Litigation hold
Preserving all of a user's content indefinitely because it may be relevant to legal proceedings.
Once a hold is applied, nothing that user deletes is actually removed. Deleted items are retained invisibly so the evidence remains available regardless of user action.
Applying it promptly matters, because failing to preserve evidence after you reasonably anticipate litigation carries its own legal consequences separate from the underlying case.
Where this comes up
Litigation hold sits inside our microsoft 365 and cloud work. If you are trying to work out what this means for your own environment rather than in the abstract, that is the page worth reading next, and a short call will get you a straight answer faster than either.
Related terms
eDiscovery Searching, preserving, and exporting electronic content in response to a legal, regulatory, or investigative request. Retention policy A rule defining how long content is kept and what happens when that period ends. Microsoft Purview Microsoft's data governance and compliance platform: classification, labeling, data loss prevention, retention, eDiscovery, and insider risk.