# Data Retention

### Overview

Network administrators can define how long projects, groups, and departments within the domain remain active. By default, these entities remain active indefinitely until manually archived or deleted by their respective administrators.

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To comply with regulatory and compliance requirements, network admins can set up automatic archival and deletion rules.

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### Applying Retention Settings

Retention Settings allow admins to configure rules based on either the creation time or last updated time of a project, group, or department.

<figure><img src="https://1733114811-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-Lclpq021Ai9jH1_X4gO%2Fuploads%2FJ6VDMongipkYFA7WYl4R%2F20-03-2025-01-46-34.png?alt=media&#x26;token=4255b3e9-459c-4b36-a9e5-269cf5dac9ab" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Select one of the following options:

* **From Creation Date**: Retention rules apply based on the date the entity was created.
* **From Last Updated/Activity Date** (default option): Retention rules apply based on the last recorded activity or update.

{% hint style="danger" %}
Soft-deleted data becomes **inaccessible** via APIs or exports, while auto-deleted data moves to the **Trash Can** until the preservation limit is reached, after which it is **permanently deleted and cannot be restored**.
{% endhint %}

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### Retention Settings

MangoApps provides 10 time-based options ranging from **1 day to 10 years** for setting up archival and deletion periods. Changes to retention settings apply **immediately** to both existing and new files.

<figure><img src="https://1733114811-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-Lclpq021Ai9jH1_X4gO%2Fuploads%2FZKKKSCfXpTpIOuobGnOH%2F20-03-2025-01-46-34a.png?alt=media&#x26;token=a50d3d40-22e3-4063-8d65-03bc81746f40" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

Configuration options are available for Projects, Groups, and Departments, each with privacy settings (Private, Public, and Unlisted) and options for auto-archival and auto-deletion.&#x20;

Admins can restore default settings using the **Restore to Defaults** button.&#x20;

{% hint style="success" %}
All retention setting changes are **logged in the Audit Log**, capturing details of the admin who made the change.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
**AD/LDAP-Synced Groups and Departments**: Archival and delete rules **do not apply** to groups and departments synced using AD/LDAP, as MangoApps remains in sync with the AD/LDAP server.
{% endhint %}