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Afsar_Shariff's avatar
Afsar_Shariff
Brass Contributor
Dec 18, 2025

LitigationHold Delayholdapplied and Managed Folder Assistant

Hello All,

I have a set of mailboxes with LitigationHoldEnabled = True, and I need to remove Litigation Hold from them.

My understanding is that after I remove Litigation Hold from an Exchange Online mailbox, the next time the Managed Folder Assistant (MFA) processes the mailbox, it will detect the hold removal and then set DelayHoldApplied = True. This begins the 30-day delay hold period.

My question is:

Will any retention policies delete data in the time window between removing Litigation Hold and the moment MFA processes the mailbox and sets DelayHoldApplied = True

My understanding is "Even though DelayHoldApplied is not yet visible (or True) before MFA processes it, Exchange Online automatically protects the mailbox from deletions immediately after hold removal, before MFA applies Delay Hold"

I want to ensure that no data is deleted during this transitional period. Kindly advice with supporting article if possible.

Regards

Afsar

exchange
microsoft 365

1 Reply

  • VasilMichev's avatar
    VasilMichev
    MVP
    Dec 19, 2025

    For deletion to happen, the MFA must reprocess any item that was previously on hold. In the scenario you detail above, when this happens, the MFA will detect the removal of the hold and toggle the DelayHoldApplied flag, thus "extending" any holds that previously applied on items. In other words, you have nothing to worry about.

    You can "tickle" faster MFA processing by running Start-ManagedFolderAssistant, although that's not a guarantee.

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