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Knowledge base › Compliance and retention

How to add a retention label as the default for a document library

Set a Microsoft Purview retention label as the default for a SharePoint document library, so every new document is kept for the right length of time without anyone having to remember to label it.

  • For: site owners and compliance admins
  • Time: about 10 minutes
  • Applies to: SharePoint Online, Microsoft Purview

A default retention label is applied automatically to documents added to a library after you set it. It saves people choosing a label each time, and it means the library’s retention rules are applied consistently.

Before you start

  • You need site owner (Full Control) permission on the SharePoint site.
  • The retention label must already exist in Microsoft Purview and be published to the site in a label policy. If it isn’t, ask your compliance admin or follow steps 1 and 2 below.
  • Your Microsoft 365 licence must include retention labels. Check your licensing with your Microsoft 365 administrator.

Part 1: Create and publish the label (compliance admin)

Skip to Part 2 if the label is already published to your site.

  1. Create the retention label. In the Microsoft Purview portal, go to Solutions › Records management (or Data lifecycle management) › Retention labels and select Create a label. Give it a clear name, for example HR – Employment + 6 years, then set how long to keep content and what happens at the end of the period.
  2. Publish the label to the site. Go to Label policies and select Publish labels. Choose your label, then choose the SharePoint site (or sites) where it should be available. Name the policy and submit it.
  3. Allow time for the label to appear. Published labels usually appear in SharePoint within a day, but it can take up to seven days.

Part 2: Set the default label on the library (site owner)

  1. Open the document library in SharePoint.
  2. Select Settings (the gear icon, top right) and then Library settings. If a panel opens, select More library settings.
  3. Under Permissions and Management, select Apply label to items in this list or library.
  4. Choose your retention label from the list.
  5. If you want documents already in the library to get the label too, tick Apply label to existing items in the library. Leave it unticked to label only new documents.
  6. Select Save.
Tip: you can also set a default label on a single folder. Select the folder, open the details pane (the ⓘ icon), and choose a label under Apply label. Documents added to that folder then get the folder’s label.

Check it’s working

Upload a test document to the library, select it, and open the details pane. The retention label should be shown. You can also add the Retention label column to the library view to see labels at a glance.

Good to know

  • Documents that someone has labelled by hand keep their own label. The default only fills the gap.
  • If you change the default later, documents that still have the old default label are updated; manually labelled documents are not.
  • If the label declares items as records, people won’t be able to delete or edit those documents until the retention period ends. Test with a non-record label first.
  • Applying a label to a large number of existing items can take a while to complete in the background.
Using FilePlan 365? FilePlan 365 can apply the right retention label for each document type in a record’s file plan, so different documents in the same library can be kept for different periods. Set labels on the document types in your template, and they’re applied as documents are filed.

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