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How to put a mailbox on litigation hold

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How to put a mailbox on litigation hold

How to put a mailbox on litigation hold in Exchange Online: licence check, enabling the hold with a duration, what it preserves, and releasing it correctly.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-put-a-mailbox-on-litigation-hold

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What licence is needed for litigation hold?

Exchange Online Plan 2 — included in Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Office 365 E3/E5, and Business Premium (via Exchange Online Plan 1 plus Exchange Online Archiving). Business Basic and Standard include Exchange Online Plan 1 o…

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-put-a-mailbox-on-litigation-hold

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What is the difference between litigation hold and a retention policy or eDiscovery hold?

Litigation hold is a per-mailbox switch that preserves everything in that mailbox, including deleted and edited items, for a duration you set or indefinitely. A Purview retention policy preserves across many mailboxes a…

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-put-a-mailbox-on-litigation-hold

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Does a user know they are on litigation hold?

Not unless you tell them. Nothing changes in Outlook; items they delete still vanish from view but are kept in the Recoverable Items folder. You can set an optional hold notice and URL that appear in the mailbox's accou…

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-put-a-mailbox-on-litigation-hold

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Step 1: Confirm the licence

PersistedCapabilities should include BPOSSEnterprise (Plan 2) or BPOSSArchive/BPOSSArchiveAddOn. If not, assign the licence first and wait for the mailbox to reflect it.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-put-a-mailbox-on-litigation-hold

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Step 2: Enable the hold

Exchange admin center: Recipients → Mailboxes → the mailbox → Others → Manage litigation hold → Turn on. Enter the duration in days (leave blank for indefinite), a note for the user (optional), and a URL to your legal-h…

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-put-a-mailbox-on-litigation-hold

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Step 3: Bulk holds

For a list of users:

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Step 4: Check the archive and quota

A held mailbox keeps deleted items in Recoverable Items, which has its own quota (100 GB when hold is enabled). Heavy mailboxes benefit from enabling the archive and auto-expanding archiving so Recoverable Items overflo…

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/how-to-put-a-mailbox-on-litigation-hold

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