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Set up and manage workspace retention

When you delete a workspace, it enters a retention period during which you can restore it. This retention capability helps protect against accidental deletions so that workspace content isn't permanently lost before you have a chance to recover it.

This article describes how to set up the retention period, restore deleted workspaces, and permanently delete workspaces before the retention period expires.

For an overview of how retention works for workspaces and items, see Retention and recovery in Fabric.

Prerequisites

  • You need a tenant admin role to set up retention settings and restore or permanently delete workspaces.

Set up the retention period for deleted collaborative workspaces

By default, Fabric retains deleted collaborative workspaces for seven days. You can change the length of the retention period (from 7 to 90 days) by using the Define workspace retention period tenant setting.

  1. In the admin portal, go to Workspace settings > Define workspace retention period.
  2. Turn on the setting and enter the number of days for the retention period. You can choose anywhere from 7 to 90 days.
  3. Select Apply.

Note

When the Define workspace retention period setting is off, deleted collaborative workspaces still have a retention period of seven days.

This setting doesn't affect the retention period of My workspaces. My workspaces always have a 30-day retention period.

How changing the retention period affects already deleted workspaces

The Define workspace retention period setting applies to every deleted collaborative workspace in the tenant, including workspaces that you already deleted before you changed the setting. Fabric doesn't store a copy of the retention period at the time of deletion. Instead, Fabric calculates the remaining retention for each deleted workspace by using the current value of the setting:

Remaining retention = current retention period - days since the workspace was deleted

Because Fabric recalculates the remaining retention from the current setting value, changing the setting takes effect immediately for workspaces that are already in a retention period:

  • When you increase the retention period, deleted workspaces stay recoverable for longer. For example, if the setting is 30 days and you deleted a workspace 10 days ago, that workspace has 20 days of retention left. If you then change the setting to 60 days, the same workspace has 50 days of retention left.

  • When you decrease the retention period, deleted workspaces become recoverable for a shorter time. Using the same example, if you change the setting from 30 days to 15 days, the workspace that you deleted 10 days ago has 5 days of retention left instead of 20.

Warning

If you decrease the retention period so that a deleted workspace is already in its retention period for longer than the new value, that workspace becomes eligible for permanent deletion. Fabric permanently deletes it the next time it checks for expired workspaces, and there's no extra grace period. For example, if you deleted a workspace 30 days ago and you change the setting to seven days, Fabric permanently deletes that workspace and irreversibly deletes its contents.

Before you decrease the retention period, go to the Workspaces page in the admin portal and restore any deleted workspace that you still need.

Fabric evaluates deleted workspaces for permanent deletion periodically rather than scheduling the permanent deletion in advance. Increasing the retention period extends a deleted workspace as long as the workspace is still in its retention period and shows the status Deleted. After Fabric begins permanently deleting a workspace, increasing the setting doesn't recover it.

Restore a deleted collaborative workspace

While a deleted collaborative workspace is in a retention period, you can restore it and its contents.

  1. In the admin portal, open the Workspaces page and find the deleted collaborative workspace you want to restore. Collaborative workspaces are of type Workspace. A workspace that is in a retention period has the status Deleted.
  2. Select the workspace and then choose Restore from the ribbon, or select More options (...) and choose Restore.
  3. In the Restore workspaces panel that appears, enter a new name for the workspace and assign at least one user the Admin role in the workspace.
  4. Select Restore.

Permanently delete a deleted collaborative workspace during the retention period

While a deleted collaborative workspace is in a retention period, you can permanently delete it before the end of its retention period.

  1. In the admin portal, open the Workspaces page and find the deleted collaborative workspace you want to permanently delete. Collaborative workspaces are of type Workspace. A workspace that is in a retention period has the status Deleted.
  2. Select the workspace and then choose Permanently delete from the ribbon, or select More options (...) and choose Permanently delete.

Fabric asks you to confirm the permanent deletion. After you confirm, the workspace and its contents are no longer recoverable.

Restore a deleted My workspace as an app workspace

When your organization removes users from Microsoft Entra ID, their My workspaces show up as Deleted in the State column on the Workspaces page in the admin portal. You can restore deleted My workspaces as app workspaces that other users can collaborate in.

During this restoration process, you need to assign at least one workspace admin and give the new workspace a name. After you restore the workspace, it shows up as Workspace in the Type column on the Workspaces page in the admin portal.

  1. In the admin portal, open the Workspaces page and find the deleted personal workspace you want to restore.
  2. Select the workspace and then choose Restore from the ribbon, or select More options (...) and choose Restore.
  3. In the Restore workspaces panel that appears, enter a new name for the workspace and assign at least one user the Admin role in the workspace.
  4. Select Restore.

After you restore the deleted workspace as an app workspace, it's just like any other app workspace.

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