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This article describes how to retain Gmail messages in Google Vault.
As part of your organization's information governance plan, you can control how long Gmail messages are retained in Google Vault. Use retention rules to set how long to keep messages and when to delete them, if ever.
To keep data that matches specific conditions for a set time, create a custom retention rule. To keep all service data for all licensed accounts for a set time, create a default retention rule.
Important information about Gmail retention
Before you set retention rules, we strongly recommend you read about how retention works and review the Gmail messages supported in Vault.
Key Gmail retention behavior
- When a message is included in a hold, Gmail can’t purge the message even after all applicable retention periods end.
- Custom Gmail retention rules always supersede the default Gmail retention rule.
- When multiple custom retention rules apply to a message, Gmail keeps the message as required by the rule with the retention period that ends last.
- Gmail's 30-day preservation policy can delay when messages are purged.
Additional Gmail retention behavior
What data can be retainedCovered:
- Messages and their attachments sent, received, or drafted by users in your organization
- Confidential mode messages sent by users in your organization
Not covered:
- Linked files
- Email layouts
- Messages sent through other Google services, such as Calendar or Google Docs, unless comprehensive message storage is turned on
- Dynamic content in dynamic messages
- Discarded drafts and auto-saved versions of drafts
For Gmail to purge a message, the message must meet criteria for both Vault and Gmail:
- It isn’t retained by any retention rules.
- It isn’t on hold.
- It has Gmail’s system-generated
^deletedlabel for at least 30 days.
Vault doesn’t allow Gmail to purge a message if the message is covered by a retention rule or hold. After all applicable retention periods and holds end, Gmail evaluates if the message can be purged based on how long the message has the ^deleted label.
When the ^deleted label is applied
Gmail applies the ^deleted label to messages that are eligible to be removed from Google systems. A message gets this label when any of the following actions occur:
- Gmail users empty their Trash or select messages in Trash and click Delete forever.
- Gmail automatically deletes a message that's been in Trash for 30 days.
- The retention period ends on a message that doesn't already have the
^deletedlabel. - Gmail users discard draft messages.
The ^deleted label hides messages from Gmail users, and users can't recover these messages without help from a Google Workspace admin. However, you can still search and export messages with this label using Vault until those messages are purged.
Gmail's 30-day preservation policy
Gmail has a preservation policy that keeps messages for a minimum of 30 days after the ^deleted label is applied. This policy supersedes any Vault retention rules that expire during those 30 days.
For email threads, retention rules apply as follows:
- If one message in a thread is retained by a retention rule or hold, the entire thread is retained.
- Retention rules based on labels use the date of the most recently labeled message in a thread for retention purposes.
For example, if a retention rule keeps messages with the label project-A for 365 days and the first message in a thread has the label, then all messages in the thread are retained for 365 days from when the first message was sent. If a later message in the thread gets the label project-A, then all messages in the thread are now retained for 365 days from when that later message was sent. After the retention rule expires and Gmail purges the labeled messages, there can be a delay of up to 24 hours for any unlabeled messages to also be purged.
If you create a custom retention rule based on a Gmail label, the rule doesn't apply to any nested sublabels. Sublabels aren’t included because they don't directly have the label that the rule is based on.
For example, a user has a Receipts label and a sublabel under Receipts called Travel. If you set a retention rule for Receipts, the messages under Travel are not retained as they don’t directly have the Receipts label.
When an item attached to a Gmail message is added to Drive using the Add to Drive feature, a copy of that item is created in Drive. The Gmail message and attachment are covered by Gmail retention policies. The copied item in Drive is covered by Drive retention policies.
Example Gmail retention rules and their effect
Expand section | Collapse all & go to top
Example default rule: Retain all messages indefinitelyThis default rule keeps all Gmail messages in the selected organizational unit indefinitely. Users can still delete messages, and messages are removed from their Trash after 30 days or when the user empties Trash. However, the messages remain searchable and exportable by Vault admins.
Rule configuration
- Duration: Indefinite
Effect on sent and received messages
| User action on a sent or received message | When Gmail applies ^deleted label |
When Gmail purges the message |
|---|---|---|
|
User does nothing with the message |
Never | Never |
|
User moves the message to Trash and empties Trash 1 day after the message was sent |
1 day after send | Never |
|
User moves the message to Trash 1 day after the message was sent (but doesn’t empty Trash) |
31 days after send, when Gmail automatically removes the message from Trash | Never |
Effect on draft messages
| User action on a draft message | When Gmail applies ^deleted label |
When Gmail purges the message |
|---|---|---|
|
User writes a draft message but doesn't send it |
Never | Never |
|
User writes a draft message and discards it without sending it |
When the user discards the draft | 30 days after the user discards the draft (due to Gmail's 30-day preservation policy) |
Rule configuration
- Duration: 365 days
- Action after expiration: Purge only permanently deleted messages
Effect on sent and received messages
| User action on a sent or received message | When Gmail applies ^deleted label |
When Gmail purges the message |
|---|---|---|
|
User does nothing with the message |
Never | Never |
|
User moves the message to Trash and empties Trash 1 day after the message was sent |
1 day after send | 365 days after send |
|
User moves the message to Trash 1 day after the message was sent (but doesn’t empty Trash) |
31 days after send, when Gmail automatically removes the message from Trash | 365 days after send |
| User moves the message to Trash and empties Trash 360 days after the message was sent | 360 days after send | 390 days after send (30 days after Trash was emptied due to Gmail's 30-day preservation policy) |
| User moves the message to Trash 400 days after the message was sent (but doesn’t empty Trash) | 430 days after send, when Gmail automatically removes the message from Trash | 460 days after send (30 days after Gmail removed the message from Trash due to Gmail's 30-day preservation policy) |
Effect on draft messages
| User action on a draft message | When Gmail applies ^deleted label |
When Gmail purges the message |
|---|---|---|
|
User writes a draft message but doesn't send it |
Never | Never |
|
User writes a draft message and discards it without sending it |
When the user discards the draft | 30 days after the user discards the draft (due to Gmail's 30-day preservation policy) |
This rule allows Gmail to purge all messages for the selected organizational unit after 365 days, including drafts and messages that users haven’t deleted.
