Commands › Exchange Online

Enable-Mailbox

Exchange Online ExchangeOnlineManagement Enable-*

Create mailboxes for existing users who don't already have mailboxes. You can also use this cmdlet to create In-Place archives for existing mailboxes. **Note**: In Exchange Online, you use this cmdlet to add archive mailboxes for existing users and to enable auto-expanding archives. To add a mailbox for an existing Microsoft Entra account, you need to add a license to the account as described in Assign licenses to user accounts.

Quick start script

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

# 2. Capture the current state first — you cannot roll back what you never recorded
$before = Get-Mailbox
$before | Format-List

# 3. Make the change (dry run first)
Enable-Mailbox -Identity <UserIdParameter> -Arbitration <SwitchParameter> -ArchiveDomain <SmtpDomain> -WhatIf
Enable-Mailbox -Identity <UserIdParameter> -Arbitration <SwitchParameter> -ArchiveDomain <SmtpDomain>

# 4. Verify and diff
$after = Get-Mailbox
Compare-Object ($before | Out-String) ($after | Out-String)

Syntax — 13 parameter sets

Arbitration

Enable-Mailbox [-Identity] <UserIdParameter> [-Arbitration]
 [-ActiveSyncMailboxPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-Alias <String>]
 [-Confirm]
 [-Database <DatabaseIdParameter>]
 [-DisplayName <String>]
 [-DomainController <Fqdn>]
 [-Force]
 [-ManagedFolderMailboxPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-ManagedFolderMailboxPolicyAllowed]
 [-PrimarySmtpAddress <SmtpAddress>]
 [-RetentionPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-RoleAssignmentPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-WhatIf]
 [<CommonParameters>]

RemoteArchive

Enable-Mailbox [-Identity] <UserIdParameter> -ArchiveDomain <SmtpDomain>
 [-ActiveSyncMailboxPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-Alias <String>]
 [-Confirm]
 [-DisplayName <String>]
 [-DomainController <Fqdn>]
 [-Force]
 [-ManagedFolderMailboxPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-ManagedFolderMailboxPolicyAllowed]
 [-PrimarySmtpAddress <SmtpAddress>]
 [-RemoteArchive]
 [-RetentionPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-RoleAssignmentPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-WhatIf]
 [<CommonParameters>]

Discovery

Enable-Mailbox [-Identity] <UserIdParameter> [-Discovery]
 [-ActiveSyncMailboxPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-Alias <String>]
 [-Confirm]
 [-Database <DatabaseIdParameter>]
 [-DisplayName <String>]
 [-DomainController <Fqdn>]
 [-Force]
 [-ManagedFolderMailboxPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-ManagedFolderMailboxPolicyAllowed]
 [-PrimarySmtpAddress <SmtpAddress>]
 [-RetentionPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-RoleAssignmentPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-WhatIf]
 [<CommonParameters>]

Equipment

Enable-Mailbox [-Identity] <UserIdParameter> [-Equipment]
 [-ActiveSyncMailboxPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-Alias <String>]
 [-Confirm]
 [-Database <DatabaseIdParameter>]
 [-DisplayName <String>]
 [-DomainController <Fqdn>]
 [-Force]
 [-ManagedFolderMailboxPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-ManagedFolderMailboxPolicyAllowed]
 [-PrimarySmtpAddress <SmtpAddress>]
 [-RetentionPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-RoleAssignmentPolicy <MailboxPolicyIdParameter>]
 [-WhatIf]
 [<CommonParameters>]

9 more parameter sets — see the parameter table below.

Parameters (34)

Parameter	Type	Required	What it controls
-Identity	UserIdParameter	yes	The Identity parameter specifies the user or InetOrgPerson object that you want to mailbox-enable. You can use any value that uniquely identifies the user. For example:
-Arbitration	SwitchParameter	yes	This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-ArchiveDomain	SmtpDomain	yes	This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-Discovery	SwitchParameter	yes	This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-Equipment	SwitchParameter	yes	This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-LinkedDomainController	String	yes	This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-LinkedMasterAccount	UserIdParameter	yes	This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-LinkedRoom	SwitchParameter	yes	This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-PublicFolder	SwitchParameter	yes	This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-Room	SwitchParameter	yes	This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-Shared	SwitchParameter	yes	This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-ActiveSyncMailboxPolicy	MailboxPolicyIdParameter		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-AddressBookPolicy	AddressBookMailboxPolicyIdParameter		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-Alias	String		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-Archive	SwitchParameter		The Archive switch creates an archive mailbox for an existing user that already has a mailbox. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
-ArchiveDatabase	DatabaseIdParameter		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-ArchiveGuid	Guid		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-ArchiveName	MultiValuedProperty		The ArchiveName parameter specifies the name of the archive mailbox. This is the name displayed to users in Outlook on the web (formerly known as Outlook Web App). If the value contains spaces, enclose the value in...
-AuditLog	SwitchParameter		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-AutoExpandingArchive	SwitchParameter		This parameter is available only in the cloud-based service.
-Confirm	SwitchParameter		The Confirm switch specifies whether to show or hide the confirmation prompt. How this switch affects the cmdlet depends on whether the cmdlet requires confirmation before proceeding.
-Database	DatabaseIdParameter		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-DisplayName	String		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-DomainController	Fqdn		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-Force	SwitchParameter		The Force switch hides warning or confirmation messages. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
-HoldForMigration	SwitchParameter		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-LinkedCredential	PSCredential		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-ManagedFolderMailboxPolicy	MailboxPolicyIdParameter		The ManagedFolderMailboxPolicy parameter specifies the managed folder mailbox policy to enable for the mailbox that you create. If you don't specify this parameter, the default managed folder mailbox policy is used.
-ManagedFolderMailboxPolicyAllowed	SwitchParameter		This parameter is available in Exchange Server 2010.
-PrimarySmtpAddress	SmtpAddress		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-RemoteArchive	SwitchParameter		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-RetentionPolicy	MailboxPolicyIdParameter		This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.
-RoleAssignmentPolicy	MailboxPolicyIdParameter		The RoleAssignmentPolicy parameter specifies the management role assignment policy that's assigned to the mailbox. You can use any value that uniquely identifies the policy. For example:
-WhatIf	SwitchParameter		The WhatIf switch shows what the command does without making any changes. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.

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