Public Folders in Exchange Online
Understanding the Concept
Public folders provide a way to collect, organize, and share information with other people in your organization. They use a hierarchical structure and can contain email, calendar, contacts, and other item types.
Exchange Online public folders use a modern architecture with content stored in public folder mailboxes. The hierarchy mailbox stores the public folder tree structure, while content mailboxes store the actual data.
Public folders can be mail-enabled, allowing external and internal users to send email directly to a public folder address. This is useful for team discussions, project communications, and departmental information sharing.
Key Points
Why This Matters
While modern collaboration tools like Teams are replacing some public folder use cases, many organizations still rely on public folders for shared calendars, contact lists, and organizational information. Understanding their management is essential for Exchange administrators.