According to the documentation, "Apply a default retention policy to the entire organization, specific locations, or users" is not available for F3 licensed users, does this mean that retention policies can't be applied to F3 users period?

Question

I am planning an implementation of Purview for an environment that is roughly 1/3 E3 and 2/3 F3 users and am trying to parse out the difference in licensed options for F3 users vs E3 users. I am using this document (microsoft-365-compliance-licensing-comparison.pdf) from Microsoft as a reference.

One of the differences it shows is that "Apply a default retention policy to the entire organization, specific locations, or users" is not available to F3 users. Does this mean that a Global retention policy for Exchange not apply to the mailbox of all F3 users?

I have a few other similar questions regarding some additional items about this document but will create separate posts as to not muddy up this one.

Thank you.

Answer 1

@Geoffrey Hillman - Thanks for the question and using MS Q&A platform.

According to the documentation you provided, F3 licensed users do not have the ability to apply a default retention policy to the entire organization, specific locations, or users. However, this does not mean that retention policies cannot be applied to F3 users at all. Retention policies can still be applied to specific locations or users, but they would need to be applied manually rather than through a default policy.

Regarding your question about a global retention policy for Exchange, it would depend on how the policy is configured. If the policy is configured to apply to all mailboxes in the organization, then it would apply to the mailboxes of F3 users as well. However, if the policy is configured to apply only to specific locations or users, then it would not apply to F3 users unless they are included in the specified locations or users.

I hope this helps clarify things for you! Let me know if you have any other questions.