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SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions

Exhibit

Refer to the exhibit.

{
  "PolicyName": "Employee Retention Policy",
  "PolicyType": "Retention",
  "Locations": [
    "Exchange",
    "SharePoint",
    "OneDrive"
  ],
  "RetentionDuration": 365,
  "RetentionAction": "KeepAndDelete",
  "DispositionAction": "Delete"
}

A Microsoft Purview retention policy is configured to retain emails for 365 days and then delete them. What will happen to emails after 365 days?

⚠ Common exam trap

A common mix-up: candidates confuse a retention policy with a litigation hold or eDiscovery hold, which preserve content indefinitely until manually released, whereas a retention policy with a deletion action automatically removes content after the specified period.

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

✓

Emails will be retained for 365 days and then deleted

The retention policy is configured to retain emails for 365 days and then delete them. In Microsoft Purview, when a retention policy specifies a retention period followed by a deletion action, content is preserved for the entire duration and then permanently removed at the end of the period. Therefore, after 365 days, the emails will be deleted automatically.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

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

  • ✗

    Emails will be deleted immediately

    Why it's wrong here

    This retention policy explicitly defines a 365-day retention period before any deletion action occurs. Therefore, content subject to this policy, such as emails, will not be deleted immediately upon creation or modification. The policy's configuration ensures a specific duration of preservation, directly contradicting an immediate deletion scenario.

  • ✓

    Emails will be retained for 365 days and then deleted

    Why this is correct

    The Microsoft Purview retention policy is configured with a 'Keep and then delete' action, specifically set for a duration of 365 days. This means that emails covered by this policy will be preserved and immutable for the entire 365-day period from their creation or last modification date. Upon the expiration of this retention period, the policy will automatically trigger the permanent deletion of these emails from their respective locations.

  • ✗

    Emails will be retained and then reviewed for deletion

    Why it's wrong here

    This retention policy does not include any explicit configuration for a review step prior to deletion. Microsoft Purview retention policies, by default, execute their defined actions (keep, delete, or keep and then delete) automatically based on the set duration. While disposition reviews can be configured in Purview, they are a separate, optional component not indicated as part of a standard 'Keep and then delete' policy.

  • ✗

    Emails will be kept indefinitely

    Why it's wrong here

    The policy's action is clearly defined as 'Keep and then delete,' which directly contradicts the notion of indefinite retention. After the specified 365-day retention period concludes, the policy is designed to permanently remove the content. Indefinite retention would require a 'Keep forever' policy or a policy without a deletion component, neither of which is represented by the 'Keep and then delete' configuration.

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JA

Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security

Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva

This SC-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SC-900 exam.