Microsoft will retire several legacy SharePoint Online compliance features beginning in April 2026. This retirement targets older, site-scoped features and is intended to streamline data lifecycle and records management.
The following site-scoped features will be retired:
- Information Management Policies
- In-Place Records Management
- Document deletion policies (deletion only)
- Policies for site closure and deletion (deletion only)
Organizations should transition to Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management and Records Management as the supported alternatives.
Timeline
The retirement starts in April 2026, only for site collections in SharePoint Online.
How does this affect your SharePoint site collections?
Site collection administrators are affected if they use one or more of the listed site-scoped features. SharePoint administrators must migrate existing configurations to Microsoft Purview by April 2026. Microsoft will not migrate your existing site configurations.
When a feature is retired, Microsoft may gradually reduce or remove support for it. The feature may no longer be officially supported, could disappear from the user interface, and configuration options may be removed from both the UI and programmatic access, such as APIs.
In later stages of retirement, the underlying backend services that support the feature may no longer function as intended, resulting in partial or complete loss of functionality.
Microsoft has published an overview of the legacy site-scoped features, including guidance on which Microsoft Purview solution organizations should use as replacements.
- Information Management Policies
Information management policies allow organizations to control and track how long content is retained and which actions users can take on that content. Organizations should use Purview Data Lifecycle Management as an alternative.
- In-Place Records Management
In-Place Records Management enables organizations to manage records directly within collaborative sites. This approach allows records with long-term business or legal value to coexist with active working documents. Organizations should use Purview Records Management as a replacement.
- Document deletion policies (deletion only)
With a document deletion policy, an organization can proactively reduce risk by deleting documents after a defined period. For example, documents stored in users’ OneDrive personal sites can be automatically deleted five years after creation.
Organizations should use retention labels in Purview Data Lifecycle Management as an alternative.
- Policies for site closure and deletion (deletion only)
A site collection administrator can use site closure and deletion policies to control site proliferation. These policies define a site’s lifecycle by specifying when it is closed and when it is deleted.
As an alternative, organizations can use Purview Data Lifecycle Management in combination with SharePoint Advanced Management. Note, Microsoft Purview can retain or delete content but will not delete an entire site collection.
