Retention policy shared mailbox office 365

A very specific and important topic!

In Office 365, a retention policy is a set of rules that defines how long emails and other items in a mailbox should be retained before they are automatically deleted or moved to an archive mailbox. This helps organizations comply with regulatory requirements, reduce storage costs, and maintain a clean and organized email environment.

Here's how retention policies work for shared mailboxes in Office 365:

What is a shared mailbox? A shared mailbox is a mailbox that multiple users can access and use to send and receive emails. It's often used for shared purposes, such as a customer service mailbox or a marketing mailbox.

How do retention policies work for shared mailboxes? When you apply a retention policy to a shared mailbox, the policy will apply to all items in the mailbox, including emails, calendar items, contacts, and tasks. The policy will determine how long each item should be retained before it's deleted or moved to an archive mailbox.

Types of retention policies for shared mailboxes There are two types of retention policies you can apply to a shared mailbox:

  1. Retention policy: This type of policy specifies a retention period for all items in the mailbox. For example, you can set a policy to retain all items for 3 years, after which they will be deleted.
  2. Retention policy with hold: This type of policy specifies a retention period for all items in the mailbox, but also allows you to place a hold on specific items or folders. This means that even if the retention period has expired, the held items will not be deleted until the hold is removed.

How to apply a retention policy to a shared mailbox To apply a retention policy to a shared mailbox, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Office 365 admin center and navigate to the "Compliance" section.
  2. Click on "Retention policies" and then click on "New retention policy".
  3. Enter a name and description for the policy, and specify the retention period.
  4. Select the shared mailbox you want to apply the policy to.
  5. Click "Save" to apply the policy.

Best practices for retention policies in shared mailboxes Here are some best practices to keep in mind when applying retention policies to shared mailboxes:

  1. Be specific: Make sure to specify the retention period and any holds you want to apply to specific items or folders.
  2. Communicate with users: Inform users who have access to the shared mailbox about the retention policy and any holds that may be in place.
  3. Monitor and review: Regularly monitor and review the shared mailbox to ensure that the retention policy is working as expected and that no important items are being deleted prematurely.
  4. Test and validate: Test the retention policy in a non-production environment before applying it to a shared mailbox in production.

By following these best practices and applying retention policies to your shared mailboxes, you can help ensure that your organization's email environment is compliant, organized, and efficient.