By default the Nexetic Backup for Microsoft 365 service has unlimited retention of data. I.e. all the data that has been backed up once will be retained in the backup indefinitely.
We’ve now introduced an option to create retention policies, allowing you to define specific rules for various M365 data. The ability to create retention policies is currently available for the following:
- Deleted users
- Deleted OneDrive files
- Deleted SharePoint & Teams files
- Old emails
- Number of OneDrive file versions
- Number of SharePoint file versions
1. Create a retention policy
To create a retention policy, click Retention policies in the drop-down menu under your signed-in username.
Next, click Create in the top-left corner.
1.1. Policy for Deleted users
- Name: Enter a name for the policy.
- Service: Click the arrow to expand the Service selection menu and choose Deleted users from the drop-down list.
- Groups: Define the scope of the retention policy. You can apply it to:
- All groups (users in all Entra ID Groups)
- Selected Entra ID Groups (choose one or multiple groups)
- A search option is available to help locate specific groups.
Retention Settings
-
- Delete older than: Define length for the retention: x Days/Weeks/Months/Years from the date when the users were deleted from Microsoft 365. Minimum retention value for deleted users is 7 days.
- Use the Calculate effect option to estimate the amount of data that will be deleted based on the current retention policy settings.
EXAMPLE: Remove Deleted Users & Their Data
By enforcing the policy shown below, user accounts deleted from the organization's Microsoft 365 tenant more than 180 days ago will also be removed from the backup, along with all their data. This policy applies to all Entra ID groups within the organization.
Note
If there are overlapping or conflicting policies:
- Group-specific policies will take priority over policies that cover all groups.
- If a multiple policies have been assigned to a single group, the one with the shortest retention will be applied.
1.2. Policy for deleted OneDrive files
- Name: Enter a name for the policy.
- Service: Click the arrow to expand the Service selection menu and choose Deleted OneDrive files from the drop-down list.
- Groups: Define the scope of the retention policy. You can apply it to:
- All groups (users in all Entra ID Groups)
- Selected Entra ID Groups (choose one or multiple groups)
- A search option is available to help locate specific groups.
Retention Settings
-
- Keep latest revision: When selected, the latest revision of the files that have reached their retention period is always retained. All the older file versions are deleted. If not selected, also the latest file version is deleted.
- Delete older than: Define length for the retention: x Days/Weeks/Months/Years from the date when the files were deleted from the users' OneDrive in Microsoft 365.
- Use the Calculate effect option to estimate the amount of data that will be deleted based on the current retention policy settings.
EXAMPLE: Remove Deleted OneDrive Files
By enforcing the policy shown below, all files deleted from users' OneDrives more than six months ago will also be permanently removed from the backup. This policy applies to users in the Entra ID groups "Nexetic Marketing" and "Nexetic R&D".
Note
Minimum value for OneDrive file retention is 90 days.
If there are overlapping or conflicting policies:
- Group-specific policies will take priority over policies that cover all groups.
- If multiple policies have been assigned to a single group, the one with the shortest retention will be applied.
- If multiple policies affect the same files, policy with the shortest retention will be applied.
1.3. Policy for Deleted SharePoint files
- Name: Enter a name for the policy.
- Service: Click the arrow to expand the Service selection menu and choose Deleted SharePoint files from the drop-down list.
- SharePoint Sites: Define the scope of the retention policy. You can apply it to:
- All SharePoint sites and Teams (select All SharePoint sites)
- Specific SharePoint sites and/or Teams (choose one or multiple)
- A search option is available to help you locate specific sites or teams.
Retention Settings
-
- Keep latest revision: When selected, the latest revision of the files that have reached their retention period is always retained. All the older file versions are deleted. If not selected, also the latest file version is deleted.
- Delete older than: Define length for the retention: x Days/Weeks/Months/Years from the date when the files were deleted from the organization's SharePoint Online.
- Use the Calculate effect option to estimate the amount of data that will be deleted based on the current retention policy settings.
EXAMPLE: Remove Deleted SharePoint Files
By enforcing the policy shown below, all files deleted from organization's SharePoint Online more than eight months ago will also be permanently removed from the backup. This policy applies to files located on the SharePoint site 'Nexetic Team Site'.
Note
Minimum value for SharePoint file retention is 90 days.
If there are overlapping or conflicting policies:
- Site-specific policies will take priority over policies that cover all sites.
- If multiple policies have been assigned to a single site, the one with the shortest retention will be applied.
- If multiple policies affect the same files, policy with the shortest retention will be applied.
1.4. Policy for old emails
- Name: Enter a name for the policy.
- Service: Click the arrow to expand the Service selection menu and choose Old emails from the drop-down list.
- Groups: Define the scope of the retention policy. You can apply it to:
- All groups (users in all Entra ID Groups)
- Selected Entra ID Groups (choose one or multiple groups)
- A search option is available to help locate specific groups.
Retention Settings
- Delete older than: Set the retention period in Days/Weeks/Months/Years from the email’s date.
- Use the Calculate effect option to estimate the amount of data that will be deleted based on the current retention policy settings.
EXAMPLE: Remove Old Emails
By enforcing the policy shown below, all emails older than five years will be permanently deleted from the backup. This policy applies to all users' emails.
1.5. Policy for OneDrive file version history
- Name: Enter a name for the policy.
- Service: Click the arrow to expand the Service selection menu and choose Number of OneDrive file versions from the drop-down list.
- Groups: Define the scope of the retention policy. You can apply it to:
- All groups (users in all Entra ID Groups)
- Selected Entra ID Groups (choose one or multiple groups)
- A search option is available to help locate specific groups.
Retention Settings
- Number of versions to keep: Define the number of file versions to retain in the backup.
Note
The policy is applicable only to files modified after the policy is created. Older files without updates will retain their existing versions.
EXAMPLE: Remove Older OneDrive File Versions
By enforcing the policy outlined below, only the ten most recent versions of each file will be retained. All older versions will be permanently deleted from the backup. This policy applies to OneDrive files belonging to users in the Entra ID groups ‘Nexetic Admins’ and ‘Nexetic R&D’.
1.6. Policy for SharePoint file version history
- Name: Enter a name for the policy.
- Service: Click the arrow to expand the Service selection menu and choose Number of SharePoint file versions from the drop-down list.
- SharePoint Sites: Define the scope of the retention policy. You can apply it to:
- All SharePoint sites and Teams (select All SharePoint sites)
- Specific SharePoint sites and/or Teams (choose one or multiple)
- A search option is available to help you locate specific sites or teams.
Retention Settings
- Number of versions to keep: Define the number of file versions to retain in the backup.
Note
The policy is applicable only to files modified after the policy is created. Older files without updates will retain their existing versions.
EXAMPLE: Remove Older SharePoint File Versions
By enforcing the policy outlined below, only the 15 most recent versions of each file will be retained, with all older versions permanently deleted from the backup. This policy applies to files across all SharePoint sites and Teams groups.
2. Modify or delete retention policies
You can modify any of the existing retention policies by clicking the Edit button (pen icon) for the policy. All the policy attributes are editable.
You can delete any of the policies by clicking the Delete button (trash bin icon) for the policy. After deleting a policy, the retention rule ceases to exist.