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Exchange Server environments often rely on public folders as a cornerstone of collaboration. These folders allow teams to share emails, calendars, and documents seamlessly. However, when the time comes to export public folders—whether for migration, backup, or compliance—many IT admins find the process challenging and full of pitfalls.

In this post, we’ll explore the common issues you may face when exporting Exchange public folders and practical solutions to address them. By understanding these challenges and following the recommended fixes, you can ensure a smooth export process with minimal downtime and data loss.

Why Export Exchange Public Folders?

Before diving into the problems, it’s important to understand the reasons behind exporting public folders:

Migration: Moving data to a new Exchange Server or to Exchange Online (Microsoft 365).

Archiving: Managing storage by archiving old or infrequently accessed data.

Compliance: Meeting data retention and legal regulations.

Backup: Creating offsite backups for disaster recovery.

Each reason requires careful handling of data to maintain integrity and security.

Common Export Issues and Their Solutions

1. Insufficient Permissions Preventing Export

The most frequent obstacle is permission-related errors. Even if you’re an Exchange administrator, you might not have the required Owner rights on the specific public folders.

Solution: Make sure the exporting user has Owner permissions on the public folders. You can verify permissions using PowerShell:

powershellCopy

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Get-PublicFolderClientPermission -Identity "<folder name>"

If the user doesn’t have adequate rights, assign them with:

powershellCopy

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Add-PublicFolderClientPermission -Identity "<folder name>" -User "<export user>" -AccessRights Owner

Setting permissions correctly before exporting saves time and prevents failures.

2. Slow Export Performance Due to Server Load or Infrastructure

Export speed depends heavily on server resources and folder size. During peak hours, exporting large folders may slow down dramatically.

Solution:

Schedule exports during off-peak hours or maintenance windows.

Confirm the server’s storage subsystem supports enough IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second).

Optimize Exchange Server’s search indexing to reduce delays during export.

Consider using third-party export tools to minimize load on the server.

3. Export Timeouts or Errors When Handling Large Public Folders

Public folders often grow very large over time. Native export methods sometimes cannot handle large folder sizes, causing timeouts, slow exports, or data corruption.

Solution:

Split large folders into smaller, manageable chunks or archive old data.

Adjust the Exchange organization size limits if storage permits.

Use the Exchange built-in utility EseUtil to defragment and compact databases, improving performance.

Use dedicated third-party tools that are optimized for large folder exports.

4. Unexpected Migration Problems

Issues such as folder hierarchy mismatches, configuration errors, duplicate data, or scripting mistakes can occur during migration.

Solution:

Validate folder mappings before migration.

Perform data cleanup to reduce complexity and size.

Use PowerShell scripts to check data consistency.

Plan and document your migration carefully, including backup and testing phases.

A Better Way: Use Specialized EDB Converter Tools

One of the best ways to avoid common Export Public Folders Issues is by using a specialized tool like Stellar Converter for EDB. This software can open live, offline, and orphaned Exchange database files of any size independently, without requiring an Exchange Server to be running.

Key features include:

Exporting public folders, user mailboxes, archives, and shared mailboxes to PST and other formats.

Direct export to a live Exchange Server or Exchange Online (Microsoft 365).

Multi-threaded parallel exports to save time.

Automatic mailbox matching to maintain data integrity.

Using such tools simplifies the export process, minimizes server load, and ensures higher success rates.

Conclusion

Exporting Exchange public folders can be complex, but with the right knowledge and tools, it doesn’t have to be a headache. Common problems include permission errors, slow exports, timeouts, and migration issues, all of which can be managed with proactive measures.

Setting correct permissions, scheduling exports during low-traffic periods, managing folder sizes, and leveraging advanced third-party tools will help you avoid most Export Public Folders Issues. This approach ensures data integrity, smooth migrations, and a better overall experience for your IT team.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: What permissions do I need to export public folders? A1: You must have Owner access permissions on the public folders to export their contents successfully.

Q2: Can I use Microsoft Outlook to export public folders? A2: While technically possible, exporting public folders via Outlook is not recommended due to size and reliability limitations. PowerShell or third-party tools are preferred.

Q3: Why is my export running very slowly? A3: Slow exports often occur due to high server load, insufficient storage IOPS, or large folder sizes.

Q4: How do I avoid export timeouts with large public folders? A4: Archiving or splitting large folders, defragmenting databases with EseUtil, and using specialized export tools can help prevent timeouts.

