MS-900 Retention policies and retention labels Practice Question
A financial services firm uses Microsoft 365 and must retain all business communications for 7 years to comply with SEC regulations. They also need to prevent users from permanently deleting emails. Which Microsoft Purview feature should they implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is confusing retention with other Purview features like DLP or eDiscovery; candidates might think DLP prevents deletion, but DLP only blocks sharing or leakage, not deletion for retention.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Retention policies and retention labels
Retention policies and retention labels in Microsoft Purview allow organizations to retain content for a specified period (e.g., 7 years) and prevent permanent deletion by users. They can be applied to Exchange email, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams, ensuring compliance with SEC regulations. This feature also supports disposition review and legal hold scenarios.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Retention policies and retention labels
Why this is correct
Retention policies and labels apply retention settings across Exchange, SharePoint and Teams, and preserve content by blocking permanent deletion until the seven-year period expires. This satisfies both the SEC retention obligation and the requirement preventing users from purging emails.
- ✗
Sensitivity labels
Why it's wrong here
Sensitivity labels classify and protect content through encryption and marking; they do not impose a fixed seven-year retention period or prevent users deleting items. It is tempting because labels govern data handling, and would be correct when the requirement is classification and access control rather than retention.
- ✗
eDiscovery (Standard)
Why it's wrong here
eDiscovery (Standard) supports search, hold and export for litigation, but its holds are case-scoped and it does not apply organisation-wide retention or block permanent deletion. It is tempting because holds preserve content, and would be correct when responding to a specific legal matter rather than meeting a standing regulatory retention rule.
- ✗
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies
Why it's wrong here
DLP policies detect and block sensitive data in transit or at rest, but they neither retain items for a fixed period nor prevent permanent deletion. Retention and preservation are handled by retention policies and litigation hold. DLP would be correct when the requirement is stopping credit card numbers leaving email.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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