How to change how long permanently deleted items are kept for Exchange Online mailboxes

Items like messages, calendars, and tasks in Exchange Online are moved to a folder called Recoverable Items when they are permanently deleted. They can be recovered from this state in 14 days, by default. This period, called the retention period, can be changed and extended up to 180 days by using PowerShell scripts.

ManageEngine M365 Manager Plus, a comprehensive tool used for reporting, managing, monitoring, auditing, and alerting for critical activities in your Microsoft 365 environments, can also be used for this purpose.

The following table is a comparison on how to change retention period using PowerShell and M365 Manager Plus.

Limitations of using Microsoft 365 native tools to change how long permanently deleted items are kept for Exchange Online mailboxes

• Administrators must have sufficient permissions to modify retention period using the above-mentioned PowerShell script. However, PowerShell scripts are time-consuming, can affect productivity and are prone to errors.
• Assigning granular permissions to execute individual tasks in a broad category is not possible.

Benefits of using M365 Manager Plus to change how long permanently deleted items are kept for Exchange Online mailboxes

• Back up Exchange Online emails, calendar entries, contacts, and tasks with periodic incremental backups and restore them fully or granularly based on your needs, way past the 180 day limit of the native retention period.
• Manage mailboxes, users, groups, sites, teams, and contacts effortlessly in bulk without PowerShell scripting.
• Delegate granular permissions to technicians without elevating their Microsoft 365 privileges and create custom roles with any combination of reporting, management, and auditing tasks.
• Gain a thorough understanding of your Exchange Online, Entra ID, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive for Business, and other Microsoft 365 services with detailed reports.
• Keep tabs on even the most granular user activities in your Microsoft 365 environment with real-time audit alerts.
• Monitor the health and performance of Microsoft 365 features and endpoints around the clock.