How do I inventory electronic records scattered across shared drives, email, and cloud apps?

A records inventory is a systematic survey of what information you hold, where it lives, who owns it, and how long it must be kept. When records are scattered across shared drives, email, and cloud apps, the goal is the same as for paper: build a reliable picture of your holdings so you can apply retention, manage risk, and find what matters. Treat it as a structured project, not a one-time scan.

Start with scope and stakeholders

Define what you are inventorying before you touch any system. Identify the business functions and the people who own them, then list every repository those functions use: network shares, email accounts and shared mailboxes, collaboration platforms, file-sync services, and any line-of-business or SaaS application that stores content. Interview record owners early. They know where the real working records live and which folders are abandoned clutter.

Capture record series, not individual files

Inventory at the level of record series or information types, not file by file. For each series, document:

• Title and a plain-language description
• Business function and responsible owner
• System or location where it resides
• Approximate volume and date range
• Format and any access or security restrictions
• Whether it appears to be a record, a convenience copy, or non-record material

This series-based approach keeps the effort manageable and maps directly to a retention schedule.

Use tools to survey, people to interpret

System reports, storage analytics, and content-discovery scans can reveal volumes, file types, owners, and last-modified dates across drives and cloud tenants. Treat that output as a starting map. Pair automated discovery with owner interviews to distinguish official records from duplicates, drafts, and personal files that automated tools cannot judge on their own.

Document, then act

Record findings in a consistent inventory register so results from each system are comparable. The completed inventory becomes the foundation for assigning retention periods, identifying redundant or obsolete content for defensible disposition, and prioritizing high-risk repositories. Plan to refresh it periodically, since cloud apps and shared drives change constantly.

For related guidance on managing born-digital content, see the electronic records topic hub.

Inventorying is foundational records work: international good practice in ISO 15489-1 and federal guidance from NARA both treat knowing your holdings as the first step toward controlling them.