How to remove a particular user mailbox data from Exchange 2016

Question

How can I remove old user (let's say john@otp. com) mailbox data from my exchange 2016 database so that it can free up space inside my Server? Please help

Answer 1

Hi @Jonathan Priyaraj ,

The Exchange database does not automatically reclaim the freed space immediately. To reduce the physical size of the database files, you need to perform offline defragmentation using the 'Eseutil' tool. However, this operation requires dismounting the database, which will prevent users from accessing the database during the process. Be sure to confirm that the backup has been completed before performing this operation to prevent data loss.

To perform offline defragmentation:

1.Dismount the database with the Exchange Management Shell command:

Dismount-Database -Identity "YourDatabaseName"

2.Run ‘seutil’ with the ‘/D’ switch to defragment the database:

eseutil /d "C:\path\to\your\database.edb"

3.Remount the database after the process is complete.