Set archive folder for EWS / Exchange

Mail
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The blog post and the FAQ state that Exchange accounts should support the archive feature:

HOW TO USE THE ONE-CLICK ARCHIVE FUNCTION FOR ANY IMAP ACCOUNT (NOT ONLY GMAIL) IN EM CLIENT?

The convenient ‘Move to Archive’ button and shortcut is now available for all IMAP and Exchange accounts, the feature will create an Archive folder directly inside that account so your messages stay on your mail server.

While the archive function works flawlessly in my GMAIL and iCloud Accounts, the move-to-archive-button is missing in both of my Exchange accounts (different on premise servers). Is there any way to configure the folder name for the archive or perhaps some specific necessary path (e.g. upper-lower-case-spelling or position) for that folder so that eM Client “finds” it correctly? Or any way for eM Client to “spawn” a folder and I adapt Outlook to point to that new folder?

Not being able to one-click move mails to archive is a major inconvenience :-/

Last tested in 10.0.3530 (f0b89b7)

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That is a very old blog page. The button is now called Archive.

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It is only there if the server declares it has a dedicated folder for that purpose. If it does, the folder is mapped to eM Client as the Archive folder and the button appears which will move messages to that folder.

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I know how the button should look due to it being existent in the GMAIL account - exactly as in your screenshot.
But for my two on-premise Exchange accounts it is missing from the top bar, as well as right-click-context-menu:

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If it is not there, the server doesn’t announce it has a dedicated folder for that purpose.

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The Exchange server advertises it: Outlook Web Access, Outlook WIN and Outlook Mac identify that folder as archive automatically without any config, additionally these and other mail clients e.g. hide the “move” or “rename” options for that folder.
Thunderbird has an option to manually override the selected folder if one likes.
Apple Mail has a default location of /Archive.

That’s why I asked about the prerequisites, to understand why eM Client isn’t able to find it, or what eM Clients assumptions are (e.g. a hardcoded label which isn’t used in non-English Exchange instances).

And as I doesn’t only is about one server, but about two different servers, I wonder if archive folders is supported for On-Premise Exchange at all, or if it is an Exchange-Online-only feature.

(And I am talking about the plain archive folder; not the Exchange feature In-Place-Archive, which is basically a secondary mailbox)

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Unless the server specifically says it has a folder for that purpose, it won’t be in eM Client. It is not a case of finding it, but of the server saying “here it is”.

You can’t compare how MS apps work to how non-MS apps work. Microsoft is biased in that regard. But for eM Client, the server is required to specifically announce it has a special folder for the purpose of archiving. If it doesn’t, the archive folder and the archive button will not appear in eM Client.

You can’t just use any folder for the archive. Not really. The server-side archive is often on slower/cheaper hardware than the rest of the mailbox, and normally has no quota assigned to it. It would be irresponsible to masquerade a regular folder as the archive, letting the user think their messages moved there are no longer part of their quota.

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You can’t just use any folder for the archive.

Just to rule out a possible misunderstanding because I’m no native speaker. Archive mailbox and archive folder are drastically different. I have a designated In-Place-Archive (the slow storage thing, the archive mailbox) which is announced fine and perfectly identified with all its subfolders and decades of emails.
My problem and the feature is about a designated archive sub folder of inbox (like with IMAP accounts), which whole purpose is about just moving mails away from the inbox.

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But for eM Client, the server is required to specifically announce it has a special folder for the purpose of archiving. If it doesn’t, the archive folder and the archive button will not appear in eM Client.

So what are the prerequisites for that? The docs say Exchange is supported. I have two different servers which say different. Exchange On-Premise doesn’t allow any configuration for an archive folder, just for the archive mailbox.

I get the technical details you try to explain, I know how that works, I just want to know what (technically!) is necessary to configure in an Exchange to allow that, if eM Client says its supported and doesn’t offer configuration and thus expects Exchange to supply something which isn’t supplied by default.

My conclusion up to now would be, that this was only tested for Exchange Online, which is vastly different concerning a lot of configuration and defaults and Exchange On-Premise isn’t actually supported.

I’m fine to be proven different. I’m fine to perform open heart surgery on the Exchange. I just need to know where to look, because the defaults and docs don’t offer anything.

Unless the server specifically says it has a folder for that purpose, it won’t be in eM Client.

Well, perhaps then it could be implemented like with IMAP, where you can simply choose the wanted location (Accounts > IMAP > Special Folders > Archive). The Exchange account and archive button work fine if the account is accessed via IMAP with eM Client(!!!). That was my initial thing: How to add that same configuration when using EWS instead of IMAP.

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This has nothing to do with Archive mailboxes, which are separate accounts.

Exchange servers are supported, but if your server doesn’t specifically say it has an archive folder, you won’t have one, and you won’t have an Archive button either.

As you don’t, it means your server doesn’t say it has one. You will need to discuss this with your IT/server admin.

It is the same. If the IMAP server doesn’t say it has a dedicated folder, you won’t have an Archive button.

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Microsoft 365
Where do i see my emails

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It is the same. If the IMAP server doesn’t say it has a dedicated folder, you won’t have an Archive button.

That is simply not true. As stated, IMAP archive is completely configureable. Here is a screenshot of Exchange settings and IMAP settings side by side.

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but if your server doesn’t specifically say

Archive folder in Exchange is something which exists for all mailboxes by default, can’t be deactivated, moved or tempered with. The MSDN explicitly states that. There is no option to remove it or do anything for it.

But I get that you want this thread closed ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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Sure, you can take any old folder and name it Archive, but that doesn’t mean it is the server assigned folder for the purpose of archiving. If your server (IMAP or Exchange) announces it has a special folder for that purpose, you will see the Archive button. If not, you won’t have the option.

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I confirm NextThursday’s explanations and join him in this request to configure an archive folder for an Exchange On-Premise account.

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It needs to be configured on the server. Then, once the server announces it has a special folder for that purpose, the Archive button will appear in eM Client.

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If I am not mistaken, it cannot be configured on an Exchange (2013) On-Premise server. If not, please provide us with the procedure.

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Some functions in eM Client are dependent on what the server offers.

For example Exchange doesn’t allow formatted text in contact notes, so that option just won’t be there when you create a contact in the client application. The same with server-side archiving. If the server is not configured for it, or doesn’t announce it has that option, the function won’t be available in eM Client.

You can of course use any other folder for archiving if you want. But as that is not the official server-side archive folder, we don’t provide a button for that. You can move the messages on your own, but be aware that the folder you move them to may not have the same benefits as a true server-side archive. So the messages in that folder may still be counted towards your quota, or subject to folder retention policies etc.

If you want to move them on your own, for convenience you can use a new function in version 10; Quick Actions. With this you can create your own keyboard shortcut to move a message to a named folder and mark it as read.

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