Commands › Exchange Online

Connect-ExchangeOnline

Exchange Online ExchangeOnlineManagement Connect-*

For more information, see About the Exchange Online PowerShell module. Use the Connect-ExchangeOnline cmdlet in the Exchange Online PowerShell module to use modern authentication to connect to Exchange Online PowerShell or PowerShell for the Built-in security add-on for on-premises mailboxes. This cmdlet works for accounts with or without multi-factor authentication (MFA). To connect to Security & Compliance PowerShell, use the Connect-IPPSSession cmdlet.

Quick start script

# Connect-ExchangeOnline — quick start (serv365.ai)
# 1. Connect (app-only shown; interactive: omit the certificate parameters)
Connect-ExchangeOnline -CertificateThumbprint $thumb -AppId $appId -Organization $org

# 2. Run and inspect
Connect-ExchangeOnline | Format-List

# 3. Export for evidence / drift tracking
Connect-ExchangeOnline | Export-Clixml .\ExchangeOnline-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd).xml

Syntax

Connect-ExchangeOnline
 [[-ConnectionUri] <String>]
 [[-AzureADAuthorizationEndpointUri] <String>]
 [[-ExchangeEnvironmentName] <ExchangeEnvironment>]
 [[-PSSessionOption] <PSSessionOption>]
 [[-DelegatedOrganization] <String>]
 [[-Prefix] <String>]
 [[-CommandName] <String[]>]
 [[-FormatTypeName] <String[]>]
 [-AccessToken <String>]
 [-AppId <String>]
 [-BypassMailboxAnchoring]
 [-Certificate <X509Certificate2>]
 [-CertificateFilePath <String>]
 [-CertificatePassword <SecureString>]
 [-CertificateThumbprint <String>]
 [-Credential <PSCredential>]
 [-Device]
 [-DisableWAM]
 [-EnableErrorReporting]
 [-EXOModuleBasePath <String>]
 [-InlineCredential]
 [-LoadCmdletHelp]
 [-LogDirectoryPath <String>]
 [-LogLevel <LogLevel>]
 [-ManagedIdentity]
 [-ManagedIdentityAccountId <String>]
 [-Organization <String>]
 [-PageSize <UInt32>]
 [-ShowBanner]
 [-ShowProgress <Boolean>]
 [-SigningCertificate <X509Certificate2>]
 [-SkipLoadingCmdletHelp]
 [-SkipLoadingFormatData]
 [-TrackPerformance <Boolean>]
 [-UseMultithreading <Boolean>]
 [-UserPrincipalName <String>]
 [-UseRPSSession]
 [<CommonParameters>]

Parameters (37)

