Retention and ActiveSync policies

On-premises Exchange

This page covers hosted on-premises Exchange, not Exchange Online.

Retention policies and tags

Retention controls how long mail is kept and what happens to it afterwards. Two screens work together:

• Retention policy tags define individual rules — a period, and an action such as moving to archive or deleting.
• Retention policy groups tags into a policy applied to mailboxes.

Build tags first, then assemble them into a policy.

A retention policy that deletes is doing exactly that

Retention actions run on their own schedule against mail already in mailboxes. A policy with a delete action removes mail the user has not asked to lose, without prompting, and MSPControl holds no copy.

Before applying a policy that deletes:

• Confirm the retention period is the customer’s actual obligation, not a guess.
• Check what the tags do, not just what they are named — a tag called “Archive 2 years” does whatever action it was configured with.
• Consider applying it to one mailbox first and watching a cycle before rolling it out.

Retention is frequently a compliance requirement rather than a housekeeping preference. Where a customer is subject to one, the period is theirs to state and yours to implement — not the other way round.

ActiveSync mailbox policy

The ActiveSync Mailbox Policy governs mobile devices synchronizing with mailboxes: whether a device passcode is required, what device features are permitted, and the conditions a device must meet to connect.

Devices currently synchronizing with a given mailbox are listed on that mailbox’s Mobile tab.

Tightening the policy disconnects devices that no longer comply

A device that does not meet the new requirements stops synchronizing, and to the user that looks like mail has simply stopped arriving on their phone. They rarely connect it to a change made centrally.

Tell people before you tighten a policy, and say what they need to do — usually setting a passcode.

Both are hidden for consumer spaces

Retention policy, retention policy tags and the ActiveSync policy are among the nine screens hidden for consumer spaces. Any policy already applied continues to operate; the customer just cannot see or change it.

Related

• Transport and journaling rules
• Storage usage

Creating and editing a retention policy

Retention Policy Create and Retention Policy Edit are the add and edit screens behind the policy list, reached from the list rather than from a menu.

Editing a retention policy changes what happens to existing mail

Retention acts on mail already in the mailbox, not only on what arrives next. Shortening a retention period applies to messages that are already older than the new limit, and the effect is not a preview — it is deletion or archiving on the next cycle.

Change retention with the customer’s agreement, not as tidying.