Case

You receive a Non Delivery Report in Exchange Online similar to the following, after sending an email message. Your message to IMCEAEX-_o=_ou=Exchange+20Administrative+20Group+20+28FYDIBOHF23SPDLT+29_cn=Recipients_cn=d478a21369b24b7dbbcd0eaab8ff6e36-d+2E@.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM couldn't be delivered. Your email program is using outdated address information for this recipient. Reported error: 550 5.1.11 RESOLVER.ADR.ExRecipNotFound; Recipient not found by Exchange Legacy encapsulated email address lookup.

Solution

To prevent the Outlook client from using outdated address information, you will need to clear the recipient Auto-Complete List in Outlook or Outlook on the web by carrying out the following steps to clear the recipient Auto-Complete List from the Outlook email client. - Identify the recipient who did not receive your email message by looking at the To or CC information located in the Original Message Headers section. Recipients whose names are followed by a set of characters which start with 'IMCEAEX' or 'imceaex' did not receive your message. - Click New mail (in Outlook) or New Email (in Outlook on the web). - In the To box, start typing the recipient's name or email address until the recipient's name appears in the drop-down list. - Use the Down Arrow and Up Arrow keys to select the recipient, and then press the Delete key to delete the Auto-Complete List entry. - In the To box manually retype the recipient's email address and then resend the message. If the above steps do not resolve the issue for Exchange Online error with status code 550 5.1.11, then you should take the following notes into account. The recipient email address is a LegacyExchangeDN address, which isn't used by the Office 365 service. You might see this error if you've migrated your organization's email from on-premises to the cloud, or if your organization has a hybrid configuration and you synchronize your on-premises directory with Office 365. If clearing the recipient Auto-Complete List from Outlook does not solve the issue, you can try to clear the related LegacyExchangeDN address from your on-premises Active Directory. Then synchronize the Active Directory again with your Microsoft 365 tenant. You should review the following articles which provide details on how to troubleshoot the major Exchange Online NDR 550 error messages. - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/mail-flow-best-practices/non-delivery-reports-in-exchange-online/fix-error-code-550-5-1-1-through-5-1-20-in-exchange-online - https://stefanos.cloud/kb/how-to-troubleshoot-exchange-online-ndr-errors/

Sources

Introduction

Microsoft has announced the deprecation of Basic authentication in Exchange Online. Basic authentication will be permanently disabled in Exchange Online on October 1st, 2022. More specifically, Microsoft is removing the ability to use Basic authentication in Exchange Online for Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), POP, IMAP, Remote PowerShell, Exchange Web Services (EWS), Offline Address Book (OAB), Outlook for Windows, and Mac. The SMTP AUTH option will also be disabled in all tenants in which it's not being used. All new Microsoft 365 tenants are created with Basic authentication turned off, since this is part of the Security defaults configuration. Basic authentication, also known as legacy authentication, means the application sends a username and password with every request, and those credentials are also often stored or saved on the device. Traditionally, Basic authentication is enabled by default on most servers or services, and is simple to set up. Modern authentication is the successor technology of basic authentication and uses OAuth 2.0 token-based authorization.

Action items for end customers

There are various ways to tell if your applications are using basic authentication and not modern authentication to connect to Exchange Online. For Microsoft Outlook client, if you click CTRL and right-click the Outlook icon in the system tray, then click "Connection Status", the Authn column in the Outlook Connection Status dialog shows the value of Clear for basic authentication and the value of Bearer for modern authentication. You can also use the Azure AD sign-in report to determine which tenants and users are still using basic authentication. Modern authentication to Exchange Online presents a Web-based login screen such as the following.

Basic authentication on the other hand presents a Windows form similar to the following.

