How to recover deleted public folders from Exchange server

How to recover deleted public folders from Exchange server

Public folder concept is a prominent feature in an Exchange server. It is a common folder structure that can be accessed by only authorized users. It is an easy way for sharing and collaboration among the users and groups in an organization. It is also possible for an administrator to make the public folders available for all the users in an organization.

Public folders should be backed up as a safety measure against server crashes or accidental deletion etc.In an exchange environment there is a high probability of data loss or deletion if the data is shared among multiple users. Any authorized person in an organization deletes public folders knowingly or unknowingly or the data may get lost due to ignorance or out of haste. In such cases it is the administrator's responsibility to recover deleted public folders from the EDB file.

Deleted public folders can be recovered using either manual method or using professional EDB recovery tools.

Before performing public folder recovery using a manual method, you need to remember some points.

● Time consuming process
● Required sufficient technical skill
● No guarantee of complete data recovery

Manual method to recover deleted public folders from EDB file

In the Exchange server there is a public folder dumpster located in NON_IPM_SUBTREEDUMPSTER_ROOT.If the public folders are put on hold using retention policy, the folders which are removed from the DUMPSTER_ROOT will be preserved under NON_IPM_SUBTREEDiscoveryHolds until the retention period is over.

The public folders which are preserved in the dumpster can be restored using powershell commands. And this method of restoring will cover all the folders, subfolders along with the items present in the folders.

How to recover deleted, corrupted or inaccessible public folders using EdbMails?

● Download and install the EdbMails application on your local computer.

● 'Login' or 'Start Your Free Trial' to access the application

● Select 'EDB to PST. EDB to Office 365. EDB to Exchange and EDB Public Folder option' and continue.

● Choose an EDB file containing a public folder mailbox that you wish to recover.

● Once the EDB file is successfully recovered, you can preview its folder structure and contents in the preview panel as shown in the figure below.

● You can save the public folder data in Outlook PST format or Migrate to a new Exchange / Office 365 public folder mailbox.