Auto-apply retention label doesn't apply to items in a mailbox

• Applies to:

  Exchange Online via Office 365 E Plans

Symptoms

You configure an auto-apply retention label by using a query that contains specific words, phrases, or values of searchable properties. However, the label doesn't automatically apply to the items in a user's mailbox in your organization.

Cause

This issue occurs for one or both of the following reasons:

• The user applied a personal tag to the items that should be auto-labeled or to folders that contain the items that should be auto-labeled.
• A messaging records management (MRM) policy applied a retention policy tag to folders that contain the items to be auto-labeled.

Resolution

If the user applied a personal tag to the items or to folders that contain the items, remove the personal tag.

If an MRM policy applied a retention policy tag to folders that contain the items, remove the retention policy tag from the MRM retention policy.