SharePoint Retention Period

Question

Hello everyone,

I've been searching for a while to find the right answer regarding to the retention period of SharePoint, some says 93 days total for both stages combined, some says 90 days, and some says that for the first stage it is retained for 93 days and second stage for another 93 days which is 186 days combined. Please kindly help to clarify on which one is the right one. Thank you!

Best Regards,

Tonich

Answer 1

Hi @Tonich Phat ,

Thanks for the post.

According to the official documentation, the retention period of SharePoint Online is 93 days.
This image may make you easier to understand:

For more information you could refer to this article:
Learn about retention for SharePoint and OneDrive

In SharePoint in Microsoft 365, items are retained for 93 days from the time you delete them from their original location. They stay in the site Recycle Bin the entire time, unless someone deletes them from there or empties that Recycle Bin. In that case, the items go to the site collection Recycle Bin, where they stay for the remainder of the 93 days unless:

• the site collection Recycle Bin exceeds its quota and starts purging the oldest items
• the items are manually deleted by the site collection administrator from the site collection Recycle Bin

More information about: How long are deleted items kept in the Recycle Bin

I hope I can offer you a better experience next time if I have a chance to work with you again.

Yours faithfully,
Renjie Sun

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