View Multi-Mailbox Search Results

  • Article

Applies to: Office 365 for enterprises, Live@edu

When a mailbox search is complete, the results of the search are copied to a folder that is located at the root level of the destination mailbox, also called the discovery mailbox, which was selected as the storage location. A user needs permission to view these search results. After you assign them permissions, they can:

  • Access mailbox search results
  • View mailbox search results

Assign permissions to view search results

How do you assign permissions to view search results?

  • For search results saved in the default Discovery Search Mailbox   You have to add users to the Discovery Management role group because members of this role group have the permissions needed to open the default Discovery Search Mailbox. For more information, see Add or Remove Role Group Members.

  • For search results saved to a different discovery mailbox   You have to explicitly assign users the permissions to open a discovery mailbox that you've created. To assign these permissions, run the following command:

    Add-MailboxPermission <Discovery mailbox> -User <Display Name> -AccessRights FullAccess

    For example, to give Dan Park access the discovery mailbox created for the HR department at Contoso University, run the following command:

    Add-MailboxPermission HR_MailboxSearchResults -User "Dan Park" -AccessRights FullAccess

How do you designate a discovery mailbox? See Select a Mailbox to Store Search Results.

Access mailbox search results

After you've assigned permissions, users can open the discovery mailbox as follows:

  • Click the link in the details pane for a selected mailbox search.
  • Click the link in the e-mail message that is sent after the search is completed.
  • Open a discovery mailbox using Microsoft Outlook. Here’s how: Use Outlook to Open a Discovery Mailbox.
  • Open a discovery mailbox using Outlook Web App. Here's how: Open Another Mailbox.

View mailbox search results

  1. Open the discovery mailbox where the search results are stored.
  2. In the Navigation Pane, locate the folder that contains the search results. The name of this folder is the name specified when you created the search. This folder also contains the search log, which is an e-mail message that is sent to the discovery mailbox after the search is completed.

At this point, the search results will differ depending on whether you chose to save just one copy of each message that meets the search criteria or to copy all duplicates of a message. You make this selection under Search Name, Type, and Storage Location when you create or edit a mailbox search.

View results when you save duplicate copies

When you save duplicate copies, each duplicate copy is saved in a subfolder for the mailbox in which it was found. These subfolders reside in the folder that contains the search results.

  1. To view the subfolders, click the arrow on the left side of the search folder to expand it. These subfolders are named with the users' display name and the date and time that the search was run.
  2. To view the folders under a user mailbox folder, click the arrow on the left side of folder to expand it.
  3. To view the messages in the folder, click the folder. The messages are displayed in the main window.

View results when you save only one copy

When you save only one copy of duplicate messages, they are copied to a folder called Results, which is located in the folder where search results are stored. There is no subfolder structure for each user. Click the Results folder and the messages are listed in the main window.

Did you know…?

  • You can export multi-mailbox search results to an Outlook Data File (.pst). This lets you view and print the search results in Microsoft Office Outlook, or send them to other people. For more information, see Export Multi-Mailbox Search Results to an Outlook Data File (.pst).
  • You can preview search results without having to open the discovery mailbox. This lets you quickly determine if the search results are relevant. See Preview Multi-Mailbox Search Results.
  • Mailbox searches also search a user's archive mailbox, if it has been enabled. If the search you run saves duplicate copies, messages found in the user's primary mailbox are located in a folder called Primary Mailbox, and messages found in the user's archive mailbox are located in a folder called Archive Mailbox.
  • Remember: The search results are copies of messages from the source mailboxes. The search results aren't live data. The "Read" or "Unread" status reflects the status of the copies in the discovery mailbox, and not the status of messages in the user's mailbox. If you open a message copy to review it in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 or Outlook Web App, the "Unread" status will change to "Read".
  • Message properties, such as To, From, and Cc, are retained in the copy of the message. Flagging, categorizing, moving, or deleting a message in the discovery mailbox doesn't affect the original message in the user's mailbox.
  • The copies are organized in subfolders that correspond to their location in the user's mailbox. For example, a folder for a specific search called Legal Discovery Search contains a subfolder called Judy Lew-4/15/2008 9:10:56 AM. This folder contains a folder called Primary Mailbox, which contains folders called Deleted Items, Inbox, and Sent Items. These folders will only be available if they contain copies of the messages in Judy Lew's mailbox that meet the search criteria.
  • If no search results are found, the search folder is created in the discovery mailbox, but it only contains the search log.