Changing the archive retention period You can make changes to the Archive retention period at any time on the Services tab of the applicable Group form. If you change the Archive retention period, it will be immediately applied to all messages from users in that group unless you select the "Use previous retention period for existing content". Lowering the Archive retention period If you lower the Archive retention period, all messages that are now expired will be immediately deleted unless you select the "Use previous retention period for existing content" checkbox. Note • If you don't wish to use the previous retention period, note that these items are recoverable until the nightly audit runs. • If you are concerned about mistakenly deleting messages, you can set a retention time for deleted items so you have an additional safety net. • If a legal hold is set ("Never remove any content" checkbox is selected), thioverrides any other settings on this form.s