Measure the volume of attachments in mailboxes

Message attachments are a regular focus of attention for e-mail administrators, not only because of the volume they can eventually represent, but also because of the security problems inherent in exchanging files with external correspondents. Unfortunately, it is not possible to generate reports on attachment traffic. However, you can measure their volume by type in mailboxes and even list them individually. Unsurprisingly, the report dedicated to analyzing attachments is called Message Attachments and is assigned to the Mailbox Content category.

Required permissions

This is a "dynamic" report that scans the contents of selected mailboxes using Exchange Web Services (EWS) APIs. Running it requires special authorizations: the Exchange ApplicationImpersonation role must be granted to the Promodag account if you're using user authentication to Exchange on-premises or Office 365, and full_access_as_app authorization to the Promodag application published in Microsoft Entra ID if you're using certificate authentication to Office 365. The help file supplied with Promodag Reports explains how to assign these authorizations.

Reduce scope to bare essentials

The principle behind these dynamic reports is to open each of the selected mailboxes and analyze the Outlook items they contain on the fly. The database is not used at all in this context, so the report works more slowly. It is therefore advisable to target only "problem" mailboxes, the largest in particular, and to use the Filter tab to retrieve, for example, only attachments from messages over a year old and/or specific file extension.

Selecting the most appropriate folders to browse will also significantly reduce report execution time: Inbox, Sent items.

Summary or detailed list?

You can then determine the level of detail of the final report: either a summary by file extension, or a list of all attachments corresponding to the criteria defined in the report (mailbox selection, filters).

If the report returns a very long list, it is recommended to export it in CSV format.

Scan your mailboxes with Promodag Reports!

Promodag Reports contains a whole category of mailbox content reports that not only extract the list of attachments in mailboxes, but also the list of inbox rules, meetings in calendars or permissions granted on mailboxes and their folders. Download the application on this page and try our reports in evaluation mode for 45 days. You can use our contact form to leave us a message, ask a sales question or request support.