{"id":51652,"date":"2024-12-20T19:43:43","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T15:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/?p=51652"},"modified":"2025-03-17T15:58:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T11:58:47","slug":"how-to-set-up-the-retention-policy-for-office-365-or-g-suite-in-msp360-managed-backup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/blog\/how-to-set-up-the-retention-policy-for-office-365-or-g-suite-in-msp360-managed-backup\/","title":{"rendered":"Retention Policies in MSP360 Managed Backup for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Retention policies are a vital part of your backup strategy. This guide will explain the purpose of retention policies and provide a step-by-step walkthrough on how to create, assign, and manage them in MSP360 Managed Backup for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Value and Purpose of Retention Policies<\/h2>\n

Retention policies define how long data is retained and establish rules for its lifecycle, ensuring compliance, controlling storage costs, and protecting against data loss. As a managed service provider (MSPs)<\/a> or an IT professional, understanding how to use retention policies will help you achieve your data protection goals with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.<\/p>\n

A good retention policy brings the following qualities to a backup strategy:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Safeguards Against Data Loss and Ensures Compliance<\/strong>: Data is retained long enough to protect against data loss and meet regulatory requirements, fulfilling the primary purpose of a backup.<\/li>\n
  2. Optimizes Storage Usage<\/strong>: Unnecessary data is automatically removed once it is no longer needed, keeping storage consumption efficient and costs manageable.<\/li>\n
  3. Aligns with Data Value<\/strong>: Retention rules match the nature and importance of the backed-up data, ensuring appropriate handling for each data type.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Further reading<\/span> Understanding Retention Policies in MSP360 Managed Backup for servers and workstations<\/a><\/p>\n

    Creating a New Retention Policy<\/h2>\n

    Why Create a Retention Policy?<\/h3>\n

    By default, when you set up backup for Microsoft 365<\/a> or Google Workspace<\/a>, the backup includes no retention policy. That is, backed up data is stored indefinitely. It\u2019s the safest default option, but it assumes that you will set up a retention policy later on.<\/p>\n

    How to Create a Retention Policy<\/h3>\n
      \n
    1. Log in to the MSP360 Managed Backup Service Dashboard<\/strong>. Navigate to the Retention Policies<\/strong> screen from the Account<\/strong> menu:
      \n
      \"Retention<\/figure>\n<\/li>\n
    2. Click Create Retention Policy<\/strong>. A pop-up window will appear:
      \n
      \"Create<\/figure>\n<\/li>\n
    3. Give the policy a descriptive name. It will be used when you assign this policy to a user.<\/li>\n
    4. Select the service for which the policy will apply (e.g., Mail, Drive, Contacts, Calendar, etc.).<\/li>\n
    5. Select the approach to retention: to keep backups for a guaranteed time or to keep a guaranteed number of recent revisions.Select Delete Older Than<\/strong> to retain backups for a guaranteed time since they were made or since the backed up data was last modified. It\u2019s the optimal option when your backup plan must comply to organizational or regulatory requirements. Use the option \u201cAlways Keep the Latest Revision\u201d as a safety net in your retention policy, making sure that no matter how much time has passed, there\u2019s at least one backup copy retained.Select Revisions to Keep<\/strong> to retain a guaranteed number of revisions. It\u2019s the optimal option when you have data which varies in usage, such as documents in OneDrive or Google Drive. With this approach to retention, you will know that your data has a set number of revisions available for restoring, no matter how often or rarely this data changes. This option is not available for Mail and Teams because data in them doesn\u2019t have revisions.<\/li>\n
    6. Set the \u201cPurge Delay\u201d parameter. It acts as a safety net by adding extra buffer time before a backup copy is removed when it already matches the retention conditions.<\/li>\n
    7. Finalize your settings and save the policy by clicking Create<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Assigning a Retention Policy<\/h2>\n

      Why Assign a Retention Policy?<\/h3>\n

      To make use of a retention policy, you must assign it to specific users and services. You can assign a policy to one or multiple users, or even set it as the default policy that applies to all users without a specific policy. Starting with well-configured default policies for each service is the best way to ensure all users have appropriate retention settings from the beginning.<\/p>\n

      Configure the Default Retention Policies<\/h3>\n

      It\u2019s good to start by selecting the default retention policy for each backed up service. It will be applied to all current and new users which don\u2019t have a specific policy assigned to them.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Access the Retention Policies Screen<\/strong>.In the MSP360 console, open the Account<\/strong> menu and navigate to Retention Policies<\/strong>:
        \n
        \"Retention<\/figure>\n<\/li>\n
      2. Set Up the Default Policy:<\/strong>\n
          \n
        1. Click Default Retention Policy<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
        2. In the windows that opens, select the desired policies for the supported services (Mail, Drive, Contacts, etc.).<\/li>\n
        3. To ensure the default policy applies to all users, including those with pre-existing retention settings, check the Apply to all users<\/strong> option.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \"Select<\/figure>\n<\/li>\n
        4. Save Your Changes<\/strong>. Click Save<\/strong> to activate the default policy<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Default retention policies are an efficient way to ensure that users without specific policies assigned still follow the organization\u2019s data retention rules.<\/p>\n

          Assign a Retention Policy to a User<\/h3>\n

          Of course, you can assign a retention policy to a specific users or a group of users at once.<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Select One or Multiple Users<\/strong>. Navigate to the Users<\/strong> tab in the MSP360 console and locate the user or group of users you want to assign a retention policy to.<\/li>\n
          2. Select Retention Policy<\/strong>:\n