Retention Period Automation

By default all your files are stored infinitely. But you can easily add a custom retention period for files in any folder, or for specific single files. The documents will then be automatically archived to another folder, moved to recycle bin or permanently deleted based on your settings after they have reached a certain age.
Retention period management is available in Medium and Tailor plans.

To set up a retention period in a folder (and optionally its subfolders):

1. Locate the folder in the list view
2. Click on the settings (gear) icon
3. Choose ‘Retention’ from the dropdown menu
4. Choose ‘Active’ to activate, and set a retention period. Click ‘Advanced’ to see more options.
5. Choose ‘Retention Start Date Field’ — Select the metadata field that will determine when the retention countdown begins. This can be any field, such as a custom metadata field, creation date, last modification date, approval time, or any other relevant field.
6. Choose Apply to to select which types of items the retention policy affects. You can select more than one option:
   • Files — uploaded files.
   • Links — link items.
   • Folders — folder items.
   • All records — all form records, regardless of their form template.
   • Individual form templates — only records created from the selected templates.
   When All records is selected, the individual form template options are selected and disabled. Clear All records to choose specific templates instead.
7. Choose action: archiving to a folder / sending to recycle bin / permanent deletion
   • When selecting the “Archive to a Folder” option, you will need to specify the destination folder where the documents will be relocated once the retention period ends. Additionally, you have the option to maintain the existing folder structure in the new destination, ensuring that the entire folder hierarchy is preserved and not just the individual files.
8. Choose whether to enable Apply to subfolders. This controls whether the policy also applies in subfolders; Apply to controls which item types it affects.
9. Click ‘Save’

HR example: If an employee’s personal documents need to be deleted after their contract ends, store the contract end date in a date metadata field on the employee folder. Select that field as the Retention Start Date Field, include Folders under Apply to, and choose the retention period and deletion action. The entire employee folder and its contents can then be removed together based on the folder’s contract end date.

You can set exceptions for any folders and files affected by your higher-level settings. Just locate the file or folder you want to excempt and choose ‘Retention’ from the drop-down menu. This displays the current settings and two ways of overriding them. Choose ‘Active’ for custom retention period for that file or folder or choose ‘Inactive’ to keep the file/folder infinitely.

TIP: To display retention time left in list view, configure one of the list columns to display “Retention end”.
TIP 2: To see a list of all files that are nearing their retetion end, go to ‘Dashboard & Reports’ view.

Here’s a video tutorial explaining how to set up and manage retention settings in Folderit DMS: