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Updated August 18, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.
Coming soon for Microsoft Purview | Data Lifecycle Management: Admins will be able to apply a retention policy or retention label in Microsoft OneDrive and Microsoft SharePoint for files that have not been accessed by anyone in your organization for a specified period of time. This message applies to retention for Microsoft 365 file types. We will support other file types (non-Microsoft 365) in a future rollout.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 472030.
[When this will happen:]
Preview: We will begin rolling out end of October 2026 (previously late June) and expect to complete by end of November 2026 (previously mid-August)
General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out end of December 2026 (previously late July) and expect to complete by end of January 2027 (previously mid-August 2026)
[How this will affect your organization:]
This feature will help delete obsolete data, which will improve the quality and relevance of Microsoft 365 Copilot responses.
This feature will be available by default.
After the rollout, admins can use the retention control When items were last accessed when configuring labels and policies.
Retention settings page in Purview with the new “last accessed” option for retention policies:
[What you need to do to prepare:]
This rollout will happen automatically by the specified date with no admin action required before the rollout. Review your current configuration to determine the impact for your organization. You may want to notify your users about this change and update any relevant documentation.
Before rollout, we will update this post with new documentation.
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"ai_action_required_by": "2026-05-25T00:00:00Z",
"ai_actions": [
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"ai_summary": "Admins can soon apply retention policies in OneDrive and SharePoint based on the last accessed date to help remove obsolete files; available by default starting December 2026.",
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"category": "planForChange",
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"RoadmapIds": "472030",
"Summary": "Microsoft Purview will soon allow admins to apply retention policies based on the \"last accessed\" date for OneDrive and SharePoint files, starting preview in October 2026 and general availability by January 2027. This helps delete obsolete data and improves Microsoft 365 Copilot responses. No admin action is needed before rollout."
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"last_modified": "2026-08-18T16:39:01Z",
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"severity": "normal",
"tags": [
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"title": "Microsoft Purview | Data Lifecycle Management: Retention based on \u201clast accessed\u201d for OneDrive and SharePoint files"
}
}