TL;DR:

Imagine you have a giant filing cabinet where you store all your important documents. Over time, some of these documents become outdated or irrelevant, and you need to decide which ones to keep and which ones to shred. Data retention in Microsoft 365 works similarly. It’s the process of managing how long data is kept or deleted, ensuring that important information is accessible when needed, while also complying with regulations and managing storage costs. This helps organizations keep their digital “filing cabinet” organized and secure.

Details For the Techies:

Data retention in Microsoft 365 involves managing the lifecycle of data to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, optimize storage costs, and maintain data accessibility. Retention policies and labels are used to specify how long data should be kept and when it should be deleted. These policies can be applied to various types of data, including emails, documents, and chat messages, across different Microsoft 365 services like Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. Retention settings can be configured to retain data for a specified period, delete data after a certain time, or retain data for a period and then delete it. This granular control helps organizations meet their compliance needs and manage data effectively. For more detailed information, you can refer to the Microsoft 365 Data Retention Guide.