I am migrating from an open source email platform (Axigen) to Outlook/Exchange 2013. The Axigen system uses a connector for Outlook allowing users to use Outlook as a client.

To move from Outlook 2010 with the Axigen server to Outlook 2013 with Exchange I have exported the entire mailbox from Outlook 2010 to a .pst file which I am then trying to import into Outlook 2013.

The import process appears to complete successfully and the imported items show up in Outlook 2013 - but only for a second or two. Then they disappear completely, nowhere to be found. This happens with  ontacts, emails and calendar items and the result is the same whether I import the entire mailbox or just a folder at a time.

If I OPEN the .pst file into Outlook 2013 everything in it looks perfectly OK, I can view items with no problems, all folders are there with their correct content. Now if I try to move or copy items from the opened .pst file into the Outlook 2013 mailbox, I get the exact same symptoms as when importing. Items show for a couple of seconds and then disappear. If I copy or move a folder, the folder remains in the Outlook 2013 folder tree but the items in it disappear.

Why would items be perfectly visible and readable from an opened .pst file but disappear when they are copied into the new 2013 mailbox?

They are not visible in OWA either, btw, so this is not just Outlook not displaying them, they are really gone. Checking the folder size in Outlook shows an empty folder (size 0, 0 messages). I have tried the /cleanviews switch when starting Outlook.

This has me completely stumped. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

I forgot to add that I also tried re-exporting the opened .pst file from Outlook 2013 to a new file, just to see if Outlook 2013 would find any errors with it, but it did not.

Then I tried importing/copying from that new file - same problem, items disappear.

Edit: This morning I tried the operation with Outlook in disconnected mode and discovered that the copied/imported data is not disappearing. So evidently it is during the synchronization with the Exchange server that the imported items disappear.

Surely there must be an explanation for this?

• Edited by politby Saturday, March 23, 2013 10:37 AM

Hello,

Can you reproduce this behavior in Outlook online mode?

Here is a scenario may cause that. Outlook 2013 enabled Cached Exchange Mode and set "Mail to keep offline" to "X months". The message in PST is aged and it would be filtered by view when Outlook sync with his mailbox.

Besides, please use MFCMAPI tool to check if the message is in your mailbox indeed. We may download it from here:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=2953

Cheers,
Tony Chen
Forum Support
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Hi, thanks for responding. 

If I import/copy items while Outlook is offline, they will stay available until I connect to Exchange. As soon as the sync starts, they disappear.

I doubt this has to do with the age of messages, this happens to items which are just minutes old as well.

Let's say I copy 10 items from the PST into an empty folder in the new Outlook 2013 mailbox. They disappear after a couple of seconds. If I then check the size of the folder Outlook will report 0 items and a folder size of 0. This does not indicate a filter issue.

I will nevertheless try your suggestions and report back.

Well, the MFCMAPI tool was not really of any help, it just shows the same mailbox content as Outlook does.

There are no retention policies active on the Exchange server so that's not it either.

I am stumped.

More strangeness:

I set up an Android phone to sync with this account just now. I imported my contacts list from the phone into the Exchange account. After sync, all the contacts are perfectly visible on the phone, but NOT in Outlook 2013 or in OWA...

So maybe it is some sort of display filter thing after all? 

More strangeness:

I set up an Android phone to sync with this account just now. I imported my contacts list from the phone into the Exchange account. After sync, all the contacts are perfectly visible on the phone, but NOT in Outlook 2013 or in OWA...

So maybe it is some sort of display filter thing after all? 

That's unbelieveable that message is visiable in Android phone through Exchange ActiveSync but cannot be viewd in OWA...

For the database session, we may enable Exchange Mailbox Audit logging(http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff461937(v=exchg.150).aspx) to check if the message is indeed upload into DB from Outlook.

For the client level, please enable Outlook logging to log what happens inside outlook to aid in your troubleshooting.
 
We can enable Outlook logging in Outlook 2013 under File > Options > Advanced > "Other" section
 
Log files are created as .etl files and stored in %userprofile%\Local Settings\Temp.  A new log file is created each time Outlook starts.

Cheers,
Tony Chen
Forum Support
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More strangeness:

I set up an Android phone to sync with this account just now. I imported my contacts list from the phone into the Exchange account. After sync, all the contacts are perfectly visible on the phone, but NOT in Outlook 2013 or in OWA...

So maybe it is some sort of display filter thing after all? 

That's unbelieveable that message is visiable in Android phone through Exchange ActiveSync but cannot be viewd in OWA...

For the database session, we may enable Exchange Mailbox Audit logging(http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff461937(v=exchg.150).aspx) to check if the message is indeed upload into DB from Outlook.

For the client level, please enable Outlook logging to log what happens inside outlook to aid in your troubleshooting.
 
We can enable Outlook logging in Outlook 2013 under File > Options > Advanced > "Other" section
 
Log files are created as .etl files and stored in %userprofile%\Local Settings\Temp.  A new log file is created each time Outlook starts.

Cheers,
Tony Chen
Forum Support
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Come back and mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.
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Okay, I have enabled Outlook logging. However I cannot find any way to read those .etl files.

I also enabled audit logging in Exchange but as I understand it that will not log operations performed by the mailbox owner, only non-owner access. 

I think I am close to giving up on this. I can't believe an enterprise email platform will simply delete messages copied into a mailbox without any error message whatsoever, and no way for an admin to track what is happening.

It is definitely happening when syncing with Exchange, so there must be something in these items (and remember this happens not only to email messages, but also to Contacts) that makes the Exchange server decide these messages should be discarded witout warning.

One other thing: Folders copied from the .pst are visible on Outlook (although their contents are deleted) but not on ActiveSync clients. If I create a new folder in the mailbox, it syncs as it should.

Thank you for your patience.

Per your last reply, if the item is from PST, that must fail to sync. Why would we try to fix the source file through SCANPST file and check the result.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/272227

Cheers,
Tony Chen
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Thank you for your patience!

Forgot to say I have already run scanpst; it reported only minor errors and said no repair necessary. I repaired anyway which completed successfully. No difference.

Take a look at this screen capture; it shows exactly what is happening. When it starts the PST file is already opened in the left pane. I create a test folder and then I copy a large number of items from a folder in the pst file. You will see that after Outlook reports the synchronization that all the messages are gone from the target folder.

Sorry about the non-English language version.

Thank you for your recording. Seems like the synchronization issue between Outlook and Exchange.

Check the log in Sync Issue folder. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/synchronization-error-folders-HP001040042.aspx

Move your mailbox to another database to check the result.

Cheers,
Tony Chen
Forum Support
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Hi,

Just checking in to see if the information was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance.

Cheers,
Tony Chen
Forum Support
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Sorry for the delay. Was travelling.

None of those folders exist in the Exchange mailbox. The synchronization is evidently extremely successful since it annihilates every single item. :(

Also tried with other user accounts, newly created mailboxes, same thing.

All right. I think we need to check if the issue still happens in Outlook 2010. If yes, we confirm the problem doesn't matter with the Outlook version.

In addition, can you find the Outlook logging from the following location?

%temp%\Outlook Logging\

Cheers,
Tony Chen
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Just confirmed the exact same behavior with Outlook 2010. This was with a different user so not tied to a specific mailbox.

In the log file directory are a bunch of .etl files plus a file named <pst-filename>.log; below is the content from that file, I presume from when the .pst was opened:

Store File Name: P-O_1303261952.pst
Date|Time|Action|NID|Change Action|Change Semantics|URL|Count Of DocIDs|HRESULT|Result Status
2013/03/27|07:18:24:291|Processed Catalog State: CatalogGuid={FD9950E6-D1FC-43B1-ADC0-25AA8233E279} CheckpointGuid={4B6EEEF0-C420-40D0-8DF5-7AC07E092FD0} CheckpointNum=1 Source=2 Timestamp={High 0x01ce2ab1, Low 0xe73c0135}|||||OK
2013/03/27|07:36:51:457|Processed Catalog State: CatalogGuid={FD9950E6-D1FC-43B1-ADC0-25AA8233E279} CheckpointGuid={4B6EEEF0-C420-40D0-8DF5-7AC07E092FD0} CheckpointNum=1 Source=2 Timestamp={High 0x01ce2ab1, Low 0xe73c0135}|||||OK

Hi,

We are unable to reproduce the issue in house and no such issues have been reported for files getting disappeared. I would suggest you to check with normal PST files that have been exported using Outlook and try to import in Exchange 2013. Do we still see the issue ?

If No then i would suspect the source itself (Axigen ) where the files are not recognized by mailbox at all. Further to narrow down please import the file and close outlook and open OWA. Do we still see the files ? If No then its again ( Axigen ).

If you feel that it could be an issue with Microsoft Product, I would suggest you to run mailbox audit which will help you to find the culprit. Please refer http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff461939(v=exchg.150).aspx

Again i would suggest you to open phone support case with Microsoft so that we can collect multiple dumps and analyze the same to give you fruitful results which is not possible via this Forum support

You can open phone support case by calling us on 1-800-936-4900 or visiting the website http://support.microsoft.com/oas

Hope this helps

Thanks

• Proposed as answer by Microsoft Outlook Forum SupportMicrosoft employee Wednesday, April 10, 2013 1:35 AM

The situation unpleasant and quite complicated, but is worked out by use of ms outlook troubleshooting

Tool http://www.outlooktroubleshooting.oemailrecovery.com provides you all services for resolving the appeared trouble

This exact issue with Exchange 2007 and Outlook 2013 has been happening to us after allowing Windows Update to run. After updating Office 2013, it seems like the Exchange profile became somehow corrupt, so after recreating the profile and trying to copy the exported .pst files back into the new profile, they quickly disappear, whether I import them from the .pst or copy them into the new profile manually from within Outlook.

I have exact same problem going from Outlookl 2007 to Outlook 2013

Hello,

did u have to configure outlook for all the users manually? or you u had a tool to convert axigen mailboxes to PST?