MS-220 Training Course: Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange Online
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Description of the training: MS-220 Training Course: Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange Online
This hands-on course equips you to identify, analyse and resolve the most common — and the trickiest — incidents on Microsoft Exchange Online. Designed for support teams and messaging administrators, it builds on the foundations of the Microsoft 365 MS-102 course and follows the skills map of the MS-220 “Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange Online” curriculum. In full transparency: the MS-220 certification exam was retired by Microsoft in July 2023; we kept its outline because it remains the most complete map of the troubleshooting skills expected on Exchange Online.
Over 3 days built around a majority of hands-on labs, you learn to read a message header, work with message trace, untangle a misconfigured mail flow rule, handle a compliance incident (retention, eDiscovery, encryption with Microsoft Purview), unblock a stubborn Outlook or mobile client, and stabilise a hybrid environment or a migration. Every lab starts from a concrete symptom and takes you, method in hand and PowerShell at the keyboard, all the way to root cause. As a complement, the Microsoft 365 Troubleshooting course broadens troubleshooting to the whole Microsoft 365 stack. Sessions run in a small group of 1 to 3 participants.
Good to know
Our inter-company sessions are guaranteed from a single registration (no risk of postponement except in cases of force majeure). A 30-day follow-up support period comes with the course and a certificate of completion is issued. Explore our full catalogue in the Microsoft 365 training courses category.
Objectives of the training: MS-220 Training Course: Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange Online
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Diagnose a mail flow problem and trace it to root cause from headers, message trace and SMTP logs.
- Interpret non-delivery reports (NDRs) and Microsoft Defender for Office 365 decisions (spam, quarantine, SPF/DKIM/DMARC).
- Resolve compliance and retention incidents: Purview policies, eDiscovery searches and holds, message encryption and S/MIME.
- Troubleshoot Outlook, OWA and ActiveSync connectivity and authentication, plus calendar sharing and mobile devices.
- Fix configuration issues: mailbox provisioning, recipients, org-wide settings and public folders.
- Stabilise hybrid scenarios and migrations (Hybrid Configuration Wizard, hybrid mail flow, free/busy, migration endpoints).
Prerequisites of the training: MS-220 Training Course: Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange Online
Because every participant is unique, a preliminary interview tailors the content. Ideally, you have some experience administering Exchange Online or Microsoft 365 and basic comfort with PowerShell and the Exchange Online module. Familiarity with messaging concepts (SMTP, DNS, mailboxes) is a plus.
Detailed programme of the training: MS-220 Training Course: Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange Online
Module 1 — Troubleshoot Exchange Online mail flow
- Read and interpret message headers and message trace results.
- Determine whether a mail flow rule or conditional routing is affecting delivery.
- Handle cases where a user can no longer send or receive mail with no NDR generated.
- Resolve delivery delays and cross-tenant routing errors.
- Analyse SMTP logs for hybrid deployments and third-party systems.
- Troubleshoot DNS, SMTP relay and SMTP certificate issues.
- Interpret NDRs and Microsoft Defender for Office 365 decisions: spam, quarantine, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, false positives and false negatives.
Module 2 — Compliance, retention and encryption (Microsoft Purview)
- Identify the roles required for eDiscovery actions and troubleshoot searches and holds.
- Understand Microsoft Purview retention policies and the hold types associated with an item.
- Search for and delete messages across the organisation; purge recoverable item folders.
- Diagnose retention tags and policies and Messaging Records Management (MRM) via diagnostic logs.
- Resolve Purview message encryption and S/MIME incidents (messages not encrypted/decrypted, external access, mobile, revocation).
- Troubleshoot mailbox auditing and journaling: duplicate entries, messages not journaled, OME decryption.
Module 3 — Troubleshoot mail clients (Outlook, OWA, mobile)
- Obtain Outlook client configuration information and troubleshoot authentication and client access policies.
- Resolve modern authentication, OWA sign-in and Autodiscover issues.
- Handle an Outlook client that cannot connect or keeps prompting for the password.
- Analyse mailbox and calendar diagnostic logs: delegation, resource booking, internal and external calendar sharing.
- Troubleshoot mobile devices: access states, statistics, Allow/Block/Quarantine (ABQ) list, access rules and ActiveSync logs.
Module 4 — Exchange Online configuration and provisioning
- Interpret and fix validation errors encountered during object provisioning.
- Restore or recover an inactive mailbox; manage resource mailboxes and purge deleted users.
- Troubleshoot recipients: automatic forwarding, Microsoft Entra ID matching, distribution lists (including dynamic), auto-expanding archive mailboxes.
- Resolve org-wide settings: domain configuration, address book policies, address lists, allowed file types, mailbox plans and CAS plans.
- Troubleshoot public folders: access, mail-enabled folders, sending mail, hybrid access and load balancing.
Module 5 — Hybrid environments and migrations
- Troubleshoot the Hybrid Configuration Wizard and hybrid mail flow.
- Resolve free/busy availability and remote recipient attribute synchronisation issues.
- Handle migration incidents: endpoint creation, migration user status report, slow or failed migrations.
- Interpret the Data Consistency Score (DCS) and troubleshoot public folder migration.
Module 6 — Course highlights
- A case-driven approach: every skill is anchored in a guided troubleshooting lab, from symptom to root cause.
- Systematic hands-on use of PowerShell and the Exchange Online module, the essential tool for troubleshooting at scale.
- A small group (1 to 3 participants) and 30 days of post-course support to apply what you learn to your own incidents.
FAQ
What is the MS-220 “Troubleshooting Microsoft Exchange Online” course?
It is an operational course that follows the Microsoft MS-220 skills outline. It teaches you to diagnose and resolve Exchange Online incidents: mail flow, compliance, Outlook and mobile clients, configuration, hybrid and migrations. As the MS-220 exam was retired by Microsoft in 2023, the course focuses on building skills rather than passing an exam.
Who is this course for?
Messaging administrators, support technicians and engineers (level 2/3), Microsoft 365 administrators and consultants who run Exchange Online and handle incidents day to day.
What are the prerequisites?
Some experience administering Exchange Online or Microsoft 365 and basic comfort with PowerShell are recommended. A preliminary interview tailors the content to your level and context.
How long is it and in what format?
The course runs 3 days (18 hours), remotely, in a group of 1 to 3 participants, with around 60 % hands-on labs and 30 days of follow-up support.