Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP3, Exchange Server 2010 SP2
Topic Last Modified: 2012-07-23
The Recoverable Items folder contains items deleted by Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Office Outlook Web App users or by the Mailbox Assistant. The duration that deleted items remain in this folder is based on the deleted item retention settings configured for the mailbox database or the mailbox. By default, a mailbox database is configured to retain deleted items for 14 days, and the Recoverable Items warning quota and Recoverable Items quota are set to 20 gigabytes (GB) and 30 GB respectively. However, if litigation hold is enabled for the mailbox, the Recoverable Items folder can accumulate deleted items beyond the specified retention period and can also maintain different versions of modified mailbox items.
When the Recoverable Items folder reaches the Recoverable Items warning quota, a warning event is logged in the Application event log. If the mailbox isn't on litigation hold, items are then removed on a first in, first out (FIFO) basis. However, if the mailbox is on litigation hold, the mailbox is never emptied and upon reaching the Recoverable Items quota, mailbox functionality is impacted.
Therefore, it's important to monitor the event log for alerts generated when mailboxes reach the Recoverable Items quotas. You can also use this procedure to report statistics for the Recoverable Items folder, particularly for mailboxes placed on litigation hold.
To learn more, see the following topics:
Looking for other management tasks related to recoverable items? Check out Managing Recoverable Items.
Use the Shell to get Recoverable Items folder statistics for a mailbox
You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Mailbox folders" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.
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| You can't use the Exchange Management Console (EMC) to get Recoverable Items folder statistics for a mailbox. |
This example gets folder statistics for Soumya Singhi's Recoverable Items folder and displays the output in a list format.
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Get-MailboxFolderStatistics -Identity "Soumya Singhi" -FolderScope RecoverableItems | Format-List |
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This example gets folder statistics for Soumya Singhi's Recoverable Items folder and displays the folder name, folder path, number of items in the folder, and folder size in a table format.
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Get-MailboxFolderStatistics -Identity "Soumya Singhi" -FolderScope RecoverableItems | Format-Table Name,FolderPath,ItemsInFolder,FolderAndSubfolderSize |
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For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Get-MailboxFolderStatistics.
Use the Shell to get Recoverable Items folder statistics for all mailboxes on litigation hold
You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Mailbox folders" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.
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| You can't use the EMC to get Recoverable Items folder statistics for all mailboxes on litigation hold. |
This example retrieves a list of all mailboxes placed on litigation hold and retrieves mailbox folder statistics for the Recoverable Items folder and its subfolders for each mailbox. The Identity (mailbox folder identity) and the FolderAndSubfolderSize properties are displayed in a table format.
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Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited -Filter {LitigationHoldEnabled -eq $true} | Get-MailboxFolderStatistics | Format-Table Identity,FolderAndSubfolderSize
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For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Get-Mailbox and Get-MailboxFolderStatistics.
Other Tasks
After you get Recoverable Items folder statistics for a mailbox, you may also want to: