Upcoming change to your Microsoft Outlook account: Automatic archiving of email older than two years

Dear students,

Thank you for your efforts in meeting the M365 data storage limits for students, faculty and staff. As part of our ongoing efforts to manage Microsoft 365 storage responsibly, a change will be made to your Microsoft Outlook account: email messages older than two years will be automatically archived. This will include Shared Mailboxes.

Starting May 28, 2026 emails more than two years old will be moved from your Outlook mailbox to an Online Archive.

What this means for you

• Archived email – including in shared mailboxes – will remain fully accessible within Outlook in an Online Archive folder. This folder will appear in the regular Outlook navigation pane (on the left-hand side of your screen) as a sub-folder titled Online archive – email address
• You will still be able to search, read, reply to, and forward archived messages just as you would any other email.
• This change helps keep mailbox sizes manageable while preserving long‑term access to your messages.

What you need to know

• No action is required on your part. IST will implement this change automatically.
• No emails will be deleted.
• The only adjustment for users is when searching for older emails. Messages more than two years old will be located in the Online Archive folder rather than your primary mailbox.
• The archiving process may take up to six weeks to complete. During this transition, you may need to search both your primary mailbox and the archive folder to locate messages.

How to search for archived emails

• Classic Outlook users - Your archived emails will be located in the folder named Online archive – UMNetID@myumanitoba.ca. To search archived emails, open the Online Archive folder and use the search bar at the top. To search across both your mailbox and online archive, select "All folders” from the drop-down menu in the search bar. Watch our helpful tutorial video for step-by-step guidance.
• New Outlook users - Your archived emails will be located in the folder named Online archive – your name. Use the search bar to search both your mailbox and online archive. Watch our helpful tutorial video for step-by-step guidance.
• Outlook for web users - Your archived emails will be located in the folder named In-Place Archive – your name. To search for archived emails, use the search bar within that folder, or choose "All folders” in the search filter to include both your mailbox and archive. Watch our helpful tutorial video for step-by-step guidance.
• Visit the IST website for more information.

Need help?  

For questions, or additional assistance, please contact the IST Service Desk at 204-474-8600 or use our new 'Chat with us' bubble at the bottom right corner of the IST website for a faster response via chat.  Our hours are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Best regards,

Service Desk

Information Services & Technology

University of Manitoba

123 Fletcher Argue

230 Neil John MacLean Library

204-474-8600

Servicedesk@umanitoba.ca

This message is available in alternate formats upon request to ServiceDeskLeadership@umanitoba.ca.

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