Create and manage public folders

Using Exchange admin center:

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center using your admin credentials.
2. Navigate to the Exchange admin center.
3. Select “public folders” from the navigation pane.
4. Click on the plus (+) icon to add a new public folder.
5. Provide a name and an optional email address for the public folder.
6. Choose the parent folder where you want to create the new public folder.
7. Configure the permissions for the folder if needed.
8. Click save to create the public folder.

Using Exchange Online PowerShell:

1. Launch the Exchange Online PowerShell.
2. Connect to your Exchange Online environment using the Connect-ExchangeOnline cmdlet.
3. To create a public folder, use the New-PublicFolder cmdlet with the desired parameters. For example:

New-PublicFolder -Name "Sales" -MailEnabled:$true -Path "\"

This command creates a public folder named “Sales” and makes it mail-enabled.

Managing Public Folders

Once you have created public folders, you may need to manage them by performing tasks like setting permissions, modifying properties, or deleting them. Let’s explore some common management tasks.

Setting Public Folder Permissions:

1. In the Exchange admin center, navigate to the public folder you want to modify.
2. Click on the pencil icon to edit the folder properties.
3. Go to the “mailbox delegation” section to manage permissions.
4. Add or remove users and assign appropriate permissions such as “Owner,” “Publishing Editor,” or “Reviewer.”

Modifying Public Folder Properties:

1. In the Exchange admin center, navigate to the public folder you want to modify.
2. Click on the pencil icon to edit the folder properties.
3. Modify the desired properties such as name, email address, or storage quotas.
4. Save the changes to update the public folder.

Deleting a Public Folder:

1. In the Exchange admin center, navigate to the public folder you want to delete.
2. Right-click on the folder and select “Delete” from the context menu.
3. Confirm the deletion if prompted.

Managing Public Folders with PowerShell:

Using Exchange Online PowerShell provides a powerful way to manage public folders in bulk. Here are a few examples:

• Get a list of all public folders:

Get-PublicFolder

• Update a public folder’s properties:

Set-PublicFolder -Identity "\Sales" -Name "New Sales" -EmailAddress "sales@contoso.com"

• Remove a public folder:

Remove-PublicFolder -Identity "\Marketing"

Note: When managing public folders with PowerShell, ensure you have the necessary permissions and are familiar with the cmdlets to avoid unintended modifications.

Conclusion

Creating and managing public folders in Microsoft 365 Messaging is a vital task for administrators to facilitate collaboration and information sharing within an organization. Whether you prefer using the Exchange admin center or Exchange Online PowerShell, you now have the knowledge to create, set permissions, modify properties, and delete public folders efficiently.