Update 11/24/2025: Added a Microsoft 365 Roadmap link to this post.
TL; DR: A new capability called Auto Archiving for Exchange Online will enter public preview from November 15, 2025 (currently un...
Updated Nov 24, 2025
Version 6.0
Blog Post
As it relates to the specific Q&A: Q: We have items/folders with the “Never Move to Archive” tag. What will happen to those items once Auto-Archiving kicks in? A: The “Never Move to Archive” tag will be still honored. That means the threshold-based Auto-Archiving will skip items/folders with “Never Move to Archive” tag.
We have our Default MRM tag set to 'Never move to archive', does this mean the auto-archiving will be skipped? If so, what is the recommended MRM policy configuration to NOT force a time-based archive policy tag so users can choose what they want, but also still allow for Auto-Archiving to work?
Karthik_MSMicrosoft
That is correct. When the 'Never Move to Archive' tag is applied, it is honored and are excluded from the auto-archiving process.
So, if we have "Default Never Move to Archive" as the tag for our non-auto-archiving retention policies, that default tag will still be honored?
Edit: Never mind. I can see that my question is pretty much the same question and that you've already answered it.Ok, what is the recommended MRM policy configuration to NOT force a default time-based archive policy tag so users can choose what they want, but also still allow for Auto-Archiving to work? Do we simply need to just remove the 'Default Never move to Archive' tag from the MRM policy? Is there anything we need to do to force this MRM policy change to every mailbox?
