Target mailbox doesn't have an smtp proxy matching in a mailbox migration

  • Article
  • Applies to:
    Exchange Online

Problem

Assume that you have a hybrid deployment of on-premises Microsoft Exchange Server and Exchange Online in Microsoft 365. When you try to move mailboxes from your on-premises environment to Exchange Online, you receive the following error message:

The target mailbox doesn't have an smtp proxy matching '<domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com'

Cause

This issue may occur if one of the following conditions is true:

  • The source mailbox isn't stamped to have a <domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com smtp address.
  • The proxy address <domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com is not synced to Microsoft 365 on the corresponding cloud mail-user object.

Solution

To find the cause of the issue and determine from which mailbox the <domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com email address is missing, run the following commands in the Exchange Management Shell and Exchange Online PowerShell:

Scenario 1: <domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com email address is missing from on-premises source mailbox (Exchange Management Shell)

To resolve this issue, add the <domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com email address to the on-premises source mailbox.

If the on-premises mailbox has an email address policy applied (that is, the EmailAddressPolicyEnabled parameter value is True or the Automatically update email addresses based on the email address policy applied to this recipient checkbox is selected for the user in Exchange Admin Center or Exchange Management Console), this means that the email address policy doesn't contain the secondary SMTP <domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com domain in the email address policy template. You can double-check this policy by running the following command in Exchange Management Shell:

Get-EmailAddressPolicy | FL Identity, EnabledEmailAddressTemplates

In this case, add <domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com to the email address policy. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Exchange Admin Center on the on-premises Exchange server.

  2. Click Mail flow, and then click Email address policies.

  3. Select the email address policy that you want to change, and then click Edit.

  4. In email address format, add the domain (<domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com) to the policy, click Save, and then click apply to to apply the change to the recipients.

  5. You should now see that the <domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com SMTP address is stamped on the on-premises mailbox when you run the following command:

    Get-Mailbox <AffectedUser> | FL EmailAddresses, EmailAddressPolicyEnabled

  6. Wait for directory synchronization to run. Or, force a delta directory synchronization. For more information about how to do this, see Start the Scheduler.

If the on-premises mailbox doesn't have an email address policy applied (that is, the EmailAddressPolicyEnabled parameter value is False or the Automatically update email addresses based on the email address policy applied to this recipient checkbox isn't selected for the user in Exchange Admin Center or Exchange Management Console), or if, for whatever reason, the email address policy doesn't stamp or apply the user@domain.mail.onmicrosoft.com smtp address on the recipient, you have to manually add the <domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com email address on the user, and then synchronize the change to Microsoft Entra ID. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Exchange Admin Center on the on-premises Exchange server.

  2. Click recipients, and then click mailboxes.

  3. Select and double-click the on-premises mailbox that you want to change.

  4. In email addresses, click the add icon () to add user@domain.mail.onmicrosoft.com email address to the user's email addresses.

  5. Click OK, and then Save.

  6. You should now see the <domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com stamped on the on-premises mailbox when you run the following command:

    Get-Mailbox <AffectedUser> | FL EmailAddresses

  7. Wait for directory synchronization to run. Or, force a delta directory synchronization. For more information about how to do this, see Start the Scheduler.

Scenario 2: <domain>.mail.onmicrosoft.com email address is stamped on the on-premises source mailbox but is missing from the cloud mail-user object (Exchange Online PowerShell)

In this case, you probably have a synchronization issue. Determine whether the directory synchronization works and whether you have any synchronization errors that are reported in the Microsoft Entra Connect tool or Microsoft 365 admin center. For more information about how to do this, see View directory synchronization errors in Microsoft 365.

You may also have a user validation error, if you already have a cloud user object on which the user@domain.mail.onmicrosoft.com email address is stamped.

To see this error, you have to connect to Microsoft 365 PowerShell and then run one of the following commands, depending whether you connect to MSOnline (MSOL) service or Microsoft Entra ID for Windows PowerShell:

(Get-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName <AffectedUserUPN>).Errors.ErrorDetail.ObjectErrors.ErrorRecord.ErrorDescription
(Get-AzureADUser -ObjectId <AffectedUserUPN>).Errors.ErrorDetail.ObjectErrors.ErrorRecord.ErrorDescription

Note

Azure AD and MSOnline PowerShell modules are deprecated as of March 30, 2024. To learn more, read the deprecation update. After this date, support for these modules are limited to migration assistance to Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK and security fixes. The deprecated modules will continue to function through March, 30 2025.

We recommend migrating to Microsoft Graph PowerShell to interact with Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD). For common migration questions, refer to the Migration FAQ. Note: Versions 1.0.x of MSOnline may experience disruption after June 30, 2024.

For more information, refer to You see validation errors for users in the Microsoft 365 portal or in the Azure Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell.

Then, in Microsoft 365 PowerShell, check whether the proxy addresses in Microsoft Entra ID contain the email address user@domain.mail.onmicrosoft.com. To do this, run one of the following commands:

(Get-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName <AffectedUserUPN>).ProxyAddresses
(Get-AzureADUser -ObjectId <AffectedUserUPN>).ProxyAddresses

If you find the user@domain.mail.onmicrosoft.com smtp address for the user in the command result, but you still don't have this email address in Exchange Online PowerShell by using the Get-MailUser command, this means that the Directory Synchronization tool brought the address successfully into Microsoft Entra ID, and you probably have a synchronization issue between Microsoft Entra ID and Exchange Online.

Another cause may be if the domain.mail.onmicrosoft.com smtp domain that is stamped on the on-premises user is incorrect. For example, the domain doesn't exist in your Microsoft 365 tenant or Exchange Online accepted domains. For more information about accepted domains, see View accepted domains.

If you cannot determine the cause of the issue, open a support case with Microsoft Support team to investigate further.

More information

For more info about email address policies and Exchange hybrid deployments, see the "Email address policy" section of the The cloud on your terms (PART I): deploying hybrid blog post.

For more info about how to edit an email address policy, see Edit an email address policy.

For more info about the coexistence domain that's added by the Hybrid Configuration wizard, see the "Domains" entry at Hybrid Configuration wizard.

Still need help? Go to Microsoft Community or the Exchange TechNet forums.