How to Place Legal Holds on Custodians with Microsoft Purview eDiscovery Premium

A company is involved in a legal dispute and must preserve all emails and documents related to the case. The legal team needs to identify specific custodians (employees) and place a hold on their Exchange Online mailboxes and SharePoint sites to prevent any deletion or alteration of relevant content. Additionally, they need to collect the preserved data for review and analysis. Which Microsoft Purview solution should they use?

Quick Answer

The answer is Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium) because it provides the complete end-to-end workflow required for legal investigations, including placing legal holds on custodians to preserve Exchange Online mailboxes and SharePoint sites from deletion or alteration, and then collecting that preserved data for review and analysis. This solution directly addresses the scenario’s need to identify specific custodians, apply a litigation hold, and gather content for legal discovery. On the SC-900 exam, this question tests your understanding of how eDiscovery Premium differs from the standard eDiscovery solution, which lacks advanced hold and collection capabilities. A common trap is confusing eDiscovery Premium with simply using litigation hold alone—remember that Premium adds the full lifecycle of custodian management, collection, and review. Memory tip: think “Premium = Preserve, Collect, Review” to recall its three core phases.

⚠ Common exam trap

It's easy for candidates to confuse the logging/auditing capability (Audit) with the preservation and collection workflow (eDiscovery), or assuming that retention policies (Data Lifecycle Management) can serve as a legal hold, when in fact they are designed for lifecycle management and do not support custodian-based holds or case-specific collection.

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

✓

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium)

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium) is the correct solution because it provides end-to-end workflow for legal investigations: identifying and placing custodians on hold (via litigation hold on Exchange Online mailboxes and SharePoint sites), preserving content from deletion or alteration, and then collecting, reviewing, and analyzing the preserved data. This directly matches the scenario's requirements for legal hold and data collection for review.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✓
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium)
Why this is correct
eDiscovery (Premium) provides end-to-end workflow for identifying, preserving, collecting, and reviewing data relevant to legal cases, including placing holds on custodians' data.
✗
Microsoft Purview Audit
Why it's wrong here
Audit provides logs of user and admin activity, but does not provide preservation or collection capabilities.
✗
Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management
Why it's wrong here
Data Lifecycle Management defines retention and deletion policies, but is not designed for legal hold on specific custodians.
✗
Microsoft Purview Communication Compliance
Why it's wrong here
Communication Compliance monitors communications for policy violations, not for legal hold and eDiscovery.

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Same concept, more angles

1 more way this is tested on SC-900

These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.

Variation 1. A company is involved in litigation and needs to search for specific emails and documents across Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Teams. They also need to place a hold on relevant content to prevent deletion. Which Microsoft Purview solution should they use?

easy

A.Records Management
B.Data Lifecycle Management
✓ C.eDiscovery
D.Data Loss Prevention

Why C: Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (specifically eDiscovery (Premium)) is the correct solution because it is designed for legal investigations, enabling organizations to search for content across Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Teams, and to place holds on that content to preserve it from deletion or alteration. This directly addresses the litigation requirement for both search and hold capabilities.

Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026

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