. Next, from left, click Billing and within it, move to Licences. 
3. All the available and assigned licences will appear here. 
4. Or, you can go to Users and Active Users to verify their Licences. 

4) Ensuring MS Outlook is Up-to-Date 

Exchange Online archive not showing can also be if your Outlook version has expired. So, it must be updated instantly with the following steps:

1. Open Microsoft Outlook and from the File, click Office Account. 
2. Then, in the Office Updates, expand the Update Options menu. 
3. Afterward, click Update Now, and if any are available, install them. 

5) Turn Off Automatically Detect Settings 

The browser proxy settings, if remained turned on, can also lead to the Exchange Online Archive Mailbox Missing in Outlook. Hence, you need to switch it off with the steps below:

1. In Microsoft Edge, tap the three-dot icon in the upper-right and choose Settings. 
2. Next, in the search bar, input Proxy settings and click Enter. 
3. From the list, click on Open your computer’s proxy settings, and a dialog appears. 
4. At last, under Automatically detect settings, turn the toggle off and save changes. 
5. Restart your Outlook to verify if the online archive mailbox appears in Outlook. 

6) Handling Cache Exchange Mode 

Even though Cache Exchange Mode is used to store local copies of the mailbox, it tends to sometimes interferes with the visibility of the mailbox. You can manage it by:

1. In Outlook, navigate to File and open Account Settings. 
2. Then, pick your Exchange Account from the list and click Change. 
3. Further, uncheck the box for Use Cache Exchange Mode and tap Next. 
4. Save it and restart Outlook to see if you can access the Online Archive. 
5. If it appears, re-enable Cache mode and resume the operations after Outlook restart. 

7) New Outlook Profile Creation

Corrupted profiles also restrict you from accessing the archive mailboxes. So, using these steps, you can create a new profile for data access: 

1. Close MS Outlook and from the Control Panel, click Mail. 
2. Then, press Show Profiles and click Add, enter the name, and hit OK. 
3. Follow the on-screen prompts to create a new Exchange profile. 
4. Set it as the default with the Always Use this Profile option and tap OK. 
5. Restart Outlook to resolve the Exchange Online Archive mailbox not displaying in Outlook. 

8) AutoDiscover Resetting by Registry 

The AutoDiscover feature in Outlook helps find mailboxes and archives easily. So, if it’s not working properly or isn’t refreshed, you can reset them. However, note that it should be performed with caution, and you should have a backup. Steps to fix Exchange Online Archive Mailbox Missing in Outlook:

1. Close Outlook and press Win+R, type regedit in it, and click Enter. 
2. Then, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\AutoDiscover. 
3. After that, create a new DWORD (32-bit) value and name it as ExcludeLastKnownGoodUrl.
4. In the end, set the value to 1, reboot the computer, and restart Outlook. 

9) Forced Archive via PowerShell cmdlets 

Managed Folder Assistant helps with forcing immediate provision via cmdlets in Office 365 PowerShell. Steps are:

1. Connecting to the Exchange Online PowerShell:

Install-Module -ModuleName ExchangeOnlineManagement Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName admin@yourdomain.com

2. Next, for specific users, run Managed Folder, Assistant by:

Start-ManagedFolderAssistant userID@yourdomain.com

3. Afterward, use the following commands:

Get-Mailbox <user_mailbox_ID> | FL ArchiveName $dn=Get-Mailbox <user_mailbox_ID> | Select -ExpandProperty DisplayName Set-Mailbox <user_mailbox_ID> -ArchiveName “In-Place Archive -$dn”

4. Wait for 5-10 minutes, and then your Exchange Online Mailbox will appear. 
5. At last, disconnect your Exchange PowerShell with:

Disconnect-ExchangeOnline

Fix Exchange Online Archive Mailbox Not Visible in Outlook

If the above methods didn’t seem to work and you don’t have any access to your archive mailbox, then what? How will you access the crucial emails now? What if your archive mailbox contains critical primary mailbox emails and documentations, which, definitely most of the time, it does. So, in such a case, the best resort is to use professional software like the SysInfo Office 365 Export to PST Tool to take a backup beforehand. It is very easy to use and requires no technical expertise, unlike the manual troubleshooting tricks. Moreover, you can use it on any Windows or macOS. 

Steps to Fix Exchange Online Archive Mailbox Missing in Outlook

1. Start the Office 365 Backup Tool and click Backup. 
   
2. Then, sign in to your Exchange Online Archive mailbox with the admin credentials. 
   
3. Further, pick your Online Archive mailbox and specific user IDs. Click Next. 
   
4. Afterward, choose the folders from the tree structure hierarchy and click Next. 
   
5. Later, choose the PST file format and use the filters from the software. 
   
6. You can even migrate Exchange Server to Office 365. Finally, click Convert and OK to save the data. 
   

Conclusion

Even if Exchange Online Archive Mailbox Missing in Outlook is a complex and frustrating problem for IT Admins and Exchange users, it is fixable. Most of the time, simple client-side fixes help resolve it with ease; otherwise, the PowerShell cmdlets and EAC can help with advanced resolutions. However, for the best case of prevention beforehand, take a backup of your Exchange Online Archive Mailbox with the SysInfo Office 365 to PST Exporter. Use it to maintain efficient email management without downtime or loss.

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About The Author:

Simran Bhatia

Simran Bhatia is a technical content writer engaged in writing clear, concise, and SEO-optimized content. With a background in computer science and a passion for writing, I thrive to deliver complex technical content in simple layman terms.