Outlook copying folders

[the-norseman]

Hi all,

Started a slightly different job to my usual job for a few months and one of the admin tasks I have to do is clean up the shared inbox every now and again.

We have folders under the shared inbox for week numbers and under these folders are lots of other folders, we have a template of these folders saved above Week 1 that you should just be able to copy.

But If I right click and press copy it says "cannot copy the folder as its contains private items"

So the solution I have found is to create a new week folder and then go into the template ones and copy the individual folders but that takes ages, is there a easier way?

its a shared inbox, Outlook 365 app on windows 10. I dont have the ability to install plugins etc.

[Mr Pointy]

If you create a new Week folder can you copy that? If you then copy the template subfolders into it can you still copy the whole thing? If you can then use this as the template & delete the old one.

[the-norseman]

Nope once I put the folders under it I cant copy it.

[paulrockliffe]

Is this in an Office 365 environment? If so you have Power Automate, so you have a whole load of options for automatically managing your emails. I would start there for bespoke management.

I think the best solution likely involves not filing emails into folders by week. Have you tried simply setting up Archiving on the mailbox?

If you're doing other stuff around managing responses to what emails genuinely addressed to the team, like moving them between folders if someone replies and that sort of stuff, then long-term look at options around automatically making tasks out of each email in Planner and managing what is really a task list there. Or a hundred other similar options, to suit exactly what you're doing.

[HappyMidget]

PowerShell is the answer https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/create-folders-p...

[Mr Pointy]

It looks as if this is by design - see here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/-cannot-...
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/fo...

Method 3 in the first link might work but the Powershell solution above looks a better way to attack the issue.

[the-norseman]

I've set myself as owner of the folders but still doesn't work.

Also cant get at power shell, locked down my the company.

[HappyMidget]

the-norseman said:

I've set myself as owner of the folders but still doesn't work.

Also cant get at power shell, locked down my the company.

Sweet talk IT into automating this.

[the-norseman]

wish I could, up to approx 42,000 user IT network they lock everything down.

[HappyMidget]

the-norseman said:

wish I could, up to approx 42,000 user IT network they lock everything down.

Yeah, but surely you have done the needful and have a friendly helldesk bod who can set this up from their end to run on a schedule.

[vaud]

HappyMidget said:

Yeah, but surely you have done the needful and have a friendly helldesk bod who can set this up from their end to run on a schedule.

At 42k it's probably outsourced and sat in India. Good luck finding a bod to break standard process. #cynical

[Jim the Sunderer]

You should get a peer with visibility of the private items to move or delete them.


Your threadbare, hidebound Office365 admins can you grant the access with this command
Add-MailboxFolderPermission -Identity [e-mail]:\Calendar -User [e-mail] -AccessRights Editor -SharingPermissionFlags Delegate,CanViewPrivateItems


However if they're overseas or somewhere cheap in the UK just don't bother asking because they'll fk it up, argue policy, or feel it unworthy of their time. I'll give good odds at all 3 if they're about 56 years old in second line support.


Source; used to be my field.
Outlook as above should be dealt with by The Hague.

[the-norseman]

The week folder and sub folders are all empty.

I've just sat there and create a new master lot of folders and subfolders and then tried to copy them and same issue.

Edited by the-norseman on Tuesday 13th September 08:04