What should we do if an employee leaves and we discover official records only exist on their personal phone or laptop?

Discovering that official records live only on a personal device is a recordkeeping failure, but it is recoverable if you act quickly and methodically. The records themselves remain the organization’s property regardless of where they were created or stored, so the priority is capturing them intact before access to the device is lost.

Act immediately to preserve access

Time is the enemy. Once an employee separates, devices get wiped, accounts get reset, and cooperation becomes harder to secure.

• Pause any device reset or account closure tied to the departure until records have been retrieved.
• Notify the right people early: records management, IT, legal, and any program owner. If litigation, an audit, or a public-records request is reasonably anticipated, a legal hold may apply and overrides normal disposition.
• Preserve before you investigate. Avoid having staff browse or alter the device, which can change metadata or destroy evidence of authenticity.

Capture the records defensibly

The goal is a faithful, usable copy that the organization can stand behind.

• Work with IT or a qualified specialist to copy the records and their metadata (dates, authorship, message threads) rather than just forwarding files.
• Document who retrieved what, when, and how so the chain of custody and provenance are defensible.
• Capture related context, such as text or chat threads, that may itself be a record.

Bring the records under control

Once captured, treat the material like any other record:

• Classify and schedule it against your retention schedule, then store the authoritative copy in an approved system.
• Confirm long-term formats are sustainable; digital preservation is an ongoing commitment to keep files readable over time, not a one-time copy.
• Securely dispose of the personal-device copies after retrieval is verified, respecting the individual’s privacy in the rest of their data.

Prevent the next one

This situation almost always signals a gap in offboarding and device policy. Strengthen exit checklists so records capture happens before separation, set clear rules on personal-device use, and train staff that work records belong in approved systems from the start.

For broader guidance on safeguarding records of enduring value, see the archives and preservation topic hub.