Manage recipients and mailboxes
Domain 6 - Manage recipients and mailboxes
This domain tests recipient objects and their lifecycle: user, shared, room, and equipment mailboxes; distribution and mail-enabled security groups; contacts and mail users; permissions; retention; archive; hold; and mailbox moves.
Core rules
- A shared mailbox is not tied to a licensed user, but it needs a license when it exceeds the 50 GB limit or when archive or advanced features are required. Full Access permission automapping applies only to Full Access, not Send As.
- Send As sends with the mailbox's address and bypasses the delegate's sent items; Send on Behalf shows both names. Full Access opens the mailbox; Send As does not grant read access.
- Room and equipment mailboxes use calendar processing settings to accept or decline bookings, apply booking windows, and manage recurring meetings.
- Retention policies apply retention tags; litigation hold and eDiscovery holds preserve content. Inactive mailboxes retain data after a mailbox is deleted.
Worked example
A shared mailbox is 70 GB and must retain a 10-year archive. Assign Exchange Online Plan 2 or Exchange Online Archiving to the shared mailbox, enable the archive, and apply the retention policy. Grant the team Full Access and Send As on the mailbox. Reasoning: the shared mailbox exceeds the unlicensed 50 GB threshold and needs archive, so a license is required. Automapping will add the mailbox to Outlook for Full Access members, but Send As must be tested separately.
Traps
- Removing Full Access does not always remove automapping immediately; recreate the Outlook profile if needed.
- Send on Behalf requires the delegate's name to appear; Send As does not.
- Soft-deleted mailboxes are recoverable only within the retention window.