PowerShell Script for Accessing Sent Emails in Outlook and Exchange

Question

I am developing a PowerShell script to retrieve sent email IDs from my Outlook sent mailbox for both the "To" and "CC" sections, from the beginning of the email account to the current date. I managed to create a script that works for a single user; however, it prompts for a notification acceptance when running in PowerShell.

The updated requirement is to extend this functionality to multiple users. The script should connect to the Exchange module with global admin credentials, access the Exchange Admin Center, and then loop through a list of users specified in the script. The goal is to access each user's sent mailbox to copy the sent email IDs and generate the output.

I am encountering errors while attempting to connect and access users in this manner. Assistance is needed in finding the correct command to connect to this environment.

Answer 1

Hi @Avinash ,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A platform!

To achieve your goal, you can follow the steps below to connect to the Exchange Online module using global administrator credentials, loop through the list of users, and access each user's sent mailbox. Here is a sample PowerShell script to get you started:

1. Install the Exchange Online PowerShell module if you haven't already:

Install-Module -Name ExchangeOnlineManagement -Force

2. Connect to Exchange Online using global administrator credentials:

$UserCredential = Get-Credential

Connect-ExchangeOnline -Credential $UserCredential

3. Define the list of users:

$users = @("******@domain.com", "******@domain.com", "******@domain.com")

4. Loop through each user and retrieve the sent email ID:

foreach ($user in $users) {
    # Grant full access to the global admin for the user's mailbox
    Add-MailboxPermission -Identity $user -User $UserCredential.UserName -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All

    # Access the user's sent mailbox
    $mailbox = Get-Mailbox -Identity $user
    $sentItems = Get-MailboxFolderStatistics -Identity $user | Where-Object {$_.FolderType -eq "SentItems"}

    # Retrieve sent email IDs from the "To" and "CC" sections
    $sentEmails = Get-MessageTrace -SenderAddress $user -StartDate (Get-Date).AddYears(-10) -EndDate (Get-Date)
    $sentEmails | ForEach-Object {
        $toRecipients = $_.Recipients | Where-Object {$_.RecipientType -eq "To"}
        $ccRecipients = $_.Recipients | Where-Object {$_.RecipientType -eq "Cc"}
        $toRecipients.EmailAddress, $ccRecipients.EmailAddress
    }

    # Remove full access permission after retrieving the data
    Remove-MailboxPermission -Identity $user -User $UserCredential.UserName -AccessRights FullAccess -InheritanceType All
}

Make sure to adjust the script to your specific requirements and test it in a secure environment before running it in production.

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Please feel free to contact me for any updates. And if this helps, don't forget to mark it as an answer.

Best,

Jake Zhang