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How to Manage Emails for Deleted Microsoft 365 Mailboxes
Question details
Find options for handling or customizing messages sent to a former employee's Microsoft 365 email address after their user account is deleted.
- Product
- Microsoft 365
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- An employee has left the company, and the administrator needs to manage incoming emails to the former employee's address without bouncing them back.
- Observed behavior
- Senders receive a standard rejected-recipient message when emailing the deleted mailbox, and administrators want to know how to customize this or route the emails elsewhere.
Ensure you have global administrator or Exchange administrator permissions in the Microsoft 365 admin center before making changes to user accounts and mailboxes.
Convert the User Mailbox to a Shared Mailbox
Converting the user's mailbox to a shared mailbox allows you to retain their email address and lets authorized staff manage incoming messages without requiring a separate license.
Microsoft 365 does not provide a native way to customize the standard non-delivery report (NDR) for deleted mailboxes. The best practice is to keep the address active as a shared mailbox.
Log in to the Microsoft 365 admin center. In the left navigation pane, go to 'Users' and select 'Active users'.
Find and click on the departing employee's account to open their properties panel.
Navigate to the 'Mail' tab and click on 'Convert to shared mailbox'. Confirm the conversion when prompted.
Once converted, assign 'Read and manage' as well as 'Send as' permissions to the active staff members who need to monitor this address.
After the permissions are set, you can safely remove the Microsoft 365 license from the user to stop paying for it, while keeping the shared mailbox active.
Configure Email Forwarding
Set up email forwarding before deleting the user account so that any messages sent to the former address are automatically routed to another active employee.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I customize the rejected-recipient message in Microsoft 365?
No, Microsoft 365 does not provide a native way to customize the standard non-delivery report (NDR) or rejected-recipient message for a deleted mailbox. Using a shared mailbox with an auto-reply is the recommended workaround.
Do I need a paid license for a shared mailbox?
No, shared mailboxes typically do not require a separate Microsoft 365 license as long as they do not exceed the 50 GB storage limit. You only need to license the active users who are accessing it.
What happens if I delete the user account after converting it to a shared mailbox?
If you completely delete the user account in the admin center, the associated shared mailbox will also be deleted. To retain the mailbox for free, you should remove the user's license instead of deleting the account.
Can I restore a deleted Microsoft 365 mailbox?
Yes, if an account was deleted by mistake, you can usually restore the deleted user account and its mailbox within 30 days of deletion via the 'Deleted users' section in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
