Retention

Retention in Google Vault refers to the systematic process of preserving your organization's Google Workspace data for a specified period to meet compliance, regulatory, or business needs.

Get a handle on things. Set retention rules and holds on data from certain Google Workspace apps for an entire domain or specific organizational units.

Keep data for as long as you need it. If your organization is required to preserve data for a set time, you can configure Vault to retain it. Data remains available to Vault even when users delete it and empty their trash.
Remove data when you no longer need it. If your organization is required to delete sensitive data after a set time, you can configure Vault to remove it from user accounts and start purging it from all Google systems.

What can you do?

Use default retention rules to protect Google Workspace data
Customize rules by data type, users, date ranges, etc
Retain data in place, no separate backup required
Support data in Gmail, Drive, Chat, and more

Google Vault rules and settings

How Data Retention Works

Retention Rules: You define "retention rules" in Vault. These rules dictate:
- What data: Which Google Workspace services (Gmail, Drive, Chat, etc.) do you want to cover?
- Who's data: Whether the rule applies to the entire domain, specific organizational units (OUs), or even individual users (though applying to OUs is more common for broad policies).
- How long: The specific duration for which the data must be retained (e.g., 7 years, 90 days, indefinitely).
Automatic Preservation & Purging:
- When a retention rule is active, data within its scope is preserved even if a user attempts to delete it from their Google Workspace account. Vault ensures a copy is retained according to the rule.
- Once the retention period expires, Vault automatically purges the data from Google's systems, ensuring that data no longer required for compliance or business reasons is permanently removed, reducing storage burden and potential liability.

The Google Vault Workflow

Data covered in Google Vault

The Google Vault process flow

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