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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteUse Microsoft Purview eDiscovery when you need to investigate, search, hold, and export information across Microsoft 365; use Exchange Litigation Hold to preserve a particular mailbox; and use journaling only when your organization specifically needs copies of email sent outside Microsoft 365. These mechanisms serve different purposes and can overlap, so identify every applicable hold and retention setting before attempting to delete or purge content.
Choose the preservation method that matches the investigation
Start by identifying the people, mailboxes, sites, and services that may contain relevant information. Then choose the mechanism based on the data in scope and what the organization needs to do with it. Microsoft Purview eDiscovery is the investigation workflow; an eDiscovery hold is one way to preserve selected sources during that work.
| Mechanism | What it is for | Scope and retention behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Purview eDiscovery and an eDiscovery hold | Search, review, manage, hold, and export content as part of an investigation. | A case can place a hold on selected data locations. The hold remains until a location is removed or the hold is released or deleted. A hold can preserve all content at selected locations or use a query. |
| Exchange Litigation Hold | Preserve Exchange mailbox content. | Applies at the mailbox level, including the enabled archive mailbox. It retains deleted items and original versions of modified items for a specified duration or indefinitely. |
| Microsoft 365 retention | Manage retention and deletion under configured retention requirements. | Policies and labels can preserve content independently of an eDiscovery hold. Their behavior depends on their configured keep and delete settings. |
| Exchange Online journaling | Send email copies to an external destination when an external copy is specifically required. | Moves data outside Microsoft 365; external security and duplicate handling become operational responsibilities. |
Purview eDiscovery supports content across Exchange Online, Teams, Microsoft 365 Groups, OneDrive, SharePoint, and Viva Engage. That broader service coverage makes it appropriate when an investigation spans mail and collaboration data rather than just one Exchange mailbox.
Use a Purview eDiscovery case to investigate and hold selected sources
- Define the scope. Identify the people and data locations that may contain relevant material, including associated sites or services where appropriate.
- Create or use an eDiscovery case. Use the case to search for relevant content and manage the investigation, including holds and exports.
- Select the locations to preserve. Choose the appropriate mailboxes or other supported locations. Microsoft’s workflow supports preserving all content at selected locations or creating a query-based hold.
- Check policy and location status. Confirm that the hold policy is On and review the status for each location. Hold policies can have states including Draft, On, Off, In progress, and Pending deletion; a policy’s existence alone does not establish that each intended location is successfully held.
- Recheck locations after identity or URL changes. If a mailbox UPN, SharePoint URL, or OneDrive URL changes, the policy may need its data sources updated and reapplied. Microsoft notes that retrying can restamp locations.
A case hold is associated with that case and its selected sources. Removing a location or releasing or deleting the hold ends that hold’s protection for the affected source, but does not necessarily remove protection applied by another mechanism.
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Use Litigation Hold for mailbox-wide Exchange preservation
Litigation Hold is an Exchange mailbox feature, not a substitute for an investigation spanning SharePoint, Teams, or other services. It preserves deleted mailbox items and original versions of modified items, and applies to the user’s enabled archive mailbox as well.
The hold can be configured for a duration calculated from when a message is received or a mailbox item is created, or it can remain indefinitely until removed. Microsoft’s Exchange Online administration guidance says an Exchange Online Plan 2 license is required, or Exchange Online Plan 1 plus a separate Exchange Online Archiving license. Confirm current licensing and tenant entitlements before enabling it, because licensing and administration interfaces can change.
Check all preservation sources before deleting or purging content
Undeletable content does not by itself prove that an eDiscovery hold is responsible. Microsoft identifies several independent mechanisms that may preserve mailbox content:
- Purview eDiscovery holds;
- Purview retention policies and retention labels;
- Exchange Litigation Hold;
- delay holds; and
- Single Item Recovery.
Before cleanup, determine which mechanisms apply to the affected mailbox or location and check their policy and per-location status. Releasing an eDiscovery hold does not release content preserved by another policy or feature. Litigation Hold and other preservation settings can also affect recoverable-item storage, so treat storage troubleshooting as a hold-and-retention diagnosis rather than assuming that an eDiscovery case is the only cause.
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Treat journaling as an external-copy workflow
Journaling sends message copies outside Microsoft 365. Microsoft describes it as an older Exchange feature and recommends Microsoft 365 retention to archive and manage data in place when that meets the organization’s compliance requirements. Journaling can still fit a requirement for a third-party system to receive email copies, but that external destination must be secured and duplicate handling must be planned.
In Microsoft’s words, “When possible, we recommend that you use Microsoft 365 retention to archive and manage data in-place to meet your compliance requirements.” Microsoft also cautions that journaling moves data outside Microsoft 365, requiring extra precautions to secure it and resolve duplication that might result. These cautions matter when comparing an external journal copy with in-place retention: the copy adds an external data store and its associated controls rather than simply extending an in-tenant hold.
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Hybrid Exchange requires matching rules in both environments
For a hybrid deployment, configure equivalent journal rules both on-premises and in Exchange Online. Microsoft says the rules should be identical; otherwise, some messages might not be journaled. Include both locations in the configuration review rather than treating the cloud rule as sufficient.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Coordinate preservation decisions with legal and records teams
Technical administrators can implement and verify policy state, but the choice of people, content, scope, and duration is a case-specific preservation decision. Coordinate those choices with the organization’s legal and records-management teams. This is technical compliance guidance, not legal advice.
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