Retaining Emails Beyond 8 Years

From 01 July 2026, all newly created Outlook email accounts (Microsoft Exchange Online mailboxes) will be subject to an 8-year email retention policy.

Emails older than 8 years will be automatically removed unless they have been actively retained using an alternative retention policy. 

Please note: existing mailboxes and existing email content are not affected.

Steps to apply retention policies to folders:

1. Open Outlook

The process for creating folders and applying retention policies is the same in both Outlook on the web and the Outlook desktop application.

  • In the folder list, right-click the mailbox or folder where you want the new folder to be created 
  • Select 'Create new folder'
  • Enter a name for the folder and select 'Enter'

2. Assign the policy

  • Right-click the newly created folder 
  • Select 'Assign policy'
  • Select the appropriate retention policy from the list

3. Retain your emails

Move any emails you wish to retain into that folder by:

  • Selecting the email you want to keep.

  • Drag to the folder with the retention policy applied, and then release the mouse button.

Please note: Only emails stored within folders that have an alternative retention policy applied will be retained beyond the standard 8-year retention period.