Email Recovery

How to Permanently Delete More Than 10 Emails in Exchange Online Purges Folder

Muhammad Talha Oct 13, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user needs to permanently delete a large volume of messages from the Recoverable Items and Purges folder but is constrained by the system's limit per action.

How to Permanently Delete More Than 10 Emails from the Purges Folder

Product: Exchange Online
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Attempting to clear out a large backlog of deleted items from the Recoverable Items and Purges folder using PowerShell.
Observed behavior: The New-ComplianceSearchAction purge command only deletes 10 messages per mailbox at a time, leaving the remaining messages in the folder.

Before you start

Ensure you are connected to Exchange Online PowerShell and possess the necessary eDiscovery Manager or Global Administrator permissions in the Microsoft 365 Purview compliance portal.

Solution 1Recommended

Run Repeated Purge Actions via PowerShell

Since Exchange Online strictly limits each purge action to 10 items, you must repeat the command to clear larger backlogs.

Exchange Online imposes a strict, hardcoded limit on the New-ComplianceSearchAction command, restricting it to 10 items per mailbox per purge action. This is a security measure designed to prevent accidental mass-deletion of mailbox data.

To delete more than 10 items, you cannot bypass this limit directly. Instead, you must execute the purge command repeatedly until the target emails are fully cleared.

Connect to Exchange Online

Open PowerShell as an administrator and connect to Exchange Online using the latest V3 module command: Connect-ExchangeOnline.

Create a Compliance Search

Run the New-ComplianceSearch command to define and identify the specific emails you wish to purge from the mailboxes.

Execute the Purge Command

Run the purge action using: New-ComplianceSearchAction -SearchName "YourSearchName" -Purge -PurgeType HardDelete.

Remove and Repeat

Wait for the action to complete. Exchange requires you to remove the previous search action using Remove-ComplianceSearchAction before you can run it again. Repeat this process until all desired items are removed.

Run Repeated Purge Actions via PowerShell

Scripting Recommendation: Administrators often utilize a PowerShell loop (such as a Do-While loop) to automatically rerun the purge action if thousands of emails need to be removed.

Solution 2

Use Retention Policies for Mailbox Management

While retention policies do not bypass the 10-item purge limit, they automatically clear out the Recoverable Items folder over time without manual PowerShell commands.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the Exchange Online purge command only delete 10 items at a time?

Microsoft imposes a hard limit of 10 items per mailbox per purge action to protect against accidental mass data loss and to ensure backend server stability during eDiscovery operations.

Can I bypass the 10-item purge limit in Exchange Online PowerShell?

No, this is a strict backend limitation in Exchange Online. You cannot bypass it. You must either run the purge command repeatedly or use automated retention policies to clear the items over a period of time.

What should I do if my Recoverable Items folder is completely full and stopping email flow?

If repeated PowerShell commands are not sufficient to clear the quota quickly, you should open a Microsoft 365 support ticket through the admin center to request assistance or a temporary expansion of the Recoverable Items quota.

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