ArchiveStatus is set to "None" for an active archive mailbox in Microsoft 365

  • Article
  • Applies to:
    Exchange Online, Exchange Online Archiving

Original KB number: 4486848

Symptoms

Microsoft 365 Online archives allow for additional storage of users' email messages. However, in some scenarios, the ArchiveStatus property may be set to "None" even though you enabled an active archive for a user's mailbox in Microsoft 365.

For example, when you run the following cmdlet in Exchange Online PowerShell to check the archive status, the status shows as "None" instead of "Active":

Get-mailbox id|fl ArchiveStatus

The output of the cmdlet resembles the following:

ArchiveStatus: None

Note

Although ArchiveStatus shows "None," the user can access the online archive, and valid ArchiveGuid and ArchiveDatabase properties are set.

Cause

One of the following scenarios may cause the ArchiveStatus to be displayed as "None."

  • A user is re-licensed for an archive mailbox.
  • Move a primary and archive mailbox from on-premises to Microsoft 365.

Resolution

You should not use the ArchiveStatus property value to check the status of the archive unless this is a cross-premises scenario where the primary mailbox is on-premises and the archive mailbox exists in Microsoft 365 (that is, cross-premises archive). In all other scenarios, you should use both of the following properties to confirm the status of the archive:

  • ArchiveDatabase
  • ArchiveGuid

For example, run the following cmdlet:

Get-mailboxUserName|fl archivedatabase,archiveguid

The output resembles the following:

ArchiveDatabase :DatabaseIdParameterArchiveGuid :GUID