Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP2

Topic Last Modified: 2013-02-22

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 In-Place Hold or 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:

What do you need to know before you begin?

  • Estimated time to complete: 1 minute

  • You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure or procedures. To see what permissions you need, see the "Mailbox folders" entry in the Recipients Permissions topic.

  • You can't use the Exchange admin center (EAC) to get Recoverable Items folder statistics for a mailbox.

  • For information about keyboard shortcuts that may apply to the procedures in this topic, see Keyboard Shortcuts in the Exchange Admin Center.

Having problems? Ask for help in the Exchange forums. Visit the forums at: Exchange Server, Exchange Online, or Exchange Online Protection

What do you want to do?

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.

Copy Code 
Get-MailboxFolderStatistics -Identity "Soumya Singhi" -FolderScope RecoverableItems | Format-List

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.

Copy Code 
Get-MailboxFolderStatistics -Identity "Soumya Singhi" -FolderScope RecoverableItems | Format-Table Name,FolderPath,ItemsInFolder,FolderAndSubfolderSize

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Get-MailboxFolderStatistics.

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.

Copy Code 
Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited -Filter {LitigationHoldEnabled -eq $true} | Get-MailboxFolderStatistics | Format-Table Identity,FolderAndSubfolderSize

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Get-Mailbox and Get-MailboxFolderStatistics.