Create holds in eDiscovery (preview)

You can create holds to preserve content that might be relevant to an eDiscovery case. You can place a hold on the Exchange mailboxes and OneDrive accounts of people you're investigating in the case. You can also place a hold on the mailboxes and sites that are associated with Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 groups, and Viva Engage Groups. When you place content locations on hold, content is preserved until you remove the content location from the hold or until you delete/release the hold.

When you create a hold, you have the following options to scope the content that's preserved in the specified content locations:

• Create an infinite hold where all content in the specified locations is placed on hold. Alternatively, you can create a query-based hold where only the content in the specified locations that matches a search query is placed on hold.
• Specify a date range to preserve only the content that was sent, received, or created within that date range. Alternatively, you can hold all content in specified locations regardless of when sent, received, or created.

Create an eDiscovery hold

To create an eDiscovery hold associated with a eDiscovery case, complete the following steps:

1. Go to the Microsoft Purview portal and sign in using the credentials for a user account assigned eDiscovery permissions.

2. Select the eDiscovery solution card and then select Cases (preview) in the left nav.

3. Select a case, then select the Hold policies tab.

4. On the Hold policies dashboard, select Create policy.

5. On the Enter details to get started page, complete the following fields:

   • Policy name: Give the hold policy a name (required). The hold policy name must be unique in your organization
   • Policy description: Add an optional description to help others understand this hold policy.

6. Select Create to create the new hold policy and start your hold on relevant data for the case.

7. Select Add data sources on the Hold policy tab.

8. On the Manage data sources flyout pane, you'll add or remove data sources for your hold policy. You can choose one or more users, groups, or organization locations.

   • You must select at least one date source to create a hold policy.
   • Enter the specific users, groups, or organization locations you want to add to the hold policy.

   Exchange mailboxes: Applicable checkboxes are selected for the mailboxes placed on hold. Use Edit to find user mailboxes and distribution groups (the mailboxes of group members) to place on hold. You can also place a hold on the associated mailbox for a Microsoft Team, Microsoft 365 group, and Viva Engage Group. For more information about the application data that is preserved when a mailbox is placed on hold, see Content stored in mailboxes for eDiscovery.

   Important

   When you select a distribution list to be placed on hold, the distribution list expands into the members of the distribution list. Users can choose to place all members' mailboxes and OneDrive on hold or a subset/mix of these data sources on hold. Subsequent changes in distribution list membership don't change or update holds or the policy. Users must add the distribution list to data source again to ensure the latest membership is reflected and expanded.

   SharePoint sites: Applicable checkboxes are selected for SharePoint sites and OneDrive accounts placed on hold. Use Edit to enter the URL for additional sites that you want to place on hold. You can also add the URL for the SharePoint site for a Microsoft Team, Microsoft 365 group, or Yammer Group.

   Important

   The Recycle Bin in SharePoint sites is not indexed and therefore unavailable for searching. As a result, eDiscovery searches can't find any Recycle Bin content to place holds.

9. Select Save. You've now scoped the data sources for your hold policy.

10. To define the parameters of your hold policy, you can choose from the following options on the Hold policy tab:

    • Condition builder: The condition builder option in search provides a visual filtering experience when you build hold policies. Each condition adds a clause that is created and run when you create the hold. For example, you can specify a date range so that email or site documents that were created within the date ranged are preserved. For detailed information about using the condition builder option, see Use the condition builder to create search queries in eDiscovery (preview).

    • Keyword Query Language (KeyQL): The Keyword Query Language (KeyQL) query option in search provides guidance and lets you quickly paste long, complex queries directly into the editor. For detailed information about building search queries with the KeyQL option, see Use Keyword Query Language to create search queries in eDiscovery (preview).

      You can also quickly build KeyQL queries for your search using Microsoft Security Copilot. For more information, see Create a KeyQL search query with Microsoft Copilot (preview).

11. Select Apply hold.

After creating a hold, check that the hold is applied successfully by navigating to the Details tab for the hold policy. You can review the following information for the hold policy:

• Name: The name of the data source.
• Location: The specific location (such as the SMTP address of the mailbox or the URL of the site) of the data sources included in the hold policy.
• Hold status: The hold status of the location. Indicates whether the location is on hold, not on hold, or if there is an error with the hold.
• Source type: Shows whether the data source type is People or Group.
• Location type: Shows whether the location is Mailbox or Site.

Process manager

The Process manager displays information about processes performed on the hold policy.

• Process type: The type of process.
• Status: The status of the process.
• Created: The date and time the process was created.
• Completed: The date and time the process was completed.
• Duration: The duration of the process.
• Created by: The user that created the process.

To download the list of processes and the column information, select Download list to create a .csv file containing this information.

To view information about all eDiscovery processes, see Use the Process report in eDiscovery (preview).

