Skip to content

This mailbox database is associated with one or more move requests

An error is showing up when trying to remove a mailbox database. The error shows that this mailbox database is associated with one or more move requests. Why is the error message showing up, and what is the solution? We moved all the mailboxes to a new mailbox database. We dismounted the old mailbox database and clicked the delete button in the Exchange Admin Center.

Solution to error mailbox database is associated

There are one or more move requests associated with the mailbox database that we like to remove. The solution is to check the move requests associated with the mailbox database. After that, remove all the move requests on the database.

error this mailbox database is associated with one or more move requests

Error: This mailbox database is associated with one or more move requests. To get a list of all move requests associated with this database, run Get-MoveRequest -SourceDatabase <Database ID> and Get-MoveRequest -TargetDatabase <Database ID>. To remove a move request, run Remove-MoveRequest <Recipient ID>.

Check mailboxes in database

Run Exchange Management Shell as administrator. Mount the database if it’s dismounted. Check if there are mailboxes in the database. There should be no mailboxes in the database. The output should give no result.

[PS] C:\>Mount-Database "DB06" -Confirm:$false

[PS] C:\>Get-Mailbox -Database "DB06"

We confirmed that there are no mailboxes in the database.

Get list of move requests associated with database

Get a list of all move requests associated with the database you want to remove. We are going to check both the source database and target database.

Make use of the Get-Moverequest cmdlet and -SourceDatabase parameter.

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest -SourceDatabase "DB06"

DisplayName Status    TargetDatabase
----------- ------    --------------
Piper Dylan Completed DB01

Make use of the Get-Moverequest cmdlet and -TargetDatabase parameter.

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest -TargetDatabase "DB06"

DisplayName Status    TargetDatabase
----------- ------    --------------
Sam Blake   Completed DB06

Move requests are completed but not removed at both the source and target database. Therefore, we can safely remove the completed move requests in the next step.

Remove move requests in database

If you have completed move requests on other databases, it will remove them too. It will not remove the mailbox but only remove the completed move requests. The -Confirm switch will not show the confirmation prompt.

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest -MoveStatus Completed | Remove-MoveRequest -Confirm:$false

Run the below command if you want to remove all move request statuses.

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest | Remove-MoveRequest -Confirm:$false

Check the source database and target database again and confirm that the result is empty.

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest -SourceDatabase "DB06"

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest -TargetDatabase "DB06"

Dismount database

Dismount the mailbox database and remove the database. Press Y and press Enter.

If you get the error this mailbox database contains one or more mailboxes, mailbox plans, archive mailboxes, public folder mailboxes or arbitration mailboxes. Read the article Cannot delete mailbox database in Exchange Server.

[PS] C:\>Dismount-Database "DB06" -Confirm:$false

[PS] C:\>Remove-MailboxDatabase -Identity "DB06"

Confirm
Are you sure you want to perform this action?
Removing mailbox database "DB06".
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [?] Help (default is "Y"): Y
WARNING: The specified database has been removed. You must remove the database file located in E:\DB06\DB06.edb from your computer manually if it exists. Specified database: DB06

Make sure to start File Explorer on the Exchange Server and go to the location of the database. Delete the database and the logs folder manually.

Conclusion this mailbox database is associated error

You learned why an error appears when trying to remove a mailbox database. Run the commands in the article to verify and fix the error this mailbox database is associated with one or more move requests.

Did you enjoy this article? You may also like Export a list of mailboxes to text in Exchange. Don’t forget to follow us and share this article.

ALI TAJRAN

ALI TAJRAN

ALI TAJRAN is a passionate IT Architect, IT Consultant, and Microsoft Certified Trainer. He started Information Technology at a very young age, and his goal is to teach and inspire others. Read more »

This Post Has 5 Comments

  1. in my case no records where listed via powershell and all mailboxes are removed.
    But i found the move requests via ADSI Edit and delete them there.
    After this, the Mailbox was able to delete.

    CN=MailboxExportRequests,CN=Mailbox Replication,CN=,CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=,DC=local

  2. Hi Ali,
    I made a mistake. I emptied the database, when I wanted to delete it, I could not delete it, it gave an error, I went and deleted it manually from the disk 🙁 now the is left on the panel and when I want to open an additional db it says you do not have the right to use Exchange 2016 standard license. When I examined it with Get-MailboxExportRequest, I had failed migrations. When I want to delete the database, it cannot delete the requests because it cannot find the database, so when I want to delete the database, it gives the following error.

    This mailbox database is associated with one or more active MailboxExport requests. To get a list of all MailboxExport requests associated with this database, run Get-MailboxExportRequest | ?{ $_.RequestQueue -eq “” }. To remove a MailboxExport request, run Remove-MailboxExportRequest .

    Is there a way to delete the database without looking at the queue? There are 6 failed requests in the queue.

  3. Hello. The error I get when I try to delete my database is “this mailbox database is associated with one or more active MailboxImport requests”. When I do get-mailboximportrequests, it returns nothing.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *