Can I set up retention policy for Spanning Backup for Google Workspace?

Email Retention Policy

By default, Spanning Backup for Google Workspace retains your data as long as users have Spanning licenses. You can set up an email retention policy to automatically delete any backed-up email messages with a received date older than the retention period.

The email retention period applies to all Spanning-licensed users in your organization.
Once an email exceeds the retention period, Spanning will delete it automatically during the daily backup process.

Example:

Your organization sets a 180-day email retention period in Spanning.
Spanning deletes all backed-up emails older than 180 days daily.
For new users added after the retention policy is set, emails older than the retention period will not be backed up.

The email retention policy for your domain is displayed on the Settings page in Spanning.

Google Drive Retention Policy

Spanning Backup also allows you to configure a Drive retention policy. If the Drive Retention period is set to 2 years (720 days):

A new document created in Drive will be backed up.
If no changes are made to the file, the backup will be deleted after 2 years.
If a file is modified, its retention period resets based on the last backup:
- Example: If a document titled "2022 Annual Report" was created and later edited to "2023 Annual Report", Spanning Backup will only delete the first version (2022 report) after two years. The 2023 version remains until it reaches its own two-year retention mark.

Shared Drives Retention Policy

Spanning Backup includes Shared Drives as a separate item in the backup, with its own configurable retention policy.

You can configure a specific retention policy for Shared Drives, independent of individual user Drive retention.
Once a Shared Drive file reaches the configured retention period, it will be automatically deleted from backup.

NOTE:

Previously, Shared Drive data was backed up as part of the users who had download access. If all such users were removed from the backup, the associated Shared Drive data would also be deleted.

As of July 1, we introduced a separate Shared Drive Backup, ensuring that new backups are retained independently of individual users.

Before July 1, 2024 Release

Example 1: Retention Period Expired

File: deal2021.pdf
Created: March 1, 2021
Deleted: July 1, 2021
Users with access: Alex and Greg
Retention Policy: 2 years (720 days)
Current Date: February 2025
Result:
The file was deleted over three years ago, exceeding the 720-day retention limit.
✅ Even though Alex is still assigned, the file is permanently deleted from backup.

Example 2: One User Removed

File: deal2023.pdf
Created/Deleted: 2023
Current Date: February 2025
Retention Period: Still active (less than 720 days passed)
Greg is unassigned, Alex is still assigned
Result:
✅ File is still available for restore under Alex's backup (Alex → Deals).

After July 1, 2024 Release

Example 3: Retention for Shared Drive File

File: deal2024.pdf
Created: February 1, 2024
Deleted: September 20, 2024
Retention Policy: 2 years (720 days)
Current Date: February 2025
Result:
✅ File is backed up under the new Shared Drive backup system and will be retained until September 10, 2026, regardless of user assignment.

Example 4: All Users Removed, File Still Available

File: deal2024.pdf in Shared Drive "Deals"
Alex and Greg are both unassigned
Current Date: February 2025
Result:
✅ File remains available in the Shared Drive backup.
❌ It will only be deleted after September 10, 2026, unless modified or manually deleted earlier.