Retention protects business-critical files while helping Administrators comply with data retention laws, regulations, and contract requirements. The default retention period set in Secure & Govern will preserve all files in Connect sources for a designated time. These default settings act as a fallback: if no retention policy matches a file, the default retention period applies. If multiple retention periods cover the same files, the longest one takes precedence. Learn how to set up a default retention period below.
Set a Default Retention Period
- Navigate to Settings on the main Secure & Govern page.
- Select Content Lifecycle from the left side navigation.
- Click Edit to change the default retention period for the Connect content source.
- Select a retention period from the drop-down or choose Custom to create your own.
- Once selected, click Save to apply the changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Default Retention Apply To All Files?
In Egnyte Secure & Govern, the default retention policy acts as a fallback, that is only if there are no retention policy matches for a given file. If configured the default retention policy would apply to a file.
Why are there some folders in trash that are not under retention even with the default retention enabled?
Data Retention focuses on the files themselves and not the folder, so retention will never be placed on an empty folder since there are no files to retain within it. Empty folders that are in Trash will be purged based on the Trash policy settings.
How can I purge files that are covered by Default Retention without changing it?
Because retention policies always take precedence over default retention, the easiest way to shorten a file’s retention is to create a short-period retention policy (1 day, for example) and apply it to the files that you need to purge.
If the files are already in the trash:
a) You will need to either specify their original location in the retention policy OR
b) Restore them and then move them to a new location specified in the retention policy.
Once the shorter retention period expires for those files, they can be purged from the trash.
Newly deleted files will still be subject to the 1-week grace period, even if the retention period specified in the policy is less than that.