Problem with searching public folders Exchange 2013/16

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

Robert Forster

New Member
Outlook version
Outlook 2016 32 bit
Email Account
Exchange Server
Hello, I would like to see if anyone out there can help me please? I apologise if this has been asked before but I have searched for the answers.

We recently upgraded our mail server from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2016. With Exchange 2013 in between.

I was under the impression that Public Folders where being phased out? They seemed to be promoting using SharePoint as an alternative. But it seems that Microsoft had an about turn which is good but makes me wonder if there will be room for development?

I know that there is an issue with searching Public Folders and that the work around is to make the PF a favourite and then cache the folder. This for me is not a good solution. I thought the whole point in using PF in the first place was to take the email from the local machine only to then have to cache the PF sort of defeats the object?

The main issue is that its just not feasible to make each individual sub-folder, a favourite. For instance, our Projects team use PF's a lot, they have about 95GB of data stored. The folders are stored by years.

2014

2015

2016

Within each year there could be well over 300 different projects, with each Project having 5 sub-folders. Such as

2016

PJ10001 -> Correspondence In

PJ10001 -> Correspondence out

PJ10001 -> Drawings etc.

We would have to make each folder a favourite and then cache each folder so we could then search the folder. To make matters worse it only caches the one folder and not the sub-folder.

There is 3rd party software available which we are testing such as Lookeen which is decent enough but has limitations.

I also noticed that there is a piece of software on here called SearchPublicFolders.exe which looks like it would have been ideal but keeps crashing on Windows 10 and Outlook 2016.

Why have Microsoft made this so difficult? Surely searching Public Folders shouldn't be such a faff? And then having to use 3rd party software to do something that should be standard?

Has anyone else come across this issue or are we alone in using Public Folders? I am curious to see how others have dealt with this?
 
Robert Forster said:
I was under the impression that Public Folders where being phased out? They seemed to be promoting using SharePoint as an alternative. But it seems that Microsoft had an about turn which is good but makes me wonder if there will be room for development?
Click to expand...
They changed how PF are handled - they are now mailboxes, not a separate message store - and would like people to transition to Groups or Teams. I'm not expecting much new in PF for this reason.


Robert Forster said:
I thought the whole point in using PF in the first place was to take the email from the local machine only to then have to cache the PF sort of defeats the object?
Click to expand...
The point of PF is to have a folder that is accessible to everyone (with permission) to share access more conveniently than shared mailboxes.

Robert Forster said:
I also noticed that there is a piece of software on here called SearchPublicFolders.exe which looks like it would have been ideal but keeps crashing on Windows 10 and Outlook 2016.
Click to expand...
This is old and designed for older outlook and the old PF model.

Robert Forster said:
Why have Microsoft made this so difficult? Surely searching Public Folders shouldn't be such a faff? And then having to use 3rd party software to do something that should be standard?
Click to expand...
Part of the problem is that the search engine model wasn't designed to search the entire message store for shared mailboxes or public folders, so you are limited to 1 folder in the search. I'm not sure if its permissions or something else behind this limitation but they are working on improving search. How it will apply to PF remains to be seen. 3rd party utilities may remain the best option...
 
We use Public Folders extensively and have recently moved to Exchange 2013. Creating Favorites is not practical for us either, as we currently have over 500 Public Folders. Previously we used ISYS Workgroup Web to search our Public Folders, but now that Microsoft has changed the way they handle Public Folders, ISYS (now Hyland) is trying to catch up and make something work for Public Folders. I have looked at Lookeen, but support and setup were lacking and I could not get it to work correctly. Is anyone else aware of any 3rd party utility that will index and allow search on all the Public Folders at one time?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
< Prevent connection to Public Folders on Exchange? | O365 and Office Message Encryption >
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
R Imap read/unread problem Using Outlook 3
Victor_50 Problem - Google Workspace will stop "unsafe" access to Outlook end 2024 Using Outlook 3
A Online Mode to Cached Exchange Mode problem Using Outlook 2
S Problem Accessing .MSG Property 'ImageNaturalHeight' Tag '0x80010003' Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 1
T Problem when requesting to view an email in a browser Using Outlook 0
R Outlook 2021 Having problem setting up outlook 2021 with windows 11. I have 3 gmail accounts and I want the 3 gmail, emails to merge into the same outlook input. Using Outlook.com accounts in Outlook 0
e_a_g_l_e_p_i Is anyone else having problem conneccting to gmail? Using Outlook 27
P Outlook calendar and contacts sync problem-outlook disconnects Using Outlook.com accounts in Outlook 2
S Archiving and Likely Modified Date Problem Using Outlook 3
R Problem moving file “Email folders.pst” to new PC Using Outlook 5
S Problem Checking the available stores in my Inbox (Outlook VBA) Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 0
Witzker GetAssignedView Problem Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 2
M Outlook 2010 Problem with OutLook 2010 32 bit, after Windows Auto Update Using Outlook 3
Marc2019 Outlook 2016 Font Problem Using Outlook 5
X I have met my waterloo trying to resolve embedded graphics problem with outlook 2007 and now 2016 Using Outlook 1
D Problem with custom form including _DocSiteControl1 Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 0
S Outlook 2007 Calendar instant search problem. Windows 7 Using Outlook 4
S Outlook 2007 Calendar instant search problem. Windows 7 Using Outlook 0
D Sort Problem with Sent Folders Using Outlook 1
S Conditional formatting problem with "is not empty" and categories Using Outlook 2
Mark Foley The upload of "Calendar" failed. There was a problem with the request. Using Outlook 6
avant-guvnor Import csv problem Using Outlook 7
katehawkins Outlook 2013 Ost to pst conversion problem Using Outlook 1
AbbieWhite The problem with a fairly large file. Using Outlook 3
I Outlook 2013 Send problem - 'Not Responding' forever Using Outlook.com accounts in Outlook 10
EmelineGueguen Help to understand the problem of work Using Outlook 1
W Outlook 2016 search problem persists after applying all known solutions Using Outlook 12
S problem with convert Using Outlook 1
S SendFromAccount - Problem trying to test existing value in open email Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 2
DruinaBiscardi unexpected problem in outlook Using Outlook 1
V Outlook 2003 problem with Windows 10 Creators Update 1709 Using Outlook 0
G Windows Update Causes BCM Database Access Problem? BCM (Business Contact Manager) 4
Grimev66 problem with conversion ost to pst Using Outlook 2
J Problem with Outlook 2016 new mail tray icon alert (envelope in the systems tray) Using Outlook.com accounts in Outlook 0
S Problem running Command button code Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 2
A .ost file problem Using Outlook 4
G PROBLEM REGARDING OUTLOOK STORAGE LANGUAGES Using Outlook 4
PetraTech Odd Folder View Problem Using Outlook 3
V iCloud problem Using Outlook 9
D Reply Problem with Outlook.com account Using Outlook.com accounts in Outlook 0
MattC Problem with Outlook 2007 & iCloud / duplicate tasks Using Outlook 1
V Problem moving folders Using Outlook 4
C Problem tracking meeting responses Using Outlook 3
Mark Foley Problem subscribing to shared calendar Using Outlook 1
K Problem with FreeBusy (before 1pm only) Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 7
skylark53 Advanced recurrence problem Using Outlook 2
E RSS export as OPML problem Using Outlook 4
D outlook 2013 contact list problem Using Outlook 0
T Problem with .Recipients.Add("alias") Outlook VBA and Custom Forms 3
P Problem with Outlook 2013 Attachments Using Outlook 4

Similar threads

Back
Top