Where are Exchange logs location for Exchange Server Subscription Edition

Yvonne 30 Reputation points
2026-01-08T17:36:18.95+00:00

Can anyone tell me where all the Exchange logs are located?

Exchange | Exchange Server | Management
Exchange | Exchange Server | Management

The administration and maintenance of Microsoft Exchange Server to ensure secure, reliable, and efficient email and collaboration services across an organization.

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  1. Ceyhun KIRMIZITAS 0 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff
    2026-10-04T00:41:47.7366667+00:00

    In addition to the default locations, I would verify the effective transport log paths on the Exchange servers because these paths can be customized and may differ between servers.

    This is especially useful in a multi-server environment where Message Tracking, SMTP protocol, and connectivity logs may not all be using the default Exchange installation path.

    I recently published ExchangeLogPathManager.ps1 on GitHub for this purpose. The script can review supported Exchange transport log paths across multiple servers, compare source and target servers, preview proposed changes, apply supported path changes, and verify the resulting configuration.

    GitHub repository:

    https://github.com/Ceyhun-Kirmizitas/ExchangeLogPathManager.ps1

    Detailed article and usage examples:

    https://ceyhunkirmizitas.net/manage-exchange-server-transport-log-paths/

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  2. Anonymous
    2026-01-09T02:39:16.1333333+00:00

    Hi Yvonne

    Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum.

    Based on your question, beside Q&A Assist support, I would like to share some additional information:

    In Exchange Server Subscription Edition (SE), log locations are the same as recent on - premises Exchange versions (Exchange 2016/2019), unless they were manually changed in the configuration.

    • Main Exchange logging folder: C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Logging\
    • Mail flow & transport logs: %ExchangeInstallPath%\TransportRoles\Logs\

    Includes message tracking, protocol (SMTP send/receive), agent, routing, and connectivity logs.

    • IIS (OWA, ECP, EWS, ActiveSync) logs: C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\
    • Exchange setup / upgrade logs: C:\ExchangeSetupLogs\ExchangeSetup.log

    Please note that actual paths can be customized. To confirm the configured paths on your server, you can also check via Exchange Management Shell.

    For official Microsoft documentation, please refer to: Transport logs in Exchange Server | Microsoft Learn

    Checking log age using PowerShell

    To check the oldest or newest log files in a specific folder (example: Message Tracking):

    Oldest log files

    Get-ChildItem "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\TransportRoles\Logs\MessageTracking" -Recurse |
    Sort-Object LastWriteTime |
    Select-Object -First 5 FullName, LastWriteTime
    

    Newest log files

    Get-ChildItem "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\TransportRoles\Logs\MessageTracking" -Recurse |
    Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending |
    Select-Object -First 5 FullName, LastWriteTime
    

    To list logs older than a specific number of days (example: 30 days):

    $Days = 30
    Get-ChildItem "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\TransportRoles\Logs" -Recurse |
    Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-$Days) } |
    Select FullName, LastWriteTime
    

    To confirm configured log paths (in case defaults were changed):

    Get-TransportService | Format-List *LogPath*
    

    I hope these suggestions provide some helpful.


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  3. Yvonne 30 Reputation points
    2026-01-08T17:37:02.5833333+00:00

    Which powershell can I run to see the log age?

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  4. AI answer

    2026-01-08T17:36:25.1266667+00:00

    In Exchange Server Subscription Edition, the logs are typically located in the following default directories:

    1. Transport Logs:
      • Agent Logs:
        • Mailbox servers (Front End Transport service): %ExchangeInstallPath%TransportRoles\Logs\FrontEnd\AgentLog
        • Mailbox servers (Transport service): %ExchangeInstallPath%TransportRoles\Logs\Hub\AgentLog
        • Edge Transport servers: %ExchangeInstallPath%TransportRoles\Logs\Edge\AgentLog
    2. Protocol Logs:
      • Mailbox servers (Receive connectors): %ExchangeInstallPath%TransportRoles\Logs\FrontEnd\ProtocolLog\SmtpReceive
      • Mailbox servers (Send connectors): %ExchangeInstallPath%TransportRoles\Logs\FrontEnd\ProtocolLog\SmtpSend
      • Edge Transport servers (Receive connectors): %ExchangeInstallPath%TransportRoles\Logs\Edge\ProtocolLog\SmtpReceive
      • Edge Transport servers (Send connectors): %ExchangeInstallPath%TransportRoles\Logs\Edge\ProtocolLog\SmtpSend
    3. Queue Database Logs:
      • The queue database and transaction logs are located at %ExchangeInstallPath%TransportRoles\data\Queue.

    You can run commands in the Exchange Management Shell to determine the specific log paths being used for your server setup.

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