Hello! Help me please clarify the question concerning the way retention age for different items in a mailbox is calulated. It is said here (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb430780%28printer%29.aspx): ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) A user receives a message in the Inbox folder on 01/26/2011. The Inbox folder has a retention tag configured to delete items in 365 days. The Managed Folder Assistant processes the message. It stamps the message with a start date of 01/26/2011 and an expiration date of 01/26/2012. The user soft-deletes the item on 02/27/2011.The item is moved to the Deleted Items folder, which has a retention tag configured to delete the item in 30 days. The Managed Folder Assistant processes the message. It recalculates the expiration date based on the start date (01/26/2011). Because the item is older than 30 days, it is deleted immediately. 2) A user receives an item in the Inbox folder on 01/26/2011.The Inbox folder doesn't have a retention tag applied, and the retention policy doesn't contain a default policy tag. The user soft-deletes the item on 02/27/2011.The item is moved to the Deleted Items folder, which has a retention tag configured to delete items in 30 days. The Managed Folder Assistant processes the mailbox on 03/27/2011 and determines the item doesn't have a start date. It stamps the current date as the start date, and 04/27/2011 as the expiration date. The item is deleted on 04/27/2011, which is 30 days after it was deleted or moved to the Deleted Items folder. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So why in the first case Managed Folder Assistant processes the deleted message right after it was moved to the Deleted Items folder whereas in the second case it processes the deleted message a month later (03/27/2011, not on 02/27/2011), starting counting the retention age (30 days) from 03/27/2011 and not from 02/27/2011. It results in the message being retained in the Deleted Items folder for 60 days, not for 30 as prescribed by the retention tag (30 days)...? Thank you in advance, Michael Firsov

Hi Michael, As far as I know, the retention policy works based on items' last modify time. You can use MFCmapi to check the last modify time for these two items. Thanks, EvanEvan Liu TechNet Community Support

Evan Liu, thank you for your reply. Nevertheless, I'd like to know to know for sure if this ("The user soft-deletes the item on 02/27/2011....The Managed Folder Assistant processes the mailbox on 03/27/2011) is the error in the documentation or not. Best regards, Michael

Hi Michael, I recommend that you read Anya and Brian Days replies in this thread I think they explain the process in a very good way.Martina Miskovic