Common Records Management Myths

Records management is full of comfortable-sounding misconceptions that quietly create cost and risk. Here are the most common myths — and the reality.

Myth 1: “Keep everything, just to be safe.”

Reality: Over-retention is a risk, not a safe harbor. Everything you keep is potential e-discovery material and potential breach exposure, and it inflates storage cost. The safe posture is keeping records exactly as long as required — and disposing of them when you’re not.

Myth 2: “Deleting records makes us look guilty.”

Reality: Defensible disposition — routine destruction under an authorized schedule, with holds enforced — is legitimate and expected. What looks bad is selective or ad hoc destruction. Disposing of records on schedule is good practice; it’s the opposite of destroying evidence.

Myth 3: “Our cloud platform handles records management.”

Reality: Platforms like Microsoft 365 offer retention features, but a records program — file plan, consistent classification, cross-system holds and disposition — is what makes them work. The tool isn’t the program.

Myth 4: “Email and texts aren’t real records.”

Reality: Content, not format, decides. Email, chat, and text messages are records whenever they document business — and regulators have penalized organizations that failed to capture them.

Myth 5: “Records management is just IT’s job” (or just the records officer’s).

Reality: It’s shared. IT provides systems; the records officer runs the program; legal manages holds; and everyone who creates records participates. No single function can do it alone.

Myth 6: “If we scanned it, we can toss the paper.”

Reality: Only if the digitization meets quality and metadata standards and the disposal of the originals is authorized. “We scanned it” isn’t automatic permission.

Myth 7: “A backup is our archive.”

Reality: Backups are for recovery, archives are for retention. Backups overwrite and aren’t organized for retrieval; they’re no substitute for managed records.

The throughline

Most myths share a root: treating records as either disposable clutter or as something to hoard. The discipline is in between — keep what you must, find it when needed, and dispose of the rest defensibly. See the fundamentals hub to go deeper.