What Is OneDrive Preservation Hold Library and How Does It Work

OneDrive Preservation Hold Library is a feature that helps you preserve files and folders that are being deleted or modified. It's designed to keep your important files safe from accidental deletion.

The library is a designated area where files are stored when they're placed on preservation hold. This allows you to review and manage the files before they're permanently deleted.

Files placed on preservation hold are not deleted, but they're still not accessible to users until the hold is removed. This gives you time to review and decide what to do with the files.

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The OneDrive Preservation Hold Library is a special library that contains items that have been modified or deleted but must remain available due to eDiscovery holds.

It's also known as the "Preservation Hold library" and has a language-specific description that matches this name.

This library is identified by its webUrl, which is in the format of "https://[tenant]-my.sharepoint.com/personal/[account_name]/PreservationHoldLibrary".

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You can detect this library at runtime by checking the webUrl of each drive in a collection of user's drives, but be aware that it may not be possible to filter it out of processing.

Here are some key characteristics of the Preservation Hold library:

Microsoft made a change to how SharePoint Online stores files in the Preservation Hold Library, which now keeps different versions of a file available.

This means eDiscovery searches find the latest version of retained files, but investigators can also view or restore previous versions if needed.

Mike Duffy, a commenter, noted that unless the storage mechanism for versions has changed, file storage sizes would still include the full size of each version, which can add up.

Thomassays, another commenter, shared his own experience, mentioning that his preservation hold library is 99.96% of his storage, causing him issues.

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The Preservation Hold Library in OneDrive has been improved to make it more efficient for data retention management. Site collection administrators can still access the PHL by navigating directly to its URL in certain scenarios.

The PHL is now a restricted zone, accessible only to site owners and admins, making it a more secure area for sensitive data. This change aims to prevent user access to the PHL.

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SharePoint Online now stores a single file with its full version history, rather than multiple copies of retained files in the Preservation Hold Library.

This change was introduced in mid-2022, after being delayed until August 2022, and affects content searches for documents.

Files in the Preservation Hold Library now have a single version, containing all their history, just like regular files stored in document libraries.

Site owners don't need to create the Preservation Hold Library, as SharePoint creates it automatically when required.

To view Site items in the Preservation Hold Library, add /PreservationHoldLibrary to the site URL in the browser bar.

This change simplifies the management of file versions and reduces the storage space needed for retained files.

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The Preservation Hold Library is now more streamlined than ever, and its new update is a game-changer for data retention in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business.

Microsoft has removed user access to the Preservation Hold Library, making it a restricted zone accessible only to site owners and admins. This change ensures that sensitive data is protected and only accessible to those who need it.

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With the new update, retention labels will work in the same way as they do in OneDrive, allowing users to delete labelled items without encountering frustrating error messages.

The Preservation Hold Library now holds files with version history, storing a single file containing its full version history instead of multiple copies. This change was implemented in August 2022, and it's a significant improvement for managing data retention.

Site owners don't have to create the Preservation Hold Library as SharePoint creates it automatically when required. To view Site items in the Preservation Hold Library, add /PreservationHoldLibrary to the site URL in the browser bar.

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