How to easily reduce the Exchange database (EDB) file size?

How does the EDB file size affect the performance?

Microsoft Exchange server is the lifeline of many enterprises and organizations for email, communication and delivery. An Exchange server may contain multiple databases each having user mailboxes. The database, also known as EDB, can gradually grow in size making the Exchange server inefficient and degrading its performance. The following are some of the common issues caused when an EDB file becomes too big.

EDB file corruption: An overgrown database is prone to corruption making it inaccessible. A large database may also dismount in Exchange server 2019, 2016, 2013 Standard editions due to limits (1024 GB) from Microsoft. In such cases, you must repair the corrupted EDB file to restore your mailbox data.
Slow indexing and search operations: When the Exchange database grows in size, the search operation in the database becomes extremely slow and you may encounter error messages such as Content Index failed and suspended in Exchange.
Difficulty in mailbox management: When you do not periodically backup the mailboxes on the Exchange server, it leads to accumulation of unnecessary data and makes managing difficult.In this case, an Exchange backup tool can help you offload the data from the server.

Due to the preceding reasons, it is important to reduce the EDB file size on the Exchange server and backup the mailboxes to save space on the Exchange server.

QUICK LINKS

Fix damaged EDB file and recover data Restore Corrupted EDB File of Exchange Server Recover deleted folders from Offline EDB Repair Corrupt Exchange Database Recover mailbox data from an Exchange server crash Open and view an EDB file without Exchange server

Exchange server management best practices

The following are some of the best practices that you must follow for maintaining the Exchange server and database in good condition.

Understand the Exchange server storage configuration
Run the Exchange server Best Practices Analyzer scan
Plan for high availability and site resilience of Exchange server

How to reduce the Exchange database file size?

You can reduce the EDB file size in Exchange 2019, 2016, 2013 and 2010 with the following methods:

By defragmenting the Exchange database
By deleting mailbox data that you no longer require
Moving the database manually to another location
By taking a backup of Exchange server mailboxes

Method 1: Defragment the Exchange database

Before we get into the specifics of the defragmentation, it is important to understand the concept of whitespace in the database. When you remove or delete the mailboxes in Exchange, it creates a free space known as whitespace that is reused by the database to store new mailbox objects. To reclaim the whitespace and minimize the space on the database you must therefore defragment the database periodically.

Remember to dismount the database before performing the defragmentation.
Ensure that the drive on which the Exchange server is installed has sufficient space for defragmentation.
Take a copy of the database before you start the defrag operation with eseutil.

Eseutil is a built-in Exchange server utility from Microsoft that checks the database for corruption and performs defragmentation. However, keep in mind that you have to unmount the database, which makes your mailboxes unavailable until the defragmentation is complete. The operation is described in the following steps.

Run the Exchange Management Shell as administrator
Get the amount of white space available in the Exchange database
Get-MailboxDatabase -status| Name, DatabaseSize, AvailableNewMailboxSpace -Auto
Dismount the Exchange database with the following cmdlet
Dismount-Database < database name >
Defragment the database with the eseutil
Eseutil /d < DBName>
Mount the database again after the defragmentation is complete
Mount-Database < DBName >
Check the new space available in the database after defragmentation
Get-MailboxDatabase -status| Name, DatabaseSize, AvailableNewMailboxSpace -Auto

The limitation with eseutil is that it cannot recover the EDB file if it is badly corrupted and requires proper knowledge of the PowerShell commands.

Method 2: Delete the unwanted data from the mailboxes

Deleting unwanted data from Exchange server mailboxes such as junk emails, old contacts, bulky attachments, documents and files will free up the space (creates whitespace) for new data but does not actually reduce the EDB file size. However, this method is also beneficial to keep the database file size constant and not letting it increase or overgrow beyond the limit.

Method 3: Move the database from the Exchange admin center

You can also manually move the user mailboxes to a different database from the Exchange admin center (EAC) or with PowerShell cmdlets.

Step 1: Login to the EAC and go to the ‘recipients’>‘migration’ tab
Step 2: Click on the + sign and select 'Move to a different database'
Step 3: Select the users you want to move and click 'Next'
Step 4: In the move configuration page select the target database.
Step 5: In the start batch page, configure the settings and click 'new'

See the detailed steps to create a local move request from the EAC

Method 4: Backup and migrate Exchange server mailboxes

EdbMails is a Microsoft partnered software for Exchange migration, backup and recovery. You can perform the triple functionality from a user-friendly interface and the tool is compatible with Exchange 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010 and 2007. With its advanced filter options, granular and incremental migration features, it simplifies IT administrators efforts. When you export Exchange mailboxes to PST format, you can delete them on the server and reclaim space that is reused for other mailbox objects without increasing the size of the EDB file.

