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sudipabatabyal's avatar
sudipabatabyal
Copper Contributor
Oct 09, 2025

Short Term Retention Label action - no enforcement even after 10 days

Need some suggestions on the following issue as it is blocking the UAT sign off process from client.

Problem Statement:

We have created a few short-term Retention labels for UAT purpose scoped to a specific SharePoint site.

  • “3-day retention label” which will delete the file in 3 days from the label application date,
  • “2-day retention label” which will trigger disposition review after 2 days of label application date.

However, even after 7-10 days of label application, the retention action is still not enforced. We have validated that the retention labels are correctly applied and there is no blanket policy conflicting the retention action set by the labels. Based on our understanding, Retention enforcement in SharePoint Online / OneDrive is handled by background Microsoft jobs which do not run on a fixed schedule.  Actual deletion/disposition may take up to 30 days after the trigger date.

We were aiming to close the UAT by next week, hence grateful if you can share any input to help expedite the process. Can there be any other reason causing this problem which I might have overlooked. The same setup worked perfectly fine earlier in a different SharePoint site. Any input will be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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1 Reply

  • Surya_Narayana's avatar
    Surya_Narayana
    MCT
    Nov 26, 2025

    hi sudipabatabyal​  Short-term retention labels in SharePoint/OneDrive are enforced by background Microsoft jobs that do not run on a fixed schedule. Even if a label is set for 2 or 3 days, the actual delete or disposition action can take up to 30 days or more to complete.

    This delay is expected behavior and depends on:

    Internal M365 job scheduling

    Site/content volume

    Retention start trigger (Created / Modified / Labeled)

    Competing policies or system load

    Even if it worked faster on another site, timing can differ per site and tenant.

    Retention labels are eventually consistent, not real-time. For UAT with strict timelines, it’s better to allow a 2–4 week buffer or perform manual cleanup after the expected retention date.

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