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Keeping the mailbox of a departing employee

Before closing the mailbox of a departing employee, decide whether it should stay open for clients who still write to it. In Klytic Mail, your account administrator first removes the person’s sign-in and devices, then gives access to those taking over the relationship, through delegation, without passing on a password. If the mailbox must be kept for a long time, the 30-day backup is not enough: archiving must be decided before closure.

Updated October 20264 minHow-to Klytic Mail

What you get

  • No client message lost after the departure.
  • No more access for the departing person, either from a browser or from their phone.
  • A successor who reads and replies with their own account, in a traceable way.
  • Up-to-date shared addresses.

Who does what

  • The person’s manager decides what happens to the mailbox and designates the successor.
  • Your Klytic Mail account administrator makes the settings in the administration console.
  • Klytic support steps in for a restore from backups (included for deliberate deletion when an employee leaves or a mailbox deleted too early, up to 3 requests per month; paid after an accidental deletion), for legal archiving if it has been subscribed to, and for any question about a device.

1. Decide before closure

On the day of departure, three choices are possible. They are decided beforehand, not afterward.

ChoiceWhenEffect
Keep the mailbox openClients or suppliers still write to this addressThe mailbox keeps receiving; the successor reads it through delegation
Close with an auto-reply or forwardingThe flow is low, the history is taken over elsewhereCorrespondents receive a reply giving the new contact, or their messages are forwarded
Turn the address into an aliasThe address must live on, but not the mailboxMessages go straight to the successor, once the history has been kept or archived

In all three cases, the history remains a separate matter: it must be kept, handed over or archived before the mailbox is deleted.

2. Remove the person’s sign-in

  1. The password. The administrator changes it, or blocks sign-in for the account. Blocking prevents the person from signing in while letting the mailbox keep receiving mail.
  2. Devices. Synced phones and tablets appear in the account’s device list. The administrator can remotely wipe the email data from a lost or returned device. Depending on the model and its version, the wipe may apply to the entire device: for a personal phone, remove the device from sync instead and ask support for advice before wiping. A device configured with IMAP, without Exchange ActiveSync sync, cannot be wiped this way: changing the password cuts it off.
  3. Rights they had elsewhere. If the person had access to a shared mailbox, an executive’s calendar or shared folders, remove those rights. They are forgotten more often than the mailbox itself.

3. Give the successor access

Do not pass on the departed person’s password. The administrator gives the successor a right on the mailbox, with their own account: view, or manage content, and if needed send “on behalf of” or “as” that address. The successor finds the mailbox in their webmail, next to their own. Every reply remains attributed to someone.

If several people take over the portfolio, turn the mailbox into a shared mailbox and distribute the rights. Setup is described in shared mailboxes, aliases and multiple entities.

Example. A saleswoman leaves a 30-person SME (hypothetical case). The same day, the administrator blocks her sign-in and wipes the email data from her work phone. He gives her successor the right to manage her mailbox and send on behalf of that address, sets up an auto-reply giving the new contact, and removes the former saleswoman from the sales-team@ list. Three months later, the flow has dried up: the address becomes an alias of the successor’s mailbox.

4. Review aliases and lists

  • Remove the person from the distribution lists they belonged to.
  • If aliases were delivered to their mailbox, quotes@ for example, attach them to the successor’s mailbox.
  • Check applications that sent alerts or documents to their address.

5. Keeping the mailbox for a long time

Klytic backups let you go back over the last 30 days. They are not meant to keep a mailbox for several years. If the mailbox must be kept because of an obligation or a risk of litigation, plan archiving while the account is still under control: see archiving messages. Messages identified as personal are subject to their own rules: have your practice validated by your legal advisor.

6. Documents and phone

The person’s files in Klytic Docs follow their own procedure: when an employee or a team leaves. If they had an extension in Klytic Tel, inform the telephony administrator.

Frequently asked questions

Does the mailbox still receive mail when sign-in is blocked?

Yes. Blocking sign-in prevents the person from getting in; the mailbox keeps receiving and the successor reads it through delegation.

The employee deleted messages before leaving. Can they be recovered?

Yes, within 30 days. First look in the mailbox’s dumpster folder, at no cost. Beyond that, support restores from backups: this is included, up to 3 requests per month. See restoring a message or a mailbox.

How long should the mailbox stay open?

Until correspondents have switched to the new address. After that, an alias or an auto-reply is enough, and the history is a matter for archiving.

What if the address belongs to a shared mailbox?

Simply remove the person’s rights. See shared mailboxes and aliases.

A departure to prepare?

Klytic support helps you set up delegation, devices and, if needed, archiving.

Contact support →

Archiving messages

Further reading

Use · EmailShared mailboxes, aliases, domains and administratorsAliases, distribution lists, shared mailboxes with delegation and multiple domains in Klytic Mail: who creates what, and how to separate two companies.5 min readRead →Use · EmailArchiving messages in Klytic MailFiling in a folder, recovering from the dumpster folder, retaining with optional legal archiving: three different actions in Klytic Mail.4 min readRead →Use · Documents & document managementDocuments when an employee or a team leavesRemove a group, recover personal files, close links and shut down the account: an employee's departure in Klytic Docs, without losing anything.6 min readRead →

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