Parameter	Type	What it controls
-ConnectionUri	String	Note: If you use the ExchangeEnvironmentName parameter, you don't need to use the AzureADAuthorizationEndpointUri or ConnectionUri parameters.
-AzureADAuthorizationEndpointUri	String	Note: If you use the ExchangeEnvironmentName parameter, you don't need to use the AzureADAuthorizationEndpointUri or ConnectionUri parameters.
-ExchangeEnvironmentName	ExchangeEnvironment	The ExchangeEnvironmentName specifies the Exchange Online environment and eliminates the need to use the AzureADAuthorizationEndpointUri and ConnectionUri parameters. The following Exchange Online PowerShell...
-PSSessionOption	PSSessionOption	Note: This parameter doesn't work in REST API connections.
-DelegatedOrganization	String	The DelegatedOrganization parameter specifies the customer organization that you want to manage. A valid value for this parameter is the primary .onmicrosoft.com domain or tenant ID of the customer organization.
-Prefix	String	The Prefix parameter specifies a text value to add to the names of Exchange Online PowerShell cmdlets when you connect. For example, Get-InboundConnector becomes Get-ContosoInboundConnector when you use the value...
-CommandName	String[]	The CommandName parameter specifies the comma separated list of commands to import into the session. Use this parameter for applications or scripts that use a specific set of cmdlets. Reducing the number of cmdlets...
-FormatTypeName	String[]	The FormatTypeName parameter specifies the output format of the cmdlet.
-AccessToken	String	Note: This parameter is available in module version 3.1.0-Preview1 or later.
-AppId	String	The AppId parameter specifies the application ID of the service principal that's used in certificate based authentication (CBA). A valid value is the GUID of the application ID (service principal). For example,...
-BypassMailboxAnchoring	SwitchParameter	The BypassMailboxAnchoring switch bypasses the use of the mailbox anchoring hint. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
-Certificate	X509Certificate2	The Certificate parameter specifies the certificate that's used for certificate-based authentication (CBA). A valid value is the X509Certificate2 object value of the certificate.
-CertificateFilePath	String	The CertificateFilePath parameter specifies the certificate that's used for CBA. A valid value is the complete public path to the certificate file. Use the CertificatePassword parameter with this parameter.
-CertificatePassword	SecureString	The CertificatePassword parameter specifies the password that's required to open the certificate file when you use the CertificateFilePath parameter to identify the certificate that's used for CBA.
-CertificateThumbprint	String	The CertificateThumbprint parameter specifies the certificate that's used for CBA. A valid value is the thumbprint value of the certificate. For example, `83213AEAC56D61C97AEE5C1528F4AC5EBA7321C1`.
-Credential	PSCredential	The Credential parameter specifies the username and password that's used to connect to Exchange Online PowerShell. Typically, you use this parameter in scripts or when you need to provide different credentials that...
-Device	SwitchParameter	Note: This parameter is available in module version 2.0.4-Preview6 or later, and only in PowerShell 7.
-DisableWAM	SwitchParameter	Note: This parameter is available in module version 3.7.2-Preview1 or later.
-EnableErrorReporting	SwitchParameter	The EnableErrorReporting switch specifies whether to enable error reporting. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
-EXOModuleBasePath	String	Note: This parameter is available in module version 3.9.1-Preview1 or later.
-InlineCredential	SwitchParameter	Note: This parameter is available in module version 2.0.4-Preview6 or later, and only in PowerShell 7.
-LoadCmdletHelp	SwitchParameter	Note: This parameter is available in module version 3.7.0-Preview1 or later.
-LogDirectoryPath	String	The LogDirectoryPath parameter specifies the location of the log files. The default location is `%TMP%\EXOCmdletTelemetry\EXOCmdletTelemetry-yyyymmdd-hhmmss.csv`.
-LogLevel	String	The LogLevel parameter specifies the logging level. Valid values are Default and All.
-ManagedIdentity	SwitchParameter	The ManagedIdentity switch specifies that you're using managed identity to connect. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
-ManagedIdentityAccountId	String	The ManagedIdentityAccountId parameter specifies the user-assigned managed identity that you're using to connect. A valid value for this parameter is the application ID (GUID) of the service principal that...
-Organization	String	The Organization parameter specifies the organization when you connect using CBA or managed identity. A valid value for this parameter is the primary .onmicrosoft.com domain of the organization.
-PageSize	UInt32	The PageSize parameter specifies the maximum number of entries per page. Valid input for this parameter is an integer between 1 and 1000. The default value is 1000.
-ShowBanner	SwitchParameter	The ShowBanner switch shows or hides the banner message that's displayed when you run Connect-ExchangeOnline. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
-ShowProgress	Boolean	The ShowProgress parameter specifies whether to show or hide the progress bar of imported cmdlets when you connect. Valid values are:
-SigningCertificate	X509Certificate2	Note: This parameter is available in module version 3.2.0-Preview4 or later.
-SkipLoadingCmdletHelp	SwitchParameter	Note: This parameter is available in module version 3.3.0-Preview1 or later.
-SkipLoadingFormatData	SwitchParameter	The SkipLoadingFormatData switch prevents downloading the format data for REST API connections. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
-TrackPerformance	Boolean	The TrackPerformance parameter measures additional events (for example, CPU load and memory consumed). Valid values are:
-UseMultithreading	Boolean	The UseMultithreading parameter specifies whether to disable or enable multi-threading in the Exchange Online PowerShell module. Valid values are:
-UserPrincipalName	String	The UserPrincipalName parameter specifies the account that you want to use to connect (for example, `navin@contoso.onmicrosoft.com`). Using this parameter allows you to skip entering a username in the modern...
-UseRPSSession	SwitchParameter	Note: This parameter is deprecated in module version 3.9.2 or later. REST API connections replaced Remote PowerShell connections in Exchange Online PowerShell in October 2023. For more information, see...

Message Center changes mentioning this command

MC1248389 (Updated) Retirement of -Credential parameter when connecting to Exchange Online PowerShell

Reference facts derived from Microsoft documentation, © Microsoft, licensed CC BY 4.0; restructured with original guidance by serv365.ai.