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Modifiable Retention Exceptions

content manager , Trash , retention , Modifiable Retention Exceptions , retention exceptions

Modifiable retention exceptions are used to permanently delete content held under modifiable retention policies . Content held under non-modifiable retention policies and Legal Holds cannot be deleted.

Enable deletion of modifiable retention policies

As an admin, or co-admin with the Create, edit, and delete policies for your company and Edit Archives and user’s content permissions , you can permanently remove a file or folder under a modifiable retention policy from your EID:

  1. Go to the Admin Console, then Content.
  2. From within the Content Manager tab, navigate to your Trash folder.
  3. Select the content you want to permanently delete, then click the Trash icon.
  4. Enable the Make an exception to allow deletion of content under Modifiable Retention policies toggle.
  5. Enter a reason in the Exception justification box. This is logged and displayed in the User Activity Report .
  6. Select Delete.
  7. The file will go through deletion processing, during which the system checks applicable policies. This process may take some time.

Note: You can use the same process to permanently delete another user’s content. Find their content by selecting them within the Admin Console > Content, then follow the same steps.

Certain content will not be immediately deleted:

  • When a file is under Legal Hold, the modifiable retention is removed from the file, and the file is set into a preserved state (still visible to admins but with the caveat that content is under Legal Hold and cannot be permanently deleted). Once the Legal Hold is released, the file is deleted.
  • If a folder cannot be fully deleted due to a Legal Hold or non-modifiable file, the other files that do not fit into those categories are deleted immediately.
  • If content is retained by multiple policies and one of them is non-modifiable, then it cannot be deleted.

Note: Content under modifiable retention that is deleted using a retention exception becomes inaccessible for users once it goes through deletion processing.

In one edge case, though, content deleted using a retention exception can be restored if the parent folder containing it is restored within 14 days:

  1. Folder A, under modifiable retention, contains File B and Folder C. Folder C is under non-modifiable retention and contains File D.
  2. When Folder A is deleted under a retention exception, Folder A, Folder C, and File D are placed in Trash, while File B moves to the Landfill.
  3. If an admin or content owner restores Folder A within the two-week buffer period (before File B is purged), the system treats File B as being under retention and restores it to an active state, alongside parent Folder A.

Modifiable retention exceptions for folders

When a modifiable retention exception is applied to a folder:

  • It includes all files that exist in the folder at the time of granting the exception.
  • If content is moved into the folder, it will gain the retention exception. Any modifiable policies that were previously applied will be bypassed when the content is deleted.
  • If content moves out of the folder, it will lose the retention exception. Any modifiable policies that were previously bypassed will be applied.
  • If a new modifiable retention policy is applied to content in the folder, or to the folder itself, the retention exception will still take precedence.

Modifiable retention exceptions for files

When a modifiable retention exception is applied to a file:

  • The bypass follows the file even when moved to a different location.
  • All versions of the file are affected.

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