Query-based holds placed on sites

Keep the following things in mind when you place a query-based eDiscovery hold on documents located in SharePoint sites:

• A query-based hold initially preserves all documents in a site for a short period of time after they're deleted. That means when a document is deleted, it is moved to the Preservation Hold library even if it doesn't match the criteria of the query-based hold. However, deleted documents that don't match a query-based hold are removed by a timer job that processes the Preservation Hold library. The timer job runs periodically and compares all documents in the Preservation Hold library to your query-based eDiscovery holds (and other types of holds and retention policies). The timer job deletes the documents that don't match a query-based hold and preserves the documents that do.
• Query-based holds should be used to perform targeted preservation such as keywords, date ranges, or other document properties to preserve site documents.

Search locations on an eDiscovery hold

When you search for content in a eDiscovery case, you can quickly configure the search to only search the content locations that have been placed on a hold associated with the case.

Select the Locations on hold option to search all the content locations that have been placed on hold. If the case contains multiple eDiscovery holds, the content locations from all holds are searched when you select this option. Additionally, if a content location was placed on a query-based hold, only the items that match the hold query are searched when you run the search. In other words, only the content that matches both the hold criteria and the search criteria is returned with the search results. For example, if a user was placed on query-based case hold that preserves items that were sent or created before a specific date, only those items would be searched. This is accomplished by connecting the case hold query and the search query by an AND operator.

Here are some other things to keep in mind when searching locations on eDiscovery hold:

• If a content location is part of multiple holds within the same case, the hold queries are combined by OR operators when you search that content location using the all case content option. Similarly, if a content location is part of two different holds, where one is query-based and the other is an infinite hold (where all content is placed on hold), then all content is search because of the infinite hold.
• If a search is configured it to search locations on hold and then you change an eDiscovery hold in the case (by adding or removing a location or changing a hold query), the search configuration is updated with those changes. However, you have to rerun the search after the hold is changed to update the search results.
• If multiple eDiscovery holds are placed on a single location in an eDiscovery case and you select to search locations on hold, the maximum number of keywords for that search query is 500. That's because the search combines all the query-based holds by using the OR operator. If there are more than 500 keywords in the combined hold queries and the search query, then all content in the mailbox is searched, not just that content that matches the query-based case holds.
• If an eDiscovery hold has a status of On (Pending), you can still search the locations on hold while the hold is being turned on.

Preserve content in Microsoft Teams

Conversations that are part of a Microsoft Teams channel are stored in the mailbox that's associated with the Microsoft Team. Similarly, files that team members share in a channel are stored on the team's SharePoint site. Therefore, you have to place the Team mailbox and SharePoint site on eDiscovery hold to preserve conversations and files in a channel.

Alternatively, conversations that are part of the Chat list in Teams (called 1:1 chats or 1:N group chats) are stored in the mailboxes of the users who participate in the chat. And files that users share in chat conversations are stored in the OneDrive account of the user who shares the file. Therefore, you have to add the individual user mailboxes and OneDrive accounts to an eDiscovery hold to preserve conversations and files in the chat list. It's a good idea to place a hold on the mailboxes of members of a Microsoft Team in addition to placing the team mailbox and site on hold.

Preserve card content

Similarly, card content generated by apps in Teams channels, 1:1 chats, and 1:N group chats are stored in mailboxes and is preserved when a mailbox is placed on an eDiscovery hold. A card is a UI container for short pieces of content. Cards can have multiple properties and attachments, and can include items that trigger card actions. For more information, see Cards. Like other Teams content, where card content is stored is based on where the card was used. Content for cards used in a Teams channel is stored in the Teams group mailbox. Card content for 1:1 and 1xN chats are stored in the mailboxes of the chat participants.

Preserve meeting and call information

Summary information for meetings and calls in a Teams channel is also stored in the mailboxes of users who dialed into the meeting or call. This content is also preserved when an eDiscovery hold is placed on user mailboxes.

Preserve content in private channels

Starting in February 2020, we also turned on the ability to preserve content in private channels. Because private channel chats are stored in the mailboxes of the chat participants, placing a user mailbox on eDiscovery hold preserves private channel chats. Also, if a user mailbox was placed on an eDiscovery hold prior to February 2020, the hold will now automatically apply to private channel messages stored in that mailbox. Preserving files shared in private channels is also supported.

Preserve wiki content

Every Team or team channel also contains a Wiki for note taking and collaboration. The Wiki content is automatically saved to a file with a .mht format. This file is stored in the Teams Wiki Data document library on the team's SharePoint site. You can preserve the wiki content by adding the team's SharePoint site to an eDiscovery hold.

Microsoft 365 groups

Teams is built on Microsoft 365 groups. Therefore, placing Microsoft 365 groups on eDiscovery hold is similar placing Teams content on hold.

Keep the following things in mind when placing both Teams and Microsoft 365 groups on an eDiscovery hold:

• To place content located in Teams and Microsoft 365 groups on hold, you have to specify the mailbox and SharePoint site that associated with a group or team.

