Skip to main content
Version: Insiders

Recover Deleted Maiboxes

When mailboxes are deleted, whether intentionally or through policy escalation—they can still be recovered within a specific retention period. This guide outlines the steps for recovering deleted mailboxes and user accounts through both the Microsoft 365 Admin Center and PowerShell, with specific notes for EasyLife 365 Mail environments. When a mailbox is deleted, it is retained for 30 days (by default) in a soft-deleted state.

Scenarios Where Mailboxes May Be Deleted​

Mailboxes may be deleted due to:

  • A direct deletion by the owner.
  • Removal by administrators via the EasyLife 365 Mail Admin Portal or Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
  • Policy escalation, where mailboxes are removed after inactivity or other triggers.

Mailbox types this applies to:

  • Shared Mailboxes
  • Room Mailboxes
  • Equipment Mailboxes

Recovery Options​

Option 1: Use PowerShell – Undo-SoftDeletedMailbox​

For precise recovery — especially for resource mailboxes or EasyLife 365 Mail scenarios—use the Undo-SoftDeletedMailbox cmdlet.

Undo-SoftDeletedMailbox -Identity "<mailbox-identity>"

You can identify recoverable soft-deleted mailboxes using:

Get-Mailbox -SoftDeletedMailbox | Select Name,PrimarySmtpAddress,WhenSoftDeleted,DistinguishedName,ExternalDirectoryObjectId

This lists all recoverable mailboxes in the tenant.

info

Option 1: PowerShell Recovery using Undo-SoftDeletedMailbox is the preferred method, particularly for Shared, Room, or Equipment Mailboxes. Unlike the Admin Center approach, this method does not require setting a new password, which is especially important for mailboxes that were originally passwordless (e.g., resource or shared mailboxes). Additionally, it avoids metadata and permission sync issues that can occur with EasyLife 365 Mail integrations after restoration via the Admin Center.

Option 2: Restore User via Microsoft 365 Admin Center​

If the mailbox was tied to a user account, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Deleted Users in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
  2. Navigate to Users > Deleted Users.
  3. Select the user(s) and click Restore user.
  4. You will be prompted to set a new password — required even for Shared, Room, or Equipment Mailboxes ( even if the mailbox did not have a password before).
  5. Confirm restoration.
info
  • The original email address won’t be automatically assigned as the Primary SMTP address, but it’s typically retained as a secondary alias.
  • You may need to manually reassign the email alias via Exchange Admin Center (EAC) or PowerShell.