Email Retention Policy

At University of Waterloo, we take a balanced approach to email retention—ensuring important information remains accessible while managing storage responsibly. Below is a summary of how we handle email data retention across your mailbox.

What We Retain—and for How Long

Junk Email Folder

To help keep your mailbox clean and manageable:

• Items in the Junk Email folder are automatically deleted after 1 year.

• This is the only folder that is regularly emptied as part of our retention policy.

Deleted Items Folder

When you manually delete an email, it typically goes to the Deleted Items folder:

• If not manually removed, deleted emails stay in this folder until you delete them. These emails count towards your quota.

• Once you do delete them from Deleted Items (or empty the folder), the items are recoverable for up to 30 days.

When a Mailbox is No Longer in Use

If a user leaves or a mailbox is deactivated:

• The mailbox becomes inactive once unlicensed.

• From that point, the mailbox and all its contents are retained for 30 days.

• After 30 days, the mailbox is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

Best Practices for Users

To ensure your mailbox stays organized and you don’t lose important data:

• Regularly review your Junk Email folder for any legitimate messages.

• Clean out your Deleted Items folder if you no longer need the messages.

• Back up important emails if you know your mailbox may be deactivated.

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