How to get a report on Office 365 litigation hold-enabled mailboxes

When users are placed under investigation or involved in legal proceedings, administrators may need to preserve mailbox content to meet compliance or regulatory requirements. Microsoft 365 provides litigation hold to retain mailbox data, even if users delete or edit items.

Identifying which mailboxes are currently under litigation hold (or legal hold) is crucial for compliance, because it helps you track which mailboxes are protected from being modified or deleted.

This article explains how to view and export a list of mailboxes under Microsoft 365 litigation hold, previously Office 365 litigation hold, using the Exchange admin center (EAC), Exchange Online PowerShell, and ManageEngine M365 Manager Plus, a dedicated Microsoft 365 administration tool.

Method 1: How to find mailboxes on litigation hold using the Exchange Admin Center

The EAC provides a simple, filter-based view to quickly see mailboxes on hold.

Prerequisites

You need the Exchange Administrator or Compliance Management role for the account you use to sign in to the Exchange admin center.

Steps

1. Log in to the Exchange admin center and navigate to Recipients > Mailboxes.
2. Click the Filter button and select Litigation hold enabled from the drop-down menu.
3. You can now view a list of all mailboxes currently on litigation hold.
4. You can export this list to a CSV file by clicking Export mailboxes.

Limitation to consider

This view only provides a list of Microsoft 365 litigation hold-enabled mailboxes. It does not display when the hold was applied or who enabled it. To find those details, you must open each mailbox, go to Others > Manage litigation hold, and check it manually.

This process is tedious if you’re trying to review multiple mailboxes. If you need a report that includes the Exchange litigation hold date, duration, and the user who enabled it, you’ll need to use PowerShell or the Mailbox on Hold report in M365 Manager Plus.

Method 2: How to get a list of mailboxes on litigation hold using Exchange Online PowerShell (Get-EXOMailbox)

Prerequisites

Before using Exchange Online PowerShell, please verify that:

1. The Exchange Administrator role is applied to the account you use to sign in to Exchange Online PowerShell.
2. You are connected to the Exchange Online PowerShell module.
   • To check if the Exchange Online PowerShell module is installed, use this script:
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                                             Get-Module -ListAvailable ExchangeOnlineManagement
                                         

   • If it does not return a value, you will have to install the module. To install the Exchange Online PowerShell module, execute this script:
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                                             Install-Module ExchangeOnlineManagement -Scope CurrentUser
                                         

   • To connect to Exchange Online PowerShell, run this script:
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                                             Connect-ExchangeOnline
                                         

Using Get-Mailbox to list mailboxes on Exchange Online litigation hold

The older Get-Mailbox cmdlet can be used to retrieve a list of all mailboxes on hold by checking the LitigationHoldEnabled property.

Use this syntax to retrieve a list of mailboxes on Exchange Online litigation holds:

Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited |
Where-Object { $_.LitigationHoldEnabled -eq $true } |
Select-Object DisplayName, PrimarySmtpAddress, LitigationHoldEnabled, LitigationHoldDate, LitigationHoldOwner |
Export-Csv -Path "C:\Reports\LitigationHoldMailboxes-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd HHmmss).csv" -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8
                            

Using the new Get-EXOMailbox cmdlet per Microsoft's recommendation

Microsoft recommends using Get-EXOMailbox instead of Get-Mailbox in Exchange Online. The Get-EXO cmdlets are optimized for the cloud service, offer better throttling management, and will continue to be updated, whereas the older cmdlets are maintained mainly for backward compatibility.

Use this syntax to retrieve the mailboxes on litigation hold-enabled mailboxes, using the Get-EXOMailbox cmdlet:

Get-EXOMailbox -Filter "LitigationHoldEnabled -eq 'True'" -ResultSize Unlimited -Properties LitigationHoldDate, LitigationHoldOwner |
Select-Object DisplayName, PrimarySmtpAddress, LitigationHoldEnabled, LitigationHoldDate, LitigationHoldOwner |
Export-Csv -Path "C:\Reports\LitigationHoldMailboxes-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd-HHmmss).csv" -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8
                            

Supported parameters

The following table contains some parameters that can be used with the Get-EXOMailbox cmdlet to provide details on your mailboxes on hold.

Method 3: How to view a list of Exchange Online mailboxes on litigation hold in M365 Manager Plus

1. Log in to M365 Manager Plus and click the Reports tab.
2. Navigate to Exchange Online > Mailbox Reports and select the Mailbox on Hold report
3. Click Export As and select your desired file format (CSV, XLSX, PDF, or HTML) to export the list of Microsoft 365 litigation hold-enabled mailboxes.

Track and enable Microsoft 365 litigation holds effortlessly

M365 Manager Plus’ legal hold capabilities help you view, manage, and audit litigation holds, eDiscovery holds, and all associated settings for the mailboxes in your Microsoft 365 environment. It streamlines policy assignment, offers in-depth reporting, and provides real-time monitoring, all through an intuitive web console, without the need for complex Microsoft Graph PowerShell scripting.

Important tips

Frequently asked questions