Steps to Perform a Remote Mobile Data Wipe on Office 365

  1. Login to your Office 365 admin portal
  2. On the left sidebar, select Admin Centers > Exchange.
  3. Click Recipients and highlight the user that has the device to be wiped.
  4. On the right sidebar, click on View Details as highlighted below to open the Mobile Device Details dialog box.

    Office 365 Mobile Device - View Details
  5. From the list of mobile devices, highlight the one to be wiped and click on the Wipe Data icon as illustrated below.

    Office 365 Mobile Device Wipe
  6. Within a few seconds, you'll get an on-screen confirmation that the remote wipe succeeded. Additionally, the Office 365 administrator(s) will receive an email confirmation as well, illustrated below. Once the wipe is complete, the mobile device is rendered back to its original out-of-the-box state (e.g., a newly un-configured device).

    Office 365 - Remote Data Wipe - Email Confirmation

This remote capability, along with defining a strong mobile device policy, provide a strong security layer around your workforce smartphone. As long as you train your staff to immediately report to you when their device is lost or stolen, as a systems administrator, you'll be able to maintain positive control over your company's data. As mentioned, this remote wipe function on Office 365 is available only on mobile devices that are set up to use Exchange ActiveSync as the communication protocol.