The Data Retention setting defines a platform-wide policy for how long your data is stored before the platform automatically deletes it.
Overview
Data Retention sets the period for which your data can be stored on the platform: the system automatically deletes data older than the specified time frame, and you can update the setting at any time. It may not appear in every environment's settings navigation — it's reached at Settings › Data Retention where it's enabled. Because the setting affects what gets permanently removed, the page's own guidance is to consider legal requirements, balance operational needs, and review the retention period regularly rather than set it once and forget it.
Use Cases
Enforce a company-wide data lifecycle policy without relying on manual cleanup.
Meet legal or compliance retention requirements by capping how long data can be stored.
Balance storage growth against operational needs by tuning how often the cleanup job runs.
Tighten the retention period when a compliance requirement changes, with an explicit confirmation step before older data becomes eligible for deletion.
Combine the platform-wide policy with per-object retention for individual datasets that need a shorter life.
What the Retention Fields Control
Parameter | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
Retention Period* | The number of days your data is stored before automatic deletion. Enter whole numbers only, between one day and the maximum limit of your Data Retention Package. | 90 |
Job Frequency* | How often the data retention job runs to clean up expired data based on the retention period. Choose Daily, Monthly, or Yearly. Default is Daily. | Daily |
Note: Deletion isn't instant at expiry — data past the retention period is removed the next time the cleanup job runs, on the cadence set by Job Frequency.
Saving Changes
"Save" first asks you to confirm: "Save Changes? Please confirm before applying any changes to data retention settings." The confirmation exists because shortening the period makes older data eligible for automatic, unrecoverable deletion on the next job run. "Cancel" backs out without applying anything.
Per-Object Retention
Independent of this platform-wide policy, each Storage object can define its own retention in its object settings — a duration plus unit, optionally keyed to a date field on the record. That per-object retention is enforced by the data store itself: records expire and are removed automatically once past their duration. Use the platform-wide setting for the blanket policy, and per-object retention where a specific dataset needs a shorter life. See the Objects documentation for the object-level controls.
Notes
Confirm your Data Retention Package's maximum limit before entering a Retention Period — values beyond it aren't accepted.
Treat any reduction in the retention period as effectively irreversible once the next cleanup job runs.
Review the retention period on a regular cadence against legal requirements and operational needs, not just when it's first configured.
Reach for per-object retention when a specific dataset needs a shorter life than the platform-wide default, rather than lowering the global setting.
Remember Job Frequency only changes how often the cleanup job runs — it doesn't change what qualifies for deletion.