Retention Policies
Automated document archiving and deletion policies.
Retention Policies
Configure automatic document retention and cleanup to comply with your data management requirements.
Retention PoliciesWhat Are Retention Policies?
Retention policies automatically handle documents after a specified period, helping you:
Comply with data retention regulations
Reduce storage costs
Maintain data hygiene
Meet client privacy requirements
Policy Types
Trigger Types
| Trigger | Description |
|---|---|
| Upload Date | After X days from document upload |
| Last Access | After X days since last access |
| Document Request Completion | When the Document Request is marked complete |
| Relationship End | When client relationship ends |
Action Types
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Archive | Move to archived status (retrievable) |
| Anonymize | Remove PII, keep metadata for compliance |
| Delete | Permanent deletion (irreversible) |
Creating Policies
- Name: Descriptive name
- Trigger type: When the policy activates
- Days: Number of days before trigger
- Action: What happens when triggered
- File types: Which file types are affected (optional)
- Grace period: Days of warning before action (0-90)
- Notification: Whether to notify before action
Policy Settings
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Active | Whether the policy is running |
| Default | Use as default for new documents |
| Grace Period | Warning period before action (0-90 days) |
| Pre-Action Notification | Email notification before execution |
Grace Period
The grace period gives you time to review before action:
- Policy trigger conditions met
- Grace period countdown starts
- Notification sent (if enabled)
- At end of grace period, action executes
- Action logged in audit trail
Legal Hold
Legal hold functionality is available on the Business plan and higher.
Prevent retention actions on specific documents during litigation or regulatory investigations. Documents on legal hold are protected from all automatic actions (deletion, archival, anonymization) regardless of their expiration date.
Placing a Legal Hold (Single Document)
Bulk Legal Hold
To place legal hold on multiple documents at once:
Managing Legal Holds
View and manage all documents on legal hold:
- Go to Settings > Compliance > Retention Policies > View Records
- Use the Legal Hold filter dropdown to show only held documents
- Review held documents and their hold reasons
- Release holds when legal counsel approves
Releasing Legal Holds
Single document:
Bulk release:
Only release legal holds when legal counsel approves. Premature release may cause compliance issues. All legal hold actions are recorded in the audit trail.
Retention Records
Each document with an active retention policy has a retention record:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Status | Active, Expired, Processed, Held |
| Trigger Date | When the retention period started |
| Expiration Date | When the document will expire |
| Notification Date | When warning emails are sent |
| Action Date | When the retention action will execute |
| Legal Hold | Whether document is on hold |
Status Meanings
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Active | Document is within retention period |
| Expiring Soon | Notification sent, approaching action date |
| Expired | Retention period ended, awaiting action |
| Processed | Retention action has been executed |
| Legal Hold | Document is on legal hold, protected from actions |
| Extended | Retention period was manually extended |
Calendar View
The retention calendar provides a visual overview of document expirations:
- Go to Settings > Compliance > Retention Policies
- Click View Records, then Calendar View
- Navigate months to see expiration dates
- Color-coded indicators show document status:
- Orange: Documents expiring on that date
- Red: Documents already expired
- Purple: Documents on legal hold
- Click a date to see documents expiring that day
- Monthly statistics show totals for expiring, expired, and held documents
Extending Retention
To keep a document longer than its current retention period:
The document status changes to Extended and the new expiration/action dates are calculated. Extensions are fully audited with the user and reason recorded.
Audit Trail
All retention actions are fully audited:
- Policy creation, modification, and deletion
- Policy activation/deactivation
- Document retention record creation
- Grace period notifications sent
- Retention action execution (archive, anonymize, delete)
- Legal holds placed and released (including bulk operations)
- Retention extensions granted
View the complete audit trail in Settings > Compliance > Audit Logs.
Example Policies
Standard Document Cleanup
- Trigger: 365 days after Document Request completion
- Action: Archive
- Grace period: 30 days
- Notification: Yes
GDPR Compliance
- Trigger: 90 days of no access
- Action: Anonymize
- Grace period: 14 days
- Notification: Yes
Aggressive Cleanup
- Trigger: 30 days after Document Request completion
- Action: Delete
- Grace period: 7 days
- Notification: Yes
Plan Availability
| Feature | Starter | Professional | Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retention policies | - | Up to 3 | Unlimited |
| Custom triggers | - | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email notifications | - | ✓ | ✓ |
| Retention calendar | - | ✓ | ✓ |
| Extend retention | - | ✓ | ✓ |
| Legal hold (single) | - | - | ✓ |
| Bulk legal hold | - | - | ✓ |
| Audit trail | - | ✓ | ✓ |
Email Notifications
When a document is approaching its retention action date, Gatherly sends warning emails to organization admins:
- Sent based on the policy's notification settings
- Includes document name, expiration date, and action type
- Provides a direct link to the retention records page
- Allows admins to extend retention or place legal hold before action