Add Office 365 Calendar Retention Policy Easily
Admins often ask about the Office 365 calendar retention policy as this allows them to stay compliant with the various rules and regulations. However, setting up these policies is not easy. It is a multi-stage process and with the continuous changes to the preview portal, admins might get confused on how exactly to perform the task. Not to worry as we have step-by-step instructions that make the entire process easy.
Office 365 Calendar Retention Policy Scenarios Explained
Not every calendar item is the same so admins must be aware of all the different situations in and around which they need to design the policy.
There are two main scenarios in which a particular calendar item exists. Admins make their decision on the basis of these factors on how exactly a retention policy should be framed or an existing one be modified.
Scenario 1: Calendar Item NOT in the Deleted Items folder
These are further divided into three distinctive parts.
- Non-recurring calendar items: Expire according to their end date.
- Recurring calendar items: Expire according to the end date of their last occurrence.
- Recurring calendar items (no end date): Do not expire.
Scenario 2: Calendar Item IN the Deleted Items folder
Like in the previous scenario here too admins can find 3 different subclasses.
- Calendar item (with message-received date): Expires according to its message-received date.
- Calendar item (no message-received date, but with message-creation date): Expires according to its message-creation date.
- Calendar item (neither message-received date nor message-creation date): Does not expire.
Now that you know the basics of calendar items let’s get to the design part. Retention policies can be made via GUI or commands. We will cover the GUI method first so let’s get to it.
Use the Preview Portal and Add Retention Policy in Office 365
Any admin or a delegated user can make Retention policies, however, the catch is that they need to have at least one of the following M365 roles assigned beforehand
- Organization Management
- Recipient Management
- Records Management
Like in the PowerShell portal where admins can directly move to tag addition/ policy creation window use the following steps.
- Purview portal > Solutions > Data lifecycle management > Retention labels > Create a label.
- Type in a Name(mandatory), user description(optional), and admin description(optional).
- Select tag type > Next.
- Define retention settings (Retention Period and Action) > Next.
- Decide what happens after the retention period expires.
- Review choices.
- Select an option and Press Done.
If you choose specific tag types/settings (often defaults, especially for DPTs), you may be automatically prompted to create a new retention policy or add the tag to an existing one after clicking “Next” on the tag creation page. If not automatically redirected, follow the path.
- Purview portal > Solutions > Data lifecycle management > Policies > New policy.
- Pick the label you just made > Next.
- Add the scope for this policy > Next.
- In policy type select Static > Next.
- Toggle the “let me choose specific locations” radio button and disable all workloads other than Exchange Online to make sure that this remains an Office 365 calendar retention policy and nothing else. > Next
- Name the policy and add a description then press Next.
- Lastly, Review and hit Submit.
Use PowerShell to Add, Edit, and Remove Calendar Policies in Office 365
Open a new Powershell module with admin privileges on your machine.
Check if your workstation has Exchange Server modules if not then install and continue.
Connect and perform the sign-in.
Type this to make a new tag.
New-RetentionPolicyTag -Name "RPT-NoAction" -Type Calendar -AgeLimitForRetention 365 -RetentionAction MarkAsPastRetentionLimit
Change the parameters as you see fit.
We can also use PowerShell to export calendars from Exchange Servers in hybrid environments for safekeeping it does not affect the retention policy setup in any way shape or form.
To add this parameter you can use an existing policy.
Or make a new one and attach it there.
New-RetentionPolicy -Name "RetentionPolicy-Corp" -RetentionPolicyTagLinks "RPT-NoAction"
New-RetentionPolicyTag -Name "RPT-Calendar" -Type Calendar -AgeLimitForRetention 365 -RetentionAction MoveToDeletedItems
Set-RetentionPolicy -Identity "RetentionPolicy-Corp" -RetentionPolicyTagLinks "RPT-Calendar"
Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited | Where-Object {($_.RecipientTypeDetails -eq "UserMailbox") -and ($_.RetentionPolicy -ne "RetentionPolicy-Excluded")} | Set-Mailbox -RetentionPolicy "RetentionPolicy-Corp"
This creates a calendar retention tag, links it to a policy, and applies that policy to all user mailboxes (excluding those already assigned “RetentionPolicy-Excluded”).
you can check the official Microsoft guide to check what all syntax variations, and parameter substitutions you can make to the example cmdlet.
The code samples here are for a specific use case modify them to fit the calendar retention policy your organization desires.
Why an Office 365 Calendar Retention Policy is Not Enough to Preserve Organizations Data?
Retention Policies above all made for compliance purposes. No way can they be your primary or even secondary backup. Although adding items in the retention behaves like a pseudo archive it is not the recommended practice.
Retention policies make it easier to check someone’s calendar in Outlook & view all events. Many times admins use the default options that contain a proper expiry date. If knowledge about the end date is missed/forgotten it would result in a nasty surprise where admins see that the organization’s data is no longer on hold.
To save storage space, the original data might have been cleared out due to there being a false sense of security.
Such scenarios are more common than you think. So it is essential to keep your organization safe. You need not go anywhere else as we have the solution right here.
Use a Tool as an Alternative to Policy
If a direct substitution is not feasible due to compliance reasons then you should most definitely it as a security measure. The SysTools Microsoft 365 Backup and Recovery software is an excellent choice in that regard.
It comes with a dual mode that can be used at the admin or at the user level to perform a thorough backup.
Use this tool to select calendar workload just before you deploy a new Office 365 Calendar Retention Policy.
Here are the steps with which you can get a timely backup in the most simple way possible.
Get the tool running on your machine and select a mode (admin or user). The steps vary slightly from here so follow the path for the mode you selected earlier.
| Steps | Admin Mode | User Mode |
| 2 | Select (Microsoft 365) as the source and (Outlook) as the destination, then select Calendar as workload. Apply date filters for selective backups | In the current version source (M365) and destination (PST) are fixed; make the box next to Calendars. Add date filters if need be. |
| 3 | Perform Admin & Application Validation. | Log in with User Microsoft 365 credentials, accept permissions, & validate. |
| 4 | Select file path, size, and validate. | Set a backup folder path, and size limits, and validate. |
| 5 | Add users via fetch, import, or download option, | Fetch, view, & select folders for calendar workload, |
| 6 | Preview, select, set priorities, and validate accounts. Then hit Start Backup. | Start the backup bu pressing the designated button. |
Conclusion
Here we discussed all about the Office 365 calendar retention policy. Admins can now set up custom policies, revoke old ones, or modify existing ones for a different use case. Retention policies are key in keeping the organization’s data safe from adverse events like accidental deletions or ransomware attacks.
However, the major limitation is that the archive is still on the M365 cloud. No amount of modification can change it as this is part of the core design. So to strengthen their access to organization data admins can store a copy offline. There is no easier way to do that than the professional utility described earlier.