teams retention

Use Exchange Online PowerShell and the Microsoft Purview portal to systematically identify and remove the hold that’s blocking deletion.

1. Identify which type of hold is applied

For Teams-connected Microsoft 365 Groups, the underlying locations are:

• The group mailbox (Exchange Online)
• The connected SharePoint site

Because Teams retention and eDiscovery use the same underlying mechanisms as Exchange/SharePoint, use the mailbox-based hold discovery steps.

a) Check for Litigation Hold on the group mailbox

• In Exchange Online PowerShell, run:

    Get-Mailbox <group-mailbox-UPN> | FL LitigationHoldEnabled,InPlaceHolds,ComplianceTagHoldApplied
  

• LitigationHoldEnabled = True indicates a Litigation Hold.
• InPlaceHolds or ComplianceTagHoldApplied populated indicates other hold mechanisms (eDiscovery hold, retention label, or retention policy).

b) Check for retention policies targeting the mailbox

• From earlier discovery (for Exchange mailboxes), use the GUIDs returned by Get-OrganizationConfig or other hold-discovery commands.
• For each GUID, in Security & Compliance PowerShell run:

    Get-RetentionCompliancePolicy <retention-policy-GUID-without-prefix> | FL Name
  

• This returns the retention policy name. Policies can be:
  • Mailbox-scoped retention policies
  • Organization-wide / Exchange-wide / Teams-wide retention policies

c) Check for eDiscovery case holds

• If InPlaceHolds contains a value with UniH prefix, that indicates an eDiscovery hold.
• In Security & Compliance PowerShell, run:

    $CaseHold = Get-CaseHoldPolicy <hold-GUID-without-UniH-prefix>
    Get-ComplianceCase $CaseHold.CaseId | FL Name
    $CaseHold.Name
  

• This returns the eDiscovery case name and the hold policy name.

d) Check for retention labels

• If ComplianceTagHoldApplied is True on the mailbox, a retention label is applied to one or more items/folders and is acting as a hold.
• Use Content Search in the Purview portal with the Retention label condition to find labeled items.

2. Identify the source (policy or case name)

Based on the checks above:

• Litigation Hold: Source is the mailbox’s Litigation Hold configuration.
• Retention policy: Source is the retention compliance policy name returned by Get-RetentionCompliancePolicy (for mailbox- or org-wide policies, including Teams retention policies that target the group mailbox or site).
• Retention label: Source is the specific retention label(s) found via Content Search.
• eDiscovery hold: Source is the eDiscovery case (Get-ComplianceCase) and hold policy ($CaseHold.Name).

3. Safely remove or exclude the hold so the Team/Group can be deleted

Important: Coordinate with legal/records/compliance owners before removing any hold, as this can result in permanent data deletion.

a) Remove Litigation Hold (if present)

• In Exchange Online PowerShell:

    Set-Mailbox <group-mailbox-UPN> -LitigationHoldEnabled $false
  

• It can take up to 240 minutes for the hold to be fully removed. Avoid deletion actions until this window has passed.

b) Remove mailbox-scoped retention policies

• Identify the policy name with:

    Get-RetentionCompliancePolicy <retention-policy-GUID-without-prefix> | FL Name
  

• In the Microsoft Purview portal:
  • Go to Data lifecycle management > Retention policies.
  • Edit the identified retention policy.
  • Remove the group mailbox from the included locations.

c) Exclude the mailbox from organization-wide retention policies

• For org-wide/Exchange-wide/Teams-wide policies identified earlier:

    Get-RetentionCompliancePolicy <retention-policy-GUID-without-prefix> | FL Name
  

• In the Purview portal:
  • Go to Data lifecycle management > Retention policies.
  • Edit each relevant policy.
  • Add the group mailbox to the Excluded recipients list.
• It can take up to 24 hours for exclusion from an org-wide policy to take effect.

d) Remove eDiscovery case holds

• Using the case and hold name from:

    $CaseHold = Get-CaseHoldPolicy <hold-GUID-without-UniH-prefix>
    Get-ComplianceCase $CaseHold.CaseId | FL Name
    $CaseHold.Name
  

• In the Purview portal:
  • Go to eDiscovery > Cases.
  • Open the identified case.
  • Go to Hold policies.
  • Edit the relevant hold policy and remove the group mailbox and associated SharePoint site from the locations.
• If a hold policy is orphaned and cannot be found via Get-CaseHoldPolicy or the portal, use Invoke-HoldRemovalAction to clean up the orphan hold.

e) Address retention labels (if ComplianceTagHoldApplied = True)

• Use Content Search with the Retention label condition to identify items/folders with retention labels.
• Work with compliance owners to:
  • Relabel content with a non-retaining label, or
  • Remove labels where policy allows.

4. Teams-specific retention considerations

• Teams retention policies that retain chats/channel messages keep data in a secured location for eDiscovery until the retention period ends or all holds are removed.
• If a Teams retention policy is configured to delete content, messages become eligible for deletion only when not also subject to a retain action or eDiscovery hold.
• If multiple Teams retention policies apply, content is retained according to the principles of retention:
  • Retain vs delete conflict: content is retained.
  • Different durations: the longest retention period wins.
• To allow deletion of the Team/Group, ensure no Teams retention policy is retaining its messages or underlying mailbox/site beyond the desired timeframe, or exclude this Team’s locations from those policies as described above.

5. After hold removal

• Once all holds and retention policies are removed or the mailbox/site is excluded and synchronization delays have passed (up to 24 hours for org-wide policies, up to 240 minutes for Litigation Hold), retry deletion of the Team/Microsoft 365 Group and associated SharePoint site.
• If deletion is still blocked due to an eDiscovery hold on the site, use Get-CaseHoldPolicy and, if necessary, Invoke-HoldRemovalAction as described above to ensure the site location is fully released from any case hold.

References:

• Delete items in the Recoverable Items folder for mailboxes on hold in eDiscovery
• Find and delete Microsoft Teams chat messages in eDiscovery
• Can't delete a site because of a retention policy or eDiscovery hold
• Manage holds in eDiscovery
• Manage retention policies for Microsoft Teams