Forum Discussion
How long is litigation hold data retain after license downgrade?
RobertCrane Hi Robert, I don't think there is any official documentation that confirm Vasils reply more than what's required from a license point of view.
"To place an Exchange Online mailbox on Litigation Hold, it must be assigned an Exchange Online Plan 2 license. If a mailbox is assigned an Exchange Online Plan 1 license, you would have to assign it a separate Exchange Online Archiving license to place it on hold."
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compliance/create-a-litigation-hold?view=o365-worldwide#assign-an-exchange-online-plan-2-license
Feature availability
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptions/exchange-online-service-description/exchange-online-service-description?redirectedfrom=MSDN#feature-availability
Preparations before creating an inactive mailbox
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compliance/create-and-manage-inactive-mailboxes?view=o365-worldwide#preparations-before-creating-an-inactive-mailbox
That's the best I can find (as per now).
ChristianBergstrom my question is not about enabling the feature. My question is about data retained after a license downgrade. I would find is extremely improbable that after a license downgrade on a single mailbox litigation hold data is retained in the long run. If it was why would you continue to use more expensive licenses with that enabled feature?
what I want to know is when that feature is removed what happens to the accumulated data from the more powerful license. As I said I find it hard to believe it is retained after a downgrade. What I want to know is whether it is documented how long that hold data is retained for after the downgrade and as I said I can’t see that being forever given the license applies to a single mailbox not the tenant,
RobertCrane I hear you. As far as I know it isn't hard-wired to the license as Vasil mentioned. But I have no link to confirm that.
Maybe VasilMichev or TonyRedmond wouldn't mind elaborate on this?
RobertCrane what's documented are the supported configurations, as in the license requirements for hold. Any configuration outside of that is unsupported and unlikely to be commented about from anyone at MS, and can even be considered a violation. Kinda like the "change the password for shared mailbox" scenario, if we are to make analogies. But feel free to probe support and/or the PG.
I have tenants where mailboxes have been kept alive for years after any SKUs that "allows" for holds has expired. Obviously this is not a supported scenario and I can expect that data to be removed at any time, but it hasn't happened for at least 10x 30-day periods so far.
ChristianBergstrom I have spoken with Tony Redmond and he indicates that he believes old hold data is retained for 30 days before being removed. I agree with that but find no docs to confirm unfortunately. Thus downgrading license doesn’t retain hold data as I believed but all Kinda mute without confirmation officallly. So best bet of 30 days is what I’ll have to go with until there is confirmation.
RobertCrane That's handy to know, in case that's how it really works. Thanks for sharing.