Rule configuration
- Duration: 365 days
- Exclude drafts: unchecked (ediscovery.google.com only)
- Action after expiration: Purge messages from Gmail mailboxes and permanently deleted messages. This rule purges drafts.
Effect on sent and received messages
| User action on a sent or received message | When Gmail applies ^deleted label |
When Gmail purges the message |
|---|---|---|
|
User does nothing with the message |
365 days after send, when retention period ends | 395 days after send (30 days after the retention period ends due to Gmail's 30-day preservation policy) |
|
User moves the message to Trash and empties Trash 1 day after the message was sent |
1 day after send | 365 days after send, when retention period expires |
| User moves the message to Trash and empties Trash 360 days after the message was sent | 360 days after send, when the user empties Trash | 390 days after send (30 days after Trash was emptied due to Gmail's 30-day preservation policy) |
| User moves the message to Trash 360 days after the message was sent (but doesn’t empty Trash) | 365 days after send, when retention period ends | 395 days after send (30 days after the retention period ends due to Gmail's 30-day preservation policy) |
Effect on draft messages
| User action on a draft message | When Gmail applies ^deleted label |
When Gmail purges the message |
|---|---|---|
|
User writes a draft message but doesn't send it |
365 days after send, when retention period ends | 395 days after send (30 days after the retention period ends due to Gmail's 30-day preservation policy) |
|
User writes a draft message and discards it without sending it |
When the user discards the draft | 30 days after the user discards the draft (due to Gmail's 30-day preservation policy) |
Set a custom retention rule for Gmail
- Sign in to vault.google.com.
- Click Retention
Custom Rules
- For the service, select Gmail and then click Continue.
- Choose which organizational unit the rule applies to. Click the field to open a chooser, then click the organizational unit.
- Click Continue.
- (Optional) Choose the conditions that must be met for messages to be covered by this rule:
- Enter Date sent values. If you specify only a start date, the rule applies to all messages sent after that date. If you specify only an end date, the rule applies to all messages sent before that date.
- Enter any terms that messages must match. Note:
- You can use all supported search operators except wildcards (*).
- If your keyphrase or value starts with a hyphen, such as -1000%, put it in quotation marks to ensure it’s not interpreted as a
NOToperator. - You can't use
is:chatto apply a Gmail retention rule to chat messages in Google Chat. To set retention rules for chat messages, set a Chat retention rule.
We recommend you test your terms in a Vault search to make sure they match data as you expect.
- Click Continue.
- Choose how long to keep messages:
- To permanently retain messages covered by this rule, choose Indefinitely.
- To discard messages after a set time, choose Retention period and enter the number of days, from 1 to 36,500.
- If you set a retention period, choose what to do with messages when the retention period ends:
- To purge only messages that are already emptied from the users' Trash, choose the first option.
- To purge all messages, including messages that aren't deleted but excluding drafts and email templates, choose the second option.
- To purge all messages, including messages that aren't deleted, drafts, and email templates, choose the third option.
Warning: Vault allows Gmail to immediately purge data that exceeds the retention period when you submit a new rule. The purged data can include data that users expect to keep. Don't proceed to the next step until you’re sure the rule is configured correctly. - Click Create. If you set a retention period, check the confirmation box and click Accept.
Set the default retention rule for Gmail
The default retention rule applies to Gmail messages that aren't covered by a custom rule or a hold.
- Sign in to vault.google.com.
- Click Retention. The list of default rules opens.
- Click Gmail
.
- Choose how long to keep messages:
- To permanently retain messages covered by this rule, select Indefinitely.
- To discard messages after a set time, select Retention period and enter the number of days, from 1 to 36,500.
- If you set a retention period, choose what to do with messages when the retention period ends:
- To purge only messages that are already deleted, choose the first option.
- To purge all messages, including messages that aren't deleted, drafts, and templates, choose the second option.
Warning: Vault allows Gmail to immediately purge data that exceeds the retention period when you submit the rule. The purged data can include data that users expect to keep. Don't proceed to the next step until you’re sure the rule is configured correctly. - Click Save. Vault asks you to confirm you understand the rule's effects. Check the boxes and click Accept to save the rule.