This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Microsoft 365 screen reader support content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.
Use the Exchange admin center (EAC) with your keyboard and a screen reader to enable or disable archiving of items in an Exchange Online mailbox. You can also apply retention policies to mailboxes.
We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge and with JAWS in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
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To check that your admin role allows you to do these tasks, refer to Use a screen reader to identify your admin role in the Exchange admin center.
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Exchange Online is included in Microsoft 365 business and enterprise subscription plans; however, capabilities might differ by plan. If your EAC doesn't include a function described in this article, your plan might not include it. For more information about the Exchange Online capabilities in your subscription plan, go to What Microsoft 365 business product or license do I have? and Exchange Online service description.
In this topic
Enable mailbox archiving for a user
With mailbox archiving in the EAC, also called "in-place archiving," users get additional mailbox storage space. When enabled, archive mailboxes are accessible through Outlook and Outlook on the web, and offer a convenient alternate repository for old email messages.
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On the EAC dashboard, press the Tab key until you hear: “Left navigation hamburger, expanded.” If you hear "collapsed" instead of "expanded," press Spacebar to expand the menu before continuing.
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With Narrator, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear: "Recipients, expanded." With JAWS, press the Down arrow key instead. If you hear "collapsed" instead of "expanded," press Spacebar to expand the menu before continuing.
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With Narrator, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear: "Mailboxes." With JAWS, press the Down arrow key instead. Then press Enter. The Mailboxes list view opens, listing all mailboxes in the EAC. You hear: "Add a shared mailbox."
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To search for the user for whom you want to enable archiving, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear "Search mailboxes, search box." Type all or part of the user's name and press Enter.
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Press the Tab key until you hear the details of the first user in the search results list. Your screen reader announces their display name, email address, recipient type, and other information. If the search results list includes multiple names, press the Down arrow key until you hear the name you want.
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To open the user details pane, press Enter. You hear: "Close, button," followed by the user's name.
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Press the Tab key repeatedly until you hear "Manage mailbox archive, button." Press Enter.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Mailbox archive off, switch, off," and press Spacebar to toggle the switch. If you hear "Mailbox archive on, switch, on," it means that archiving is already enabled for the selected user.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Save, button," and press Enter. You hear "Close, button," followed by "Mailbox archiving successfully updated." Press Enter to return to the user details pane.
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To close the user details pane, press Esc. The focus returns to the search results list.
Disable mailbox archiving for a user
If you disable a user's archive, the existing content is retained for 30 days. This means that if you re-enable the archive within that 30 days, all existing content will still be intact. After 30 days, however, all information is permanently deleted, and if you enable the archive after this time, a new archive mailbox is created.
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On the EAC dashboard, press the Tab key until you hear: “Left navigation hamburger, expanded.” If you hear "collapsed" instead of "expanded," press Spacebar to expand the menu before continuing.
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With Narrator, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear: "Recipients, expanded." With JAWS, press the Down arrow key instead. If you hear "collapsed" instead of "expanded," press Spacebar to expand the menu before continuing.
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With Narrator, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear: "Mailboxes." With JAWS, press the Down arrow key instead. Then press Enter. The Mailboxes list view opens, listing all mailboxes in the EAC. You hear: "Add a shared mailbox."
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To search for the user for whom you want to disable archiving, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear "Search mailboxes, search box." Type all or part of the user's name and press Enter.
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Press the Tab key until you hear the details of the first user in the search results list. Your screen reader announces their display name, email address, recipient type, and other information. If the search results list includes multiple names, press the Down arrow key until you hear the name you want.
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To open the user details pane, press Enter. You hear: "Close, button," followed by the user's name.
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Press the Tab key repeatedly until you hear "Manage mailbox archive, button." Press Enter.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Mailbox archive on, switch, on," and press Spacebar to toggle the switch. If you hear "Mailbox archive off, switch, off," it means that archiving is already disabled for the selected user.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Save, button," and press Enter. You hear "Close, button," followed by "Mailbox archiving successfully updated." Press Enter to return to the user details pane.
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To close the user details pane, press Esc. The focus returns to the search results list.
Apply a retention policy to a user
The messaging records management (MRM) feature in the EAC helps you manage the life cycle of your organization's email by allowing you to set retention policies. Retention policies specify when certain types of mailbox items (including regular email messages, deleted items, and junk mail) should be moved, archived, or deleted. The EAC automatically applies the Default MRM Policy when you create a new mailbox with an archive or when you enable an archive for an existing mailbox user.
You can apply the same retention policy to all users, or you can apply different policies to certain users.
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On the EAC dashboard, press the Tab key until you hear: “Left navigation hamburger, expanded.” If you hear "collapsed" instead of "expanded," press Spacebar to expand the menu before continuing.
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With Narrator, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear: "Recipients, expanded." With JAWS, press the Down arrow key instead. If you hear "collapsed" instead of "expanded," press Spacebar to expand the menu before continuing.
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With Narrator, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear: "Mailboxes." With JAWS, press the Down arrow key instead. Then press Enter. The Mailboxes list view opens, listing all mailboxes in the EAC. You hear: "Add a shared mailbox."
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To search for the user for whom you want to change the retention policy, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear "Search mailboxes, search box." Type all or part of the user's name and press Enter.
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Press the Tab key until you hear the details of the first user in the search results list. Your screen reader announces their display name, email address, recipient type, and other information. If the search results list includes multiple names, press the Down arrow key until you hear the name you want.
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To open the user details pane, press Enter. You hear: "Close, button," followed by the user's name.
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Press the Tab key repeatedly until you hear "Manage mailbox policies, button." Press Enter. The Manage mailbox policies pane opens.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Edit, button," and press Enter. Then press the Tab key until you hear "Default MRM Policy," and use the Up and Down arrow keys to find the retention policy you want.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Save, button," and press Enter. You hear "Close, button," and the EAC starts to process the change. When it is ready, you hear: "Settings updated. It may take up to 5 minutes for these changes to appear." Press Enter to return to the user details pane.
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To close the user details pane, press Esc. The focus returns to the search results list.
See also
Use a screen reader to open the Exchange admin center
Use a screen reader to configure mail flow rules in the Exchange admin center
Permissions in Exchange Online
Technical support for customers with disabilities
Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.
If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.