To enable or disable modern authentication for your M365 tenant, follow instructions in the article below: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/clients-and-mobile-in-exchange-online/enable-or-disable-modern-authentication-in-exchange-online The following cases will be impacted by the replacement of basic authentication with modern authentication: - Application developers who have built apps that send, read, or otherwise process email using these protocols will be able to keep the same protocol, but need to implement secure, Modern authentication experiences for their users. Detailed guidance is provided at: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/client-developer/legacy-protocols/how-to-authenticate-an-imap-pop-smtp-application-by-using-oauth. Also if you are the developer of a custom application utilizing Exchange Web Services (EWS), you will need to switch to the Microsoft Graph API. Detailed instructions are provided at: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/upcoming-changes-to-exchange-web-services-ews-api-for-office-365/ba-p/608055. - Exchange Active Sync mobile device users will need to ensure that their mobile device email app is using modern authentication. One option is to use Outlook for iOS and Android when connecting to Exchange Online, because these apps natively support Modern authentication. There are other mobile device email apps which support Modern authentication. The built-in email apps for all popular platforms typically support Modern authentication, so you need to verify that your mobile device is running the latest version of the app. If the email app is current, but is still using Basic authentication, you might need to remove the account from the device and then add it back. - If you are a Powershell administrator and need to run scripts against an Exchange Online tenant, you need to make use of the EXO V2 module which uses Modern authentication and works with multi-factor authentication (MFA) for connecting to all Exchange-related PowerShell environments in Microsoft 365: Exchange Online PowerShell, Security & Compliance PowerShell, and standalone Exchange Online Protection (EOP) PowerShell. The EXO V2 module can also be used non-interactively, which enables running unattended scripts via certificate-based authentication. certificate-based authentication for Powershell unattended scripts is described at App-only authentication for unattended scripts in the EXO V2 module. - Regarding Microsoft Outlook client support for modern authentication you should consult the following articles: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/enterprise/modern-auth-for-office-2013-and-2016 and New minimum Outlook for Windows version requirements for Microsoft 365. All versions of Outlook for Windows since 2016 have Modern authentication enabled by default, so it's likely that you're already using Modern authentication. Outlook Anywhere (formerly known as RPC over HTTP) has been deprecated in Exchange Online in favor of MAPI over HTTP. Outlook for Windows uses MAPI over HTTP, EWS, and OAB to access mail, set free/busy and out of office, and download the Offline Address Book. All of these protocols support Modern authentication. Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2010 cannot use Modern authentication, and will eventually be unable to connect. Outlook 2013 requires a setting to enable Modern authentication, but once you configure the setting, Outlook 2013 can use Modern authentication with no issues. Outlook 2013 requires a minimum update level to connect to Exchange Online. Outlook for Mac supports modern authentication. - If you have public folders in a legacy Exchange server-based system, you will need to consult the following article to migrate to Exchange Online with modern authentication support: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/announcing-public-folder-migration-scripts-with-modern/ba-p/3382800.

Source

Error: MigrationPermanentException: Cannot find a recipient that has mailbox GUID. When trying to move a mailbox from Exchange Online to Exchange On-premises the above error occurred. Error: MigrationPermanentException: Cannot find a recipient that has mailbox GUID This happened because the mailbox was created online and not on-premises, and therefore the GUID wasn't synced to AzureAD and vice versa.

Solution

Office 365 E-mails Are Not Sent (550 5.18 Bad Outbound Sender) #email #exchange #exchangeonline #office365

Office 365 E-mails Are Not Sent (550 5.18 Bad Outbound Sender)

Issue: When a user sends an email, it does not reach the recipient, instead getting a non-delivery kick back reporting the following error:

550 5.1.8 Access denied, bad outbound sender AS(41000001) Your message couldn’t be delivered because you weren’t recognized as a valid sender. The most common reason for this is that your email…

OneDrive Roundup November 2019.

Save for Later

OneDrive for Business: Save for laterSave for Later will allow you to bookmark files and folders from your OneDrive, files shared to you and those in Shared Libraries to a "Saved for Later" list that you'll be able to easily accessRoadmap ID: 49095 With this feature you will now be able to bookmark files and folders across OneDrive and SharePoint for later access. You will see an aggregate of everything you have saved in the “Saved for later “ section in your OneDrive making it easy for you to quickly get back to content from your OneDrive or a shared library.

Request Files

OneDrive for Business: File RequestsOneDrive users can request files from others by sending an upload-only link.Roadmap ID: 27020 We are glad to announce roll out of the “Request Files” functionality where you can create special links to request files from others. Anyone with the file request link will be able to upload files without having to sign in, no OneDrive account required. Best of all, uploaders will only be able to upload files. They can't view, edit, or even see who else may have uploaded to the request. There are multiple use cases where this feature can be extremely valuable – consider "Request for Proposal" (RFP) scenario where you need to collect bids from others, or a marketing professional accumulating quotes from various vendors for a campaign, a teacher collecting assignments , a manager reaching out for feedback from his team members or a financial rep or recruiter gathering documents from their clients- just to name a few. 

Language localization for OneDrive emails