I dont have retention policy, but still can not delete file versions, since error message says that retention policy prevents it

Question

Dear All,

I used to have retention policy, that prevented final deletion of everything.

I deleted this policy (as you can see from the picks below), but still when trying to delete old file versions I only get error message, saying: Versions of this item cannot be deleted because it is on hold or retention policy applies.

And interestingly, in the policy lookup section it still shows the (deleted) policy. But here I can not edit/delete, although I have E5 licence (and I am global admin) that theoretically gives full controll over policies. Any ideas how to solve this?

Appreciate!

Regards, Attila

Answer 1

Hi @Attila Dob,

Thank you for posting in this community.

First, we need to verify that the deleted retention policy still exists.

1.Please install the Exchange Online PowerShell module.

2.Run the following command to get all the policies in your organization to see if they contain the deleted policy. (You can also add -Identity to find your deleted policy based on the policy name.)

Reference: Get-RetentionCompliancePolicy

#This example displays summary information for all retention policies in your organization.

Get-RetentionCompliancePolicy

#This example displays detailed information for the policy named "Regulation 123 Compliance", including accurate values for the DistributionStatus and *Location properties.

Get-RetentionCompliancePolicy -Identity "Regulation 123 Compliance" -DistributionDetail | Format-List

Then, if the policy still exists, run the following command to remove the policy. If everything is fine, skip this step. Reference: Remove-RetentionPolicy

#This example removes the retention policy Business Critical.

Remove-RetentionPolicy -Identity "Business Critical"

Finally, this policy deletion starts the deletion from the server side, and it will take 24 hours or more before it takes effect. So, we suggest you check back in a few days to see if the problem still exists.

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