Purge Policies

Define data removal policies for archived records in the Archive app. Purge policies override the original data retention expiration set at the time of archiving. When designated to do so, purge policies permanently delete data.

Required Editions

User Permissions Needed
To manage purge policies:	Archive Purge Policy

A purge policy runs once a day. You can also run it manually when the purge policy isn't running. On the Activities tab, review purge policy activity and download a CSV file that lists the purged records.

Each purge policy run deletes up to 1,000,000 records. For details about the run limit, legal hold, and Archived Data Protected from Purge, see How Purge Policies Work.

To configure permissions for purge policies:

To open the Setup menu, click the Setup gear icon.
In the Quick Find box, type and select Permission Sets from the results.
Alternatively, click the arrow icon next to Users and select Permission Sets.
Assign the Archive Purge Policy permission set.
Save your work.

Warning Exercise caution when granting purge policy permissions. Purging records is permanent, and purged data can't be retrieved.

Create a Purge Policy

Create a purge policy that deletes archived records.

Go to the Policies tab.
Select New.
Select Purge Archived Data.

In the purge policy form, provide this information.

Field	Description
Policy Name	Recognizable name for the purge policy. For example, Inactive Cases Opened 2 Years Ago.
Description	Purpose of the purge policy.
Enabled	Activates the purge policy.

Configure Purge Policy Query Conditions

Define which archived records a purge policy deletes.

From the Archive Root Object dropdown menu, select an object to be purged.
From the Field dropdown menu, select an option.
Newly added fields can take up to 24 hours to appear in this list.
Select an operator, such as equals, less than, and greater than, that defines the condition.
Archive treats number fields as text. For number fields, select equals.
Optionally, add the Date Category to refine your query further.
Enter or Select a Value: The values available depend on your selected operator.

Optionally, you can add, reset, or delete query conditions.

Query Condition	Description
+Add Condition	Adds another query condition and repeats the previous steps.
Delete	Removes any query condition.
Reset	Clears all query conditions and starts over.

To review and confirm the purge action, save your work.

Note Set at least one condition. A purge policy without a condition deletes all archived records of the root object when it runs.

Estimate a Purge Policy

The Estimate feature provides insight into the records scheduled for purging according to the next purge policy process.

Go to the Policies tab.
Select a purge policy.
Click Estimate.
The estimate process begins, and you're redirected to the Policies table.
After the estimate process completes, go to the Activities tab.
To review all records to be purged with the purge policy, click the Download Execution Details file.

Run a Purge Policy

Run a purge policy manually, without waiting for the scheduled run.

Go to the Policies tab.
Select a purge policy.
Click Run Now.
You can't start a run while the purge policy is still running.
To initiate the purge process, click Confirm.

Warning Archive purges up to 1,000,000 records that match this purge policy in the background. You can't recover them. To follow progress, go to the Activities tab.