Disable or Remove a User Mailbox in Exchange 2007

In today’s video we show you how to disable user mailbox as well as how to delete user mailbox from Exchange 2007.

One way of how to disable user mailbox in Exchange 2007 to prevent them from sending or receiving mails can be done through the Exchange Management Console.  First locate the mailbox by selecting Recipient Configuration on the left-hand pane and clicking on “Mailbox.”  Click on the desired user mailbox to disable, and an option called “Disable” will appear on the right-hand Action pane.  Click on it, and answer “Yes” to the warning prompt to disable the selected mailbox.

Once a mailbox is no longer active, it disappears from the Mailbox list.  It can be found under “Disconnected Mailbox” on the left-hand pane however.  Browsing to the disabled mailbox there and selecting it will present the administrator with the option to “Connect…” on the Action pane.  Clicking on it will bring up a “Connect Mailbox” wizard, which prompts if you want to connect the mailbox to the “Matching User,” or select “Existing User” if you want to connect it to another user.  Click on “Next” to see the configuration summary, and “Connect” to initiate the action. Click on “Finish” once done.

Do note that after 30 days, a disconnected mailbox will be automatically deleted by the system, and a restore from backup files will be needed to bring it back. In addition, there is also the option to remove user mailbox, which has the effect of deleting the user behind a mailbox.  Simply select the desired mailbox, click on “Remove” and you removed user mailbox. Removing an account in this manner means that the linked user can no longer be found in Active Directory Users and Computers, and which will have to be manually created if desired.