In this guide, you will learn how to add and remove ProxyAddresses in Active Directory with PowerShell. I’ll also demonstrate how to add, change and remove ProxyAddresses with the AD Pro Toolkit.
In this article
- Add ProxyAddresses with PowerShell
- Bulk Modify ProxyAddresses with AD Pro Toolkit
- Get list of user ProxyAddresses
Add ProxyAddresses with PowerShell
To add ProxyAddresses with PowerShell you would use the set-aduser cmdlet.
Set-ADUser Abbie.Peters -add @{ProxyAddresses="smtp:Abbie.Peters2.activedirectorypro.com"}In the above example, I’m adding a new proxyaddress to user Abbie.Peters.
You can view the users proxyAddresses in Active Directory by clicking on the attribute editor and then the proxyAddresses attribute.
To remove proxyaddresses with PowerShell use the -remove parameter.
Set-ADUser Abbie.Peters -remove @{ProxyAddresses="smtp:Abbie.Peters2.activedirectorypro.com"}Bulk Modify ProxyAddresses with AD Pro Toolkit
If you need to modify the proxyAddresses for multiple users, then I would recommend the AD Pro Toolkit. This tool makes it easy to add, remove, and change proxyaddresses for multiple users.
Download AD Pro Toolkit and see how easy it is to update ProxyAddresses.
Example 1. Bulk Add ProxyAddresses
Step 1. Create a CSV file with two columns.
- sAMAccountName = The account you want to update
- proxyAddresses = The proxyaddresses you want to add. Separate with comma if adding more than one.
Tip! You can use the included AD User Export Tool to export a list of users to CSV file.
CSV Example.
Step 2. Run the Bulk Update Users Tool
Open the AD Toolkit and click on Bulk Modify Users. Select your CSV file and click run.
The tool will log everything on the screen. It will show you how many users were updated.
Example 2. Modify Existing ProxyAddresses
In this example, I’ll modify users ProxyAddresses.
Step 1. Create a CSV file with three columns.
- sAMAccountName = The account you want to update.
- proxyAddresses = The target proxyAddresses you want to change.
- proxyAddresses_update = This column will replace the target address. (the address in column b)
CSV Example.
In the above CSV, the user Carole.Lloyd will have its proxyAddress SMTP:Carole.Lloyd@activedirectorypro.com updated to SMTP:C.Lloyd@activedirectorypro.com.
Step 2. Run the Bulk Update Users Tool
Open the tool and click on “Update Options” and select “Update Existing” under ProxyAddress Options. Click OK.
Next, select your CSV file and click Run.
I’ll open one of the accounts to verify it updated the proxyaddresses.
It worked. The users existing address has been changed to SMTP:C.Lloyd@activedirectorypro.com.
Example 3. Remove ProxyAddresses
Warning. This method will clear all users ProxyAddresses. I would first export the users and their ProxyAddresses to a CSV for a backup.
Step 1. Create a CSV file with two columns.
- sAMAccountName = The account you want to update
- proxyAddresses = Put the word remove in this column.
CSV Example.
Step 2. Run the Bulk Update Users Tool
Select your CSV file and click Run.
Now if I check one of the users all of their proxyAddresses should be removed.
Get a list of User ProxyAddresses
To get a list of all users proxyAddresses use the below PowerShell command.
get-aduser -filter * -properties proxyaddresses | select samaccountname, proxyaddresses
With the AD Pro Toolkit click on the Export Users Tool and click run.
If you are using Azure AD connect or Office 365 then knowing how to bulk update users ProxyAddresses attribute is a must. In this guide, I showed you multiple examples for updating single accounts, adding multiple addresses, and bulk updating a list of accounts from a CSV file
PowerShell is a great tool for making mass changes to Active Directory users but for those that want a GUI option, the AD Bulk User Update tool is a simple and easy solution.
Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions.