Retention labels will appear in users’ applications such as Outlook, SharePoint, and OneDrive when published. When a label gets applied to an item, either automatically or manually by the user, the content is retained based on the settings configured on the label.

There are some important things to note prior to creating retention labels, as listed next:

  • Retention label creation is the first step in a two-step process to making them available. You must also publish or auto-apply the label.
  • Retention label names cannot be changed after they are created.
  • Only one retention label can be assigned to content (such as an email or document) at a time.
  • Auto-applied retention labels can be replaced by a manually assigned retention label.
  • Retention labels do not take effect immediately after publishing or being auto-applied.
  • Exchange public folders do not support labels.
  • Retention label policies can trigger a disposition review at the end of a retention period. Retention policies cannot.

The process of creating a retention label consists of three steps:

  1. Naming the label
  2. Configuring settings for the label
  3. Reviewing the label’s settings

This is described visually by means of Figure 10.12:

Figure 10.12 – Describing the process of creating a retention label

Follow the next steps to create a retention label:

  1. To start the creation process, navigate to the Microsoft 365 compliance center, head to Information governance, and select Labels, as presented in Figure 10.13:

Figure 10.13 – The location of retention labels in the Microsoft 365 compliance center

2. Name the policy and then add an explanatory description for end users and a description for administrators:

Figure 10.14 – The settings for a retention label name and descriptions

3. The options given here are like the ones on creating a retention policy, with some minor differences, as described in Figure 10.15. This is called Trigger a disposition review, which means that we have the option to review the item once the retention period is up and reviewers can then decide whether it can be deleted safely. More information about disposition review can be found at the following URL: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compliance/disposition?view=o365-worldwide#disposition-reviews:

Figure 10.15 – Showing the Trigger a disposition review setting

4. We also have more options regarding the Start the retention period based on setting, as listed next and presented in Figure 10.16:

a. When it was created

b. When it was last modified

c. When it was labeled

d. An event:

Figure 10.16 – Showing the Start the retention period based on setting for retention labels

5. If we choose one of the options a, b, or c under step 4, the content in email messages will be retained or deleted based on when the message was sent or received, and documents when they were created or last modified. Basing the label on an event (option d) means the content will be retained indefinitely until the event trigger is started. Event-driven retention will be covered in more depth in Chapter 12, Implementing Records Management in Microsoft 365.

6. Once we have selected our settings for the retention label, we are brought to the Review and finish screen, just as with retention policies:

Figure 10.17 – Showing the review screen of the newly created retention label

7. The final step involves publishing the label. Here we are given three choices on what to do with the label we have just created, as described in Figure 10.18 and in the following list:

a. Publish this label to Microsoft 365 locations

b. Auto-apply this label to a specific type of content

c. Do Nothing:

Figure 10.18 – Showing the publishing options for a retention label

8. Selecting the Publish this label to Microsoft 365 locations option takes us to another screen, allowing us to choose the users and groups for which the label is to be published as well as which locations in Microsoft 365 to cover with the label:

Figure 10.19 – Showing the Publish this label to Microsoft 365 locations options

9. On the next screen, we are asked to give the policy we are publishing the label to a name and a description:

Figure 10.20 – Showing the Name your policy screen when publishing a new label

10. Lastly in this process, we are taken to another Review your Settings screen, which shows us the settings we have configured for this new retention label policy:

    Figure 10.21 – Showing the review settings screen for a retention label policy

    Note

    As Figure 10.21 states, it will take up to 1 day for labels to appear for your users. Labels will appear in Outlook and Outlook web apps only for mailboxes that have at least 10 MB of data.

    11. Once completed, the retention label policy will appear in the Microsoft 365 compliance center under Label policies:

      Figure 10.22 – Showing the location of the retention label policy in the Microsoft 365 compliance center

      That completes this segment of the chapter, which has guided us through the process of creating retention labels, which settings are available, and how to configure them. Up next, we will look at configuring and publishing auto-apply label policies.

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