where the documents that are retained as part of a retension policy get stored?

Question

We want to apply this retention policy to some sites:-

Mainly to keep the documents forever. But my question, let say a user delete a document from a SharePoint online document library, and the file get deleted from the first stage recycle bin and from the second stage recycle bin of the site either manually or after 93 days. then where the file will be stored?

second question, if the file has custom metadata applied to it through custom SharePoint site columns, such as Managed Metadata or Choice field or custom permission .. what will happen to those metadata and permissions?

Third question, does the above retention policy allow us to restore the retained files to their original locations?

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi @john john Pter ,

For your questions:

1.When a document in SharePoint Online is deleted and subsequently removed from both the first and second-stage Recycle Bins, it is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered through standard SharePoint features. However, if a retention policy is applied to the document, SharePoint retains a copy of the document in the Preservation Hold Library, even after it has been deleted from the Recycle Bins. This ensures that the document is preserved for the duration specified in the retention policy.

2.When a retention policy is applied to a document, SharePoint retains the document in its original state, including all custom metadata and permissions.

3.Yes, the retention policy allows you to restore retained files to their original locations.

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