Enable Online Archive - Admin Help

Archiving in Microsoft 365 provides users with additional mailbox storage space.

After you turn on archive mailboxes, users can access and store messages in their archive mailboxes by using Microsoft Outlook and Outlook on the web.

Users can also move or copy messages between their primary mailbox and their archive mailbox. They can also recover deleted items from the Recoverable Items folder in their archive mailbox by using the Recover Deleted Items tool.

Permissions required for an admin to enable or modify this role

One must be assigned with the Mail Recipients role in Exchange Online to enable or disable archive mailboxes. By default, this role is assigned to the Recipient Management and Organization Management role groups on the Permissions page in the Exchange admin center. If you don't see the Archive page in the Microsoft 365 compliance center, ask your administrator to assign you the necessary permissions.

How to enable an archive mailbox

The archive mailbox can be enabled via the Exchange Online admin center - Mailboxes - click on the mailbox - a new windows will pop-up on the right - Others - Manage mailbox archive 

Disable an archive mailbox

The archive mailbox can be disabled the same way you have enabled it, you just have to turn off the archive.

After it is disabled, the archive mailbox will stay in a soft-deleted state for 30 days and if it is re-enabled it will reconnect to the same mailbox and all the emails inside will be there. If it is not re-enabled in the next 30 days, it will get purged, and the history will be lost. It can be re-enabled again but the mailbox will be empty.