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If you’re the administrator of an Exchange server, there may come a time when you need to delete one or more public folders. Maybe the folders are no longer in use, or maybe they’ve been corrupted and need to be deleted for troubleshooting purposes. Whatever the reason, deleting public folders is a pretty straightforward process. In this article, we’ll show you how to delete public folders using Exchange Management Shell and more.

Deleting Exchange Public folders using EAC

If you need to delete public folders from your Exchange Server, there are a few things you need to do.
First, you will need to remove all replicas of the public folder from all servers. Next, you will need to delete the public folder itself. Finally, you will need to remove any references to the public folder from the Offline Address Book (OAB).Exchange Admin Center

  • To remove public folder replicas, open the Exchange admin center and navigate to public folders. Then, click on the public folders tab and select the public folder you want to remove. Click on Delete.
Deleting Exchange Public folders using Exchange Management Shell

We’ll also cover some of the benefits of using Exchange Management Shell to manage your public folders. So let’s get started!

Overall, Exchange Management Shell provides a wealth of benefits for those who need to manage Exchange public folders. By automating common tasks and providing increased control over settings, EMS can help you save time and effort in managing your Exchange environment. It can help you in performing many tasks from export to archive mailbox items in Exchange Server & other issues related to public folders as well. Here is how to use EMS to delete public folders:

  • You can remove all public folder replicas from the server using the following command:
Get-PublicFolder -Server “SERVER NAME” “\” -Recurse -ResultSize:Unlimited | Remove-PublicFolder -Server “SERVER NAME” -Recurse -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue
  • To delete the public folder itself, open the Exchange Management Shell and run the following command:
  • Remove-PublicFolder -Identity “\foldername” -Recurse

    Note: Replace “foldername” with the name of the public folder you want to delete.

  • Finally, you need to remove any references to the public folder from the Offline Address Book (OAB).
  • To verify all public folders have been deleted, run this command:
  • Get-PublicFolderStatistics -Server | fl
Benefits of using EMS to delete Exchange Public folders

Exchange Management Shell (EMS) is a powerful utility that can help you manage your Exchange environment more effectively.
Here are some of the benefits of using Exchange Management Shell to manage your public folders:

  • One of the key benefits of using EMS to manage your public folders is its ability to automate many common tasks.
  • For example, you can use EMS to create new public folders or move existing ones between different servers. You can also use EMS to set permissions on public folders, or even export data from public folders to CSV files for further analysis.

  • Another benefit of using EMS to manage your public folders is the increased level of control it provides. With EMS, you can fine-tune the settings on your public folders to meet your specific needs.
  • For example, you can specify which users have access to which public folders, or how long data is to be retained in a public folder. You can also use EMS to monitor the usage of your public folders and generate reports.

  • Exchange Management Shell also offers extensive logging and auditing capabilities, allowing organizations to easily monitor and track changes to their public folder infrastructure.
Performing Public folder tasks using professional tools

As we are now through with deleting public folders in an Exchange Server, we have another alternative just in case you wish to keep the public data folders. You can backup or migrate the public folders to live Exchange Server via Kernel for Exchange Server. This powerful tool is designed to scan your corrupt or damaged EDB files and recover all of your important data, including emails, attachments, contacts, calendars, notes, and more quickly and efficiently. It can recover public folder data as well. What more does it offer? Here are some of its features below.

  • This tool can recover all types of data from corrupt, damaged, or inaccessible Exchange Server databases.
  • The software uses powerful algorithms to repair the damaged Exchange database files and extract all the data from them.
  • Can export or migrate public folder data as per requirements.
  • This utility offers 24×7 technical support to its users.
  • The software is easy to use and does not require any prior technical knowledge to operate it.Exchange Server

The Bottomline

Deleting public folders in an Exchange Server can be a complicated task. But with the right steps, it can be done relatively easily. We hope this article has helped you understand how to delete public folders in an Exchange Server and that you are now able to successfully remove them from your system.

In case you wish to migrate your public folders to live Exchange Server, then Kernel for Exchange Server Recovery tool can help you. It can also help you in recovering all the public folder data from EDB files & you can even export Exchange public folders to PST easily. It is a reliable tool and has been designed keeping in mind the requirements of users. You can try out its demo version before purchasing it so that you are sure about its features and performance.

Kernel Exchange Server