How to create a retention policy in Microsoft Purview
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How to create a retention policy in Microsoft Purview
How to create a retention policy in Microsoft Purview: static or adaptive scope, locations, retain-then-delete settings, and rolling it out without surprises.
Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-create-a-retention-policy-in-microsoft-purview
What is the difference between a retention policy and a retention label?
A retention policy applies one rule to whole locations — all mailboxes, all sites, all Teams chats — automatically and invisibly. A retention label is applied to individual items, by users or by auto-labelling, and can…
Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-create-a-retention-policy-in-microsoft-purview
Does a retention policy stop users deleting files?
No, and that confuses people. Users can still delete; the policy keeps a copy in a hidden location (the Preservation Hold library in SharePoint and OneDrive, Recoverable Items in Exchange) until the retention period end…
Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-create-a-retention-policy-in-microsoft-purview
Why do I need a separate policy for Teams?
Teams chats and channel messages are stored in a Teams-specific substrate and cannot be combined with Exchange or SharePoint locations in one policy. Create one policy for 'Teams chats and channel messages' and another…
Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-create-a-retention-policy-in-microsoft-purview
Step 1: Create the policy
Purview portal → Solutions → Data lifecycle management → Microsoft 365 → Retention policies → New retention policy. Name it descriptively: RET-Exchange-SharePoint-7y-RetainDelete. The description is where you cite the s…
Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-create-a-retention-policy-in-microsoft-purview
Step 2: Choose the scope type
Static applies to whole locations, optionally with includes/excludes per location. Adaptive applies to an adaptive scope you define first (Data lifecycle management → Adaptive scopes): a query over users, groups, or sit…
Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-create-a-retention-policy-in-microsoft-purview
Step 3: Select locations
For a tenant baseline: Exchange mailboxes, SharePoint classic and communication sites, OneDrive accounts, Microsoft 365 Group mailboxes & sites. Leave Teams off — it needs its own policy (FAQ). Exclude specific sites or…
Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-create-a-retention-policy-in-microsoft-purview
Step 4: Set retention
Retain items for a specific period → the schedule's period (7 years is common for business records; 3 for general correspondence). Start the retention period based on: When items were created for a simple baseline, or W…
Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-create-a-retention-policy-in-microsoft-purview
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