Office 365 email retention policy

Office 365 provides a robust email retention policy feature that allows administrators to manage the retention and deletion of emails in their organization. Here's an overview of the email retention policy in Office 365:

What is an email retention policy?

An email retention policy is a set of rules that defines how long emails should be retained in the mailbox before they are automatically deleted or moved to an archive mailbox. The policy can be applied to specific mailboxes, groups, or the entire organization.

Types of retention policies in Office 365

There are two types of retention policies in Office 365:

1. Retention policies: These policies define how long emails should be retained in the mailbox before they are deleted. Retention policies can be applied to specific mailboxes, groups, or the entire organization.
2. Litigation hold: This feature is used to preserve emails in a mailbox while a legal hold is in place. Litigation hold prevents emails from being deleted or modified, even if a retention policy is applied.

How to create a retention policy in Office 365

To create a retention policy in Office 365, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Office 365 admin center.
2. Go to Compliance > Retention policies.
3. Click New retention policy.
4. Enter a name and description for the policy.
5. Select the type of policy: Retention or Litigation hold.
6. Define the retention period: specify the number of days, weeks, months, or years that emails should be retained.
7. Choose the mailbox types to apply the policy to: All mailboxes, Specific mailboxes, or Groups.
8. Click Save to create the policy.

Retention policy settings

Here are some additional settings you can configure for a retention policy:

• Retention period: Specify the number of days, weeks, months, or years that emails should be retained.
• Retention type: Choose between Delete or Move to archive.
• Apply to: Select the mailbox types to apply the policy to: All mailboxes, Specific mailboxes, or Groups.
• Exceptions: Define exceptions to the policy, such as excluding specific senders or recipients.
• Notifications: Configure notifications to be sent to users when their emails are about to be deleted or moved to an archive mailbox.

Best practices for email retention policies

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when creating email retention policies:

• Define a clear retention period: Ensure that the retention period is reasonable and aligned with your organization's needs.
• Apply policies consistently: Apply retention policies consistently across the organization to ensure that all emails are treated equally.
• Monitor and review policies: Regularly monitor and review retention policies to ensure they are working as intended and to make adjustments as needed.
• Communicate with users: Communicate with users about the retention policies and their impact on their emails.

By following these best practices and configuring email retention policies in Office 365, you can help ensure that your organization's emails are properly retained and managed.