📖 What is Microsoft Purview Retention Policies?
Microsoft Purview Retention Policies are settings that dictate how long an organization keeps its data across Microsoft 365 services. These policies ensure that critical information is preserved for legal or regulatory requirements and automatically deleted once the retention period expires to reduce liability.
"Be careful to distinguish between 'Retention' (keeping data) and 'Deletion' (removing data); a single retention policy can handle both."
📚 Certification: Microsoft 365 Administrator (MS-102)
🔑 What are the Key Concepts of Microsoft Purview Retention Policies?
- ▸ Retention periods can be configured as 'retain only' to preserve data indefinitely or 'retain and then delete' to automate the data lifecycle.
- ▸ Adaptive scopes allow policies to be applied dynamically based on user attributes from Microsoft Entra ID, reducing manual administration for changing organizational structures.
- ▸ The Preservation Hold Library in SharePoint and OneDrive ensures that items deleted by users are kept for the duration of the retention period.
- ▸ When multiple policies apply, the 'Retention wins over deletion' and 'Longest retention period wins' rules determine the final outcome for the data.
🎯 How does Microsoft Purview Retention Policies appear on the MS-102 Exam?
You may be asked to design a solution for a company that must keep all financial records for seven years and then automatically purge them to comply with privacy laws, requiring a 'retain and then delete' policy.
A scenario might describe a need to apply different retention periods to employees based on their department attribute in Entra ID, requiring the implementation of Adaptive Scopes for dynamic membership.
Expect questions regarding conflicting policies where one policy requires a five-year hold and another requires ten; you must identify that the longest retention period takes precedence over shorter ones.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a retention policy and a retention label?
Policies are broad and apply to entire locations (like all OneDrive accounts) automatically. Labels are more granular and can be applied to specific files or folders, either manually by users or via auto-labeling policies.
What happens if a user deletes a document that is subject to a retention policy?
The document is not permanently erased; instead, it is moved to the Preservation Hold Library in SharePoint or OneDrive, where it remains discoverable by administrators until the retention period expires.