Hi Guys,

I've recently implemented a GPO to control the autoarchiving defaults that are being applied to users. This has propagated fine but I've found a few issues. Namely:

1) Policy not being applied to the inbox, this is a big one. From reading up on this issue the GPO can't actually effect individual folders policies just change the default, which means the policy isn't getting applied to the most important folder. Is there any way to automate this application ? I'm aware of a button to press within outlook but I don't relish the idea of having to go round to each PC.

2) Some users have an existing PST, so the policy I've applied to change the default, again is there any way to automate this transparently. I've already written a script that should take care of this locally but is there any way to do it remotely?

Thanks in advance.

Matt

Hi,

You can refer to the following thread and check if it helps:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/exchange/en-US/4c41b926-1c7d-4ba4-b2c8-cbfb09a13407/autoarchive-exchange-2010-sp3-group-policy-or-retention-policy?forum=exchangesvrdeploy

Regards,

Flynn

Policy not being applied to the inbox, this is a big one. From reading up on this issue the GPO can't actually effect individual folders policies just change the default, which means the policy isn't getting applied to the most important folder. Is there any way to automate this application ? I'm aware of a button to press within outlook but I don't relish the idea of having to go round to each PC.

This can be accomplished in 3 ways. With all 3 I would recommend using Group Policy to enforce the retention schedule and settings and use one of these 3 to set the folders.

1. Develop a Macro that sets the Outlook archive setting on start up, and then you push out the macro file which overwrites the user's macro.
2. Set the Outlook Programmatic Security to Auto Allow and use a VB script or PowerShell script that creates an Outlook COM connection followed by an enumeration of all folders and setting of the archive to default.
3. I created the following Outlook Add-In that will set all folders to use the Default Settings. Install it on the PC and it will silently enumerate through all the folders ensuring Auto Archiving is set when Outlook starts up. http://powershellblogger.com/2015/08/outlookautoarchive/
   

Some users have an existing PST, so the policy I've applied to change the default, again is there any way to automate this transparently. I've already written a script that should take care of this locally but is there any way to do it remotely?

1. If a user already has a .PST that is not in the default archive.pst location, an additional one will be made and there will be an extra folder on the left hand nav pane of Outlook. You would not be able to combine them automatically. I would recommend using the default settings across all computers.

• Proposed as answer by Steve Parankewich 6 hours 9 minutes ago