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Hermyherms350's avatar
Hermyherms350
Copper Contributor
Nov 20, 2023

Deleted items folder keeping emails forever

Hi, 

 

I have an issue where the deleted items folder is keeping my emails forever. I have found emails from 2015. 


I would like the deleted items folder to work as the junk folder where emails older than 30 days are deleted automatically. I have tried with MRM Retention policy but can not figure out what the issue could be. 

 

Could anyone point me in the right direction or help me out. 
Would be much appreciated 

  • LeonPavesic's avatar
    LeonPavesic
    Nov 22, 2023

    Hi Hermyherms350,

    thanks for your update.

    Like VasilMichev has mentioned in his post, you can use the Messaging Records Management (MRM) policy in Exchange Online (Purview) to manage the retention of emails in the Deleted Items folder for multiple users in your environment. You can rename and edit the Default MRM policy or create a new one.

    Here are the steps to change the default MRM retention policy in Microsoft Purview:
    1. Sign in to the Microsoft Purview compliance portal (https://compliance.microsoft.com/).
    3. Navigate to Data lifecycle management > Exchange (legacy) > MRM Retention policies.
    4. Select Default MRM Policy and click on Edit

    5. Rename the Default MRM policy

    6. Add a "Deleted items" tag to the policy and set the duration that you want

     

     


    Please click Mark as Best Response & Like if my post helped you to solve your issue.
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    Kindest regards,


    Leon Pavesic
    (LinkedIn)

  • A while back, Microsoft decided that having messages automatically removed from the Deleted items folder is resulting in too many support cases, and modified the default retention policy to ignore the Deleted items tag. If you want to use a retention policy to automatically delete items from the Deleted items, you have to either rename the default policy, or create a new one and include a "Deleted items" folder tag in it, with the desired duration.
  • LeonPavesic's avatar
    LeonPavesic
    Silver Contributor

    Hi Hermyherms350,

     

    To automatically delete older emails in Outlook, you can set up an auto-archiving policy with the following steps:

    1. Right-click on the folder in Outlook and choose Properties.
    2. Go to the AutoArchive tab.
    3. Select "Archive this folder using these settings."
    4. Specify the desired time frame in "Clean out items older than."
    5. Choose "Permanently delete old items."
    6. Click OK to save the changes.

     

    For Office 365 users, an alternative is to create a retention tag and assign a retention policy to the Deleted Items folder. Note that it may take up to 7 days for the policy to take effect.


    Retention policy to delete items older than 30 days in "Deleted items" folder - Microsoft Q&A

    Please click Mark as Best Response & Like if my post helped you to solve your issue.
    This will help others to find the correct solution easily. It also closes the item.


    If the post was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Like.


    Kindest regards,


    Leon Pavesic
    (LinkedIn)

    • Hermyherms350's avatar
      Hermyherms350
      Copper Contributor
      Thanks this is the same thing as I have done. I guess I will have to wait 30 days now to see if the retention will actually work.
    • Hermyherms350's avatar
      Hermyherms350
      Copper Contributor

      Hi LeonPavesic 

       

      I want to push this out to multiple users in my enviroment so doing it individually as you are explaining will work but be a bit time consuming. 

       

      Is there a possibility to push this trough the use or MRM policy in exchange online? 

       

      Kind regards 

      Hermy

      • LeonPavesic's avatar
        LeonPavesic
        Silver Contributor

        Hi Hermyherms350,

        thanks for your update.

        Like VasilMichev has mentioned in his post, you can use the Messaging Records Management (MRM) policy in Exchange Online (Purview) to manage the retention of emails in the Deleted Items folder for multiple users in your environment. You can rename and edit the Default MRM policy or create a new one.

        Here are the steps to change the default MRM retention policy in Microsoft Purview:
        1. Sign in to the Microsoft Purview compliance portal (https://compliance.microsoft.com/).
        3. Navigate to Data lifecycle management > Exchange (legacy) > MRM Retention policies.
        4. Select Default MRM Policy and click on Edit

        5. Rename the Default MRM policy

        6. Add a "Deleted items" tag to the policy and set the duration that you want

         

         


        Please click Mark as Best Response & Like if my post helped you to solve your issue.
        This will help others to find the correct solution easily. It also closes the item.


        If the post was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Like.


        Kindest regards,


        Leon Pavesic
        (LinkedIn)

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