Put a Mailbox on Retention Hold
Applies to: Office 365 for enterprises, Live@edu
When a person's mailbox is put on retention hold, the retention policy applied to the mailbox is suspended, and the Managed Folder Assistant doesn't process the retention settings or take retention actions.
Why put a mailbox on retention hold? If a person is on vacation or away from the office for an extended period of time, retention settings are still applied to new messages sent to the person's mailbox. Depending on the retention age limit, messages may be deleted or moved to the archive before the person ever sees them. You can put the mailbox on retention hold while the person is out of the office, and then remove the retention hold when they've returned and have had a chance to catch up on their e-mail.
This topic explains the following:
- Before you begin
- Put a mailbox on retention hold
- Remove the retention hold
- Add a retention comment
- Schedule retention hold
Note Retention hold is different from litigation hold. When a mailbox is on litigation hold, the user can delete items from their mailbox, but the items are retained on the servers in the Microsoft Exchange datacenter. For more information, see Put a Mailbox on Litigation Hold.
Before you begin
To learn how to install and configure Windows PowerShell and connect to the service, see Use Windows PowerShell in Exchange Online.
Put a mailbox on retention hold
Run the following command:
Set-Mailbox <name> -RetentionHoldEnabled $true
Example The following command puts Dan Park's mailbox on retention hold:
Set-Mailbox "Dan Park" -RetentionHoldEnabled $true
After you run this command, Dan Park's mailbox is put on retention hold the next time the Managed Folder Assistant runs.
Remove the retention hold
To remove retention hold, run the following command. The retention hold is removed from the mailbox the next time the Managed Folder Assistant runs.
Set-Mailbox <name> -RetentionHoldEnabled $false
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What happens when a mailbox is removed from retention hold?
When a mailbox is removed from retention hold, the Managed Folder Assistant processes the retention settings and takes retention actions the next time it's scheduled to run. Because the retention age starts on the date a message is delivered, it's possible that messages will be deleted or moved to the archive soon after the retention hold is removed and the Managed Folder Assistant processes the mailbox. If a user's mailbox has been on retention hold for a while, it's a good idea to give the user some time to catch up on their e-mail before you remove the retention hold.
Add a retention comment
You can add a retention comment to inform the user about the retention hold and provide additional information, such as when the hold is scheduled to start and end.
| Task | Command |
|---|---|
Add a retention comment when you put a mailbox on retention hold. |
Example The following command puts Robin Wood's mailbox on retention hold and adds a retention comment:
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Add a retention comment to a mailbox that is currently on retention hold. |
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Note The value for the RetentionHold parameter is also used for litigation hold. That means if you put a mailbox on litigation hold and add a litigation hold comment, that comment is displayed as the retention comment in Outlook 2010. In other words, if you put a mailbox on retention hold and on litigation hold, there is only one retention comment.
View a retention comment
The retention comment appears in the user's mailbox only if they are using Microsoft Outlook 2010. It doesn't appear in Outlook Web App or other e-mail clients. When an administrator adds a new retention comment, the user sees it the next time the Managed Folder Assistant runs.
To view a retention comment in Outlook 2010, click the File tab. The retention comment is displayed on the Account Information page, under Account Settings.
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Schedule a retention hold
To schedule a retention hold, you include parameters to specify when to start the retention hold and when to remove the retention hold.
| Task | Command |
|---|---|
Put a mailbox on retention hold and schedule a date to start the retention hold. |
Example The following command puts Dan Park's mailbox on retention hold starting on November 18, 2010:
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Schedule start and end dates when you put a mailbox on retention hold. |
Example The following command puts Pilar Pinilla's mailbox on retention hold starting on January 1, 2011 and removes the hold on March 31, 2011:
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Schedule an end date for a mailbox currently on retention hold. |
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