Is there an added benefit in applying a Litigation hold in EAC if an eDiscovery hold has been applied in Purview?

Question

Is there an added benefit in applying a Litigation hold in EAC if an eDiscovery hold has been applied in Purview?

Diogo Fernandes 20

Dear all,

I am unclear on whether applying a Litigation hold in EAC has any added benefit if an eDiscovery hold policy has been applied in Purview?

It seems that eDiscovery hold can be applied to other scopes on top of Exchange mailboxes (e.g., OD, SP). So if the eDiscovery hold already covers Exchange mailboxes, is it worth applying a litigation hold on top of that?

Please confirm taking into account the upcoming eDiscovery changes in August 2025

Thanks you very much in advance,

Diogo

Chandra Boorla 15,470 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

@Diogo Fernandes

Regarding the application of Litigation Hold in the Exchange Admin Center (EAC) and eDiscovery Hold in Microsoft Purview.

The benefit of applying a Litigation Hold in the Exchange Admin Center (EAC) when an eDiscovery Hold is already applied in Microsoft Purview depends on your organization's legal and compliance requirements.

Key Differences Between Litigation Hold and eDiscovery Hold:

Feature	Litigation Hold (EAC)	eDiscovery Hold (Purview)
Scope	Applies only to Exchange mailboxes	Covers Exchange mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams
Retention	Preserves all mailbox content indefinitely	Can be time-bound and targeted (e.g., based on keywords, date ranges)
Deletion Protection	Prevents users from permanently deleting emails and mailbox content	Prevents deletion of selected content across multiple platforms
Management	Managed in the Exchange Admin Center (EAC)	Managed in Microsoft Purview (Compliance Center)
Search & Reporting	Basic retention with no built-in eDiscovery capabilities	Centralized reporting, search, and case management across different data sources

If an eDiscovery Hold in Microsoft Purview already covers your Exchange mailboxes, applying a Litigation Hold in Exchange Admin Center (EAC) may not be necessary unless your organization has specific legal or compliance requirements that warrant it.

Key Considerations for Applying Litigation Hold on Top of eDiscovery Hold

User's image

When Should You Apply Litigation Hold in Addition to eDiscovery Hold?

If your organization requires indefinite retention of all Exchange mailbox data, even after an eDiscovery Hold expires or is removed.
If you want an extra layer of assurance that data cannot be deleted, especially for legal disputes.
If internal policies or external legal counsel recommend using Litigation Hold as part of compliance strategy.

Impact of eDiscovery Changes in August 2025:

While specific details on the changes are not available, it's important to stay updated on any new features or compliance requirements that may impact how holds are applied or managed.
Microsoft is updating eDiscovery features, and there is a possibility that Litigation Hold may be phased out or integrated into Purview’s compliance framework. It’s recommended to monitor Microsoft’s official announcements to align your retention strategy accordingly.

For more details, please refer the following documentations:

I hope this information helps. Please do let us know if you have any further queries.

Kindly consider upvoting the comment if the information provided is helpful. This can assist other community members in resolving similar issues.

Thank you.

Chandra Boorla 15,470 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-03-19T01:11:19.0466667+00:00

@Diogo Fernandes

We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution, please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.

Thank you.
Chandra Boorla 15,470 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-03-19T19:11:00.1733333+00:00

@Diogo Fernandes

We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution, please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.
Diogo Fernandes 20 Reputation points

2025-03-21T07:19:43.1966667+00:00

Happy with the solution provided, thank you.

Answer accepted by question author

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Chandra Boorla 15,470 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-03-19T01:11:19.0466667+00:00

@Diogo Fernandes

We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution, please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.

Thank you.
Chandra Boorla 15,470 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-03-19T19:11:00.1733333+00:00

@Diogo Fernandes

We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution, please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.
Diogo Fernandes 20 Reputation points

2025-03-21T07:19:43.1966667+00:00

Happy with the solution provided, thank you.

Answer 1

Vasil Michev 126K MVP Volunteer Moderator

The only benefit litigation hold provides is the ease of management, especially in "bulk" scenarios. It's very easy to apply/remove at scale, but as you mentioned above, it also has some drawbacks, and cannot compare to "modern" alternatives across M365, which are both more granular (i.e. can target specific items) and can include data across other workloads.

Still, if you need a simple solution to retain mailbox data, you can use it as alternative to retention policies and eDiscovery holds.

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Is there an added benefit in applying a Litigation hold in EAC if an eDiscovery hold has been applied in Purview?

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