office365 Recover mailbox data for unlicensed user after 30 days grace period using Default MRM Clarification

Question

I'm seeking for clarification regarding Microsoft mailbox data recovery based on default MRM.

I have a user in my office365 environment whom i want to recover their mailbox data, i unlicensed the user and its now past 30 days grace period that Microsoft Learn tells us that, if this period is done, then the mailbox data is deleted and cannot be recovered. The user archive feature was not explicitly enabled. Additionally, there is no custom retention or archiving policies in my environment.

Based on my experience in office365 archiving, i understand you have to enable archive for a user, so the archiving policies that i create to take effect. However something is confusing that needs clarification. There is a tenant level Default MRM policy
that is set to all users in office365 even without enabling explicitly the archive feature.

This brings me to my questions,
1 Does Default MRM policy archiving tags archive emails automatically for users without enabling the archive feature for that user?

or

2 Does Default MRM policy archiving tags archive emails automatically for users when the archive feature is enabled for that user?

3 Can Microsoft backend support help recover mailbox data for user who was unlicensed, and the 30 days grace period is done?

4 If I reassign the user a license after the 30 days grace period, can I be able to recover the mailbox data?

Answer 1

The Default MRM policy doesn't to actual "retention" of data, it's used to either remove items, or move them to the Online archive, if enabled. For the purposes of preserving data, you need to use the "new-style" retention policies in the Compliance center (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compliance/retention?view=o365-worldwide), or put the mailbox on hold (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/security-and-compliance/in-place-and-litigation-holds).

Removing the license will cause both the primary and archive mailboxes for the user to be "disconnected", and deleted after 30 days. There is no way to recover data from such mailboxes past the 30 day limit. Even support won't be able to help you in such scenarios, but you can always open a case, just to make sure you've exhausted all options.

The exception to the above is any mailbox that was put on hold, or under the effect of a "new-style" retention policy. Both those functionalities require a valid license to be assigned to the user though, so removing the license puts you in unsupported configuration and direct violation of the license agreement. At least for the time being, it will not result in any data loss, but Microsoft can change this behavior at any time.

TL;DR version:

1) No, if no Online archive is enabled for the mailbox, any tag with the "move to archive" action will be ignored
2) Yes
3) No
4) No