When Microsoft introduced Purview Priority Cleanup earlier this year, they solved a long-standing compliance conundrum: how to permanently delete sensitive data that’s subject to a retention label or eDiscovery hold. For organisations needing to honour data privacy requests like the right to be forgotten, this is a breakthrough.
But like most powerful features, it comes with some serious risks.
This isn’t your average deletion. There’s no soft delete, no recycle bin, and no opportunity to reverse course. Once Priority Cleanup has done its job, the data is gone. Permanently.
So, how do you take advantage of this feature without opening your organisation up to costly mistakes? The simple answer is: by ensuring your Microsoft 365 environment is safeguarded with a proper backup solution.
Microsoft’s approach to risk mitigation
Let’s be clear: Microsoft’s Purview Priority Cleanup feature is a fantastic addition to Data Lifecycle Management. It allows organisations to reconcile the sometimes-contradictory demands of data retention and deletion, making it possible to comply with legal deletion requests even when the data is otherwise locked down.
But its power lies in its finality. Priority Cleanup doesn’t just delete data. It overrides holds. It bypasses retention labels. It’s built to be irreversible.
To prevent mistakes, Microsoft has added some safeguards: simulation mode lets you preview what would be deleted, and all deletion requests require dual approval – including from a Retention Management Admin if the content is under a label. But these aren’t foolproof, particularly in large, complex environments where visibility isn’t always perfect.
And there are some important exceptions that administrators need to be aware of:
- Regulatory records are off-limits. Items marked as regulatory records or records can’t be deleted via Priority Cleanup.
- Dual approval applies to retention-labelled content. If the data is under a retention label, it won’t be deleted unless a designated Retention Management Admin signs off alongside the Priority Cleanup admin.
- eDiscovery comes first. If items approved for deletion are part of an active eDiscovery review set, they’ll only be deleted once the eDiscovery case is closed.
These are sensible controls, but they’re not infallible. And if something does get deleted unexpectedly, the only true way to recover is to restore it from backup.
Why safeguards can never replace a good backup
We see it all the time: clients put extensive effort into shaping data retention policies, labelling sensitive content, and mapping out compliance architecture, but then overlook the importance of having a resilient backup in place. The problem? Even the best-laid policies can go wrong in implementation.
Priority Cleanup doesn’t discriminate based on human error. If a policy is misconfigured or applied to the wrong scope, data could disappear before anyone realises. That could mean lost emails, corrupted audit trails, or the accidental deletion of documents tied to ongoing investigations or regulatory obligations.
With a solution like AvePoint Backup in place, however, your business-critical data stays accessible, even if it’s swept up in a cleanup gone wrong. It’s the peace of mind that ensures your compliance strategy doesn’t come at the cost of operational resilience.
Bring backup into your compliance strategy
At Cloud Essentials, we help organisations combine backup, archiving and document management into cohesive, compliant retention strategies. Through our Data Governance Programme, we align your compliance goals with the right technical controls so you can meet corporate and regulatory requirements without slowing down the business.
Whether you’re just getting started with Purview Priority Cleanup or looking to tighten up your existing environment, our team can help you design a smarter, safer way forward.
Don’t wait for a policy to go wrong. Back it up before you clean it up.