• Run the Get-UnifiedGroup cmdlet in Exchange Online PowerShell to view properties for Teams and Microsoft 365 groups. This is a good way to get the URL for the site that's associated with a Team or Microsoft 365 group. For example, the following command displays selected properties for a Microsoft 365 group named Senior Leadership Team:

  Get-UnifiedGroup "Senior Leadership Team" | FL DisplayName,Alias,PrimarySmtpAddress,SharePointSiteUrl
  
  DisplayName            : Senior Leadership Team
  Alias                  : seniorleadershipteam
  PrimarySmtpAddress     : [email protected]
  SharePointSiteUrl      : https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/seniorleadershipteam
  

  Note

  To run the Get-UnifiedGroup cmdlet, you have to be assigned the View-Only Recipients role in Exchange Online or be a member of a role group that's assigned the View-Only Recipients role.

• When a user's mailbox is searched, any Team or Microsoft 365 group that the user is a member of won't be searched. Similarly, when you place a Team or Microsoft 365 group on eDiscovery hold, only the group mailbox and group site are placed on hold. The mailboxes and OneDrive sites of group members aren't placed on hold unless you explicitly add them to the eDiscovery hold. So if you have to place a Team or Microsoft 365 group on hold for a legal reason, consider adding the mailboxes and OneDrive accounts of team or group members on the same hold.

• To get a list of the members of a Team or Microsoft 365 group, you can view the properties on the Groups page in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Alternatively, you can run the following command in Exchange Online PowerShell:

  Get-UnifiedGroupLinks <group or team name> -LinkType Members | FL DisplayName,PrimarySmtpAddress
  

  Note

  To run the Get-UnifiedGroupLinks cmdlet, you have to be assigned the View-Only Recipients role in Exchange Online or be a member of a role group that's assigned the View-Only Recipients role.

Preserve content in OneDrive accounts

To collect a list of the URLs for the OneDrive sites in your organization so you can add them to a hold or search associated with an eDiscovery case, see Create a list of all OneDrive locations in your organization. The script in this article creates a text file that contains a list of all OneDrive sites in your organization. To run this script, you have to install and use the SharePoint Online Management Shell. Be sure to append the URL for your organization's MySite domain to each OneDrive site that you want to search. This is the domain that contains all your OneDrive; for example, https://contoso-my.sharepoint.com. Here's an example of a URL for a user's OneDrive site: https://contoso-my.sharepoint.com/personal/sarad_contoso_onmicrosoft.com.

Removing content locations from an eDiscovery hold

After a mailbox, SharePoint site, or OneDrive account is removed from an eDiscovery hold, a delay hold is applied. This means that the actual removal of the hold is delayed for 30 days to prevent data from being permanently deleted (purged) from a content location. This gives admins an opportunity to search for or recover content that will be purged after an eDiscovery hold is removed. The details of how the delay hold works for mailboxes and sites are different.

• Mailboxes: A delay hold is placed on a mailbox the next time the Managed Folder Assistant processes the mailbox and detects that an eDiscovery hold was removed. Specifically, a delay hold is applied to a mailbox when the Managed Folder Assistant sets one of the following mailbox properties to True:

  • DelayHoldApplied: This property applies to email-related content (generated by people using Outlook and Outlook on the web) that's stored in a user's mailbox.
  • DelayReleaseHoldApplied: This property applies to cloud-based content (generated by non-Outlook apps such as Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Forms, and Microsoft Yammer) that's stored in a user's mailbox. Cloud data generated by a Microsoft app is typically stored in a hidden folder in a user's mailbox.

  When a delay hold is placed on the mailbox (when either of the previous properties is set to True), the mailbox is still considered to be on hold for an unlimited hold duration, as if the mailbox was on Litigation Hold. After 30 days, the delay hold expires, and Microsoft 365 will automatically attempt to remove the delay hold (by setting the DelayHoldApplied or DelayReleaseHoldApplied property to False) so that the hold is removed. After either of these properties are set to False, the corresponding items that are marked for removal are purged the next time the mailbox is processed by the Managed Folder Assistant.

• SharePoint and OneDrive sites: Any SharePoint or OneDrive content that's being retained in the Preservation Hold library isn't deleted during the 30-day delay hold period after a site is removed from an eDiscovery hold. This is similar to what happens when a site is released from a retention policy. Additionally, you can't manually delete this content in the Preservation Hold library during the 30-day delay hold period. To release a site from the 30-day delay hold/grace period hold, see the Can't delete a site because of an invalid retention policy or eDiscovery hold troubleshooting article.

  For more information, see Releasing a policy for retention.

A delay hold is also applied to content locations on hold when you close a eDiscovery case because holds are turned off when a case is closed. For more information about closing a case, see Learn about case settings in eDiscovery (preview).

eDiscovery hold limits

The following table lists the limits for eDiscovery cases and case holds.