Knowledge Base

XADM: Database Does Not Shrink after Several Mailbox Deletions

Article ID: 192189

Article Last Modified on 10/28/2006

Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q192189

SUMMARY

You may find that the database size does not shrink after you delete several mailboxes and run an offline defragmentation.

MORE INFORMATION

The database file sizes will not shrink after mailboxes are deleted or removed. The data will be deleted and the space will be reused, but the Exchange Server computer will not reduce the file size online. To reduce the file size, it is necessary to take the system offline and run an offline defragmentation on the Priv.edb database. If the services are stopped immediately after the deletion is finished, the file size may not be reduced by the offline defragmentation process. This is because, when a mailbox is deleted, it is only marked for deletion. Data deletion is done by a background thread and space is not freed up until after the background process has deleted the data. To reclaim the space after the deletion of several mailboxes, wait for at least ten minutes before stopping the Information Store service. Then defragment the database offline using the command ESEUTIL /d.

For more information on ESEUTIL command line switches, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

182903 XADM: ESEUTIL Command Line Parameters

Keywords: kbinfo KB192189