Retention Tag
A retention tag is a label applied to email, messages, or folders that links each item to a specific retention period and disposition action, telling the system how long to keep the item and what to do when that period expires.
Retention tags are metadata labels that bind a message or mailbox folder to a defined retention rule, so the underlying retention schedule can be enforced automatically rather than by manual review of every email. A tag typically encodes two things: a retention period (how long the item is preserved) and a disposition action (what happens at expiry, such as deletion, archiving, or flagging for review). Tags may be applied by policy to an entire mailbox or folder, or chosen by a user on individual items.
This matters because email and chat volumes make item-by-item appraisal impractical; tags let organizations apply consistent, defensible rules at scale and demonstrate that disposition followed an approved schedule. For example, a “General Correspondence – 3 years” tag prompts deletion three years after receipt, while a “Permanent” tag preserves a record-status message indefinitely.
A retention tag is distinct from the schedule itself: the schedule is the authority that sets periods, and the tag is the operational handle that applies it. Tags should align with the file plan and survive any active litigation hold, which overrides scheduled disposition.