The following sections describe the EDB export, migration and backup with EdbMails.

Reduce mailbox size by exporting EDB to PST
1. Download EdbMails and install the application on any computer that is connected to the source and target environment. You can also perform the export operation by installing EdbMails on any non-Exchange server computer.
2. Launch the application and click 'Login' or 'Start Your Free Trial'
3. Select the recovery technique as EDB to PST. EDB to Office 365. EDB to Exchange.
See a detailed list of EdbMails system requirements and make sure you have Outlook installed if you want to recover and convert the EDB to PST file. Take a copy of the EDB file before you proceed with the export operation.
- Step 1: Select the Exchange database file that you want to backup
  Select the Exchange EDB file that you want to export. EdbMails recovers the database file and displays all your mailboxes where you can preview individual mail items and convert the EDB to PST. The application can convert pub.edb, priv.edb, STM files and mailbox.edb files.
- Step 2: Select the mailboxes to perform the export operation
  Select the mailboxes, folders and mailbox items and click 'Export to Outlook PST' button. If you want to directly migrate the mailboxes from EDB to Office 365 click ‘Migrate to Office 365’ and to import EDB to Exchange, click ‘Migrate to Live Exchange’.
  Tip: To reduce the Exchange database size, you can also export the Exchange Archive mailbox to PST with EdbMails.
  You can apply the advanced filter settings to export or migrate the Exchange emails based on Date, Subject, Attachment and so on.
  1. The 'Exclude Standard / Custom folders' option enables you to exclude the folders such as Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Custom folders, Junk, Conversation History from the export operation.
  2. EdbMails comes with other additional settings for the export such as splitting a PST file and excluding emails whose size is greater than a specified limit.
- Step 3: Verify the mailboxes and add a label to the export job
  After you select the mailboxes and folders, you can verify them for export and give the task a name for future reference. This activity enables you to save and use the same application settings for future migrations.
- Step 4: Start the EDB to PST export operation
  Browse the location on your computer and ensure that you have enough disk space to save the PST file. Finally, start the export operation from the EDB file to PST. You can pause and resume the operation and view the export details under 'View Log'.
  Tip: To restore all your mailboxes and mail items from the EDB file, add the exported PST file in Outlook. You can also copy the PST file to a safe location or replicate it on your network drive for backup.
  The EDB export operation with EdbMails does not cause downtime and the target PST backup is an identical copy of the source. It has advanced built-in filter settings for selecting specific folders, emails, and mail items for export, backup and migration.
See steps to if you want to perform Exchange to Exchange server migration and reclaim mailbox storage space on the source server. The following method describes the steps to back up Exchange mailboxes.
Reclaim space by performing Exchange mailbox backup
- Step 1: Select Exchange Backup (AES-256 bit encrypted) in the application
- Step 2: Connect to Exchange server as Global Admin User
  In the Connect to Exchange server (Source) window, select 'Connect using Global Admin User' if you want to backup mailboxes on behalf of all users. You can also connect to the mailboxes by loading a CSV file. See the instructions on how to use the different Exchange server connection methods supported by EdbMails.
  With EdbMails, you can backup mailboxes, public folders, and archive mailboxes to an encrypted file.
- Step 3: Select the mailboxes and folders for the backup
  From the left pane, select the items you want to backup and click the 'Backup using 256-bit Private Key based Encryption' button. EdbMails provides the facility for a Full Backup or Incremental backup and enables you to exclude mailbox folders such as Inbox, Drafts, Junk, Conversation History.
- Step 4: Set the encryption key for the backup
  You can allow the application to set the encryption key (Default Encryption) or set your own private encryption key for higher security.
  See steps to set private encryption key with EdbMails backup
- Step 5: Specify the location to save the backup file
  Verify the list of mailboxes and folders that you have selected and select a location to save the encrypted backup. Also ensure that you have sufficient disk space on your computer to store the backup data.
- Step 6: Start the Exchange backup operation
  Start the backup operation and verify the count of items with EdbMails log report. You can restore the backup file anytime by following the restore operation with EdbMails.
  See steps to See steps to restore Exchange server backup with EdbMails