Embedded Files
Google Vault is an information governance and eDiscovery tool for Google Workspace. With Vault, members of your organization can retain, hold, search, and export your users' Google Workspace data.
About retention rules
About retention rules
Before you can use Vault to preserve your data, you must create a retention rule. Data retention rules control how your organization saves and deletes Google Workspace data for compliance or regulatory reasons.
With Vault, you can use retention rules to:
Keep data for as long as you need it: The data is kept even if users delete messages and files or empty their trash.
Remove data when you no longer need it: You can schedule Vault to delete data after a specific duration. When a retention period expires, the data is removed from user accounts and purged from all Google systems. However, data under a legal hold is not purged. The time it takes to remove expired data varies depending on the service.
There are two types of retention rules:
Default retention rules
Default retention rules apply to your entire organization, and can be defined for each type of data supported. They define how long to keep data and what to do with it once the time has elapsed. Default rules are only triggered if no custom rules or holds apply.
Custom Rules
Custom rules offer more flexibility than default rules. For example, you can create a custom rule and apply to organizational units (OUs), or set date ranges and enter search terms to match data, such as Gmail messages. Custom rules always override the default rule, and if multiple retention rules apply to a message or file, it is retained according to the rule with the longest retention coverage period.
Default retention rules
Default retention rules
Default retention rules apply to your entire organization, and can be defined for each type of data supported. They define how long to keep data and what to do with it once the time has elapsed. Default rules are only triggered if no custom rules or holds apply.
Custom rules
Custom rules
Custom rules offer more flexibility than default rules. For example, you can create a custom rule and apply to organizational units (OUs), or set date ranges and enter search terms to match data, such as Gmail messages. Custom rules always override the default rule, and if multiple retention rules apply to a message or file, it is retained according to the rule with the longest retention coverage period.
Let's see the scene
Let's see the scene
In this exercise, you’ll define a default and custom retention rule for Gmail.
Sam has sent you an email regarding employee email retention.
Exercise directions
Exercise directions
Sam wants all employee email messages to be archived for a period of one year, after which they can be deleted. Messages from any executives should be retained for 5 years. Let’s start by creating a custom rule that will only apply to the executives.
Step 1
If you’re not already signed in, sign in to your domain as the Administrator at admin.google.com.
Step 2
Open a new browser tab, and navigate to vault.google.com. This will open Google Vault.
Step 3
Click the Retention card.
Step 4
Click the CUSTOM RULES tab, then click Create.
Step 5
In the Service field, select Gmail, then click CONTINUE.
Step 6
In the Organizational unit field, select the Executive Organizational unit, then click CONTINUE.
Step 7
Click CONTINUE.
Step 8
In the Duration field, change the duration value from Indefinitely to Retention period. Then enter 1825 days (5 years), and ensure Purge only permanently deleted messages is selected.
Step 9
Click Create. Read the informational messages that follow, tick them, and click Accept to create the rule.
This custom rule will expunge any message over 5 years old that the user has already deleted. This rule is applied to the Executive OU only. Now we will add the default rule.
Step 10
Click the DEFAULT RULES tab. Then click on the Gmail icon in the services list.
Step 11
Change the duration value from Indefinitely to Retention period, then enter 365 days (1 year) and ensure Purge only permanently deleted messages is selected. Note: If you choose the second option, this rule may expunge messages that users want to keep.
Step 12
Click Create. Read the informational messages that follow, tick them, and click Accept to create the rule.
The default rule above will automatically expunge all deleted messages after one year. Note that the custom rule we created initially overrides the default rule, so the Executive OU's deleted messages are retained for five years.
Notes
Notes
Use caution when creating or changing retention rules. An improperly configured retention rule can cause the immediate and irreversible purging of data from user accounts. It’s recommended that you test new rules on a small group of users before applying them to your entire organization.
The Gmail service includes a compliance setting, Email and chat auto-deletion, that allows Administrators to automatically delete email and chat after a specified number of days. You should not use this feature alongside Vault. For more information, please refer to the Help Center article titled “Manage email storage with auto delete settings.”
By default, Google Workspace data stays in user accounts until the user or Admin deletes it. If your organization needs more control over data retention, you can set up retention rules in Google Vault. These rules organize how data is stored and for how long, and purge data once it’s no longer needed.
Help Center resources
Help Center resources
You can explore more about creating retention rules in the Google Workspace Admin Help Center.
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