The answer is Litigation hold, the correct Microsoft Purview feature for preserving all email communications indefinitely during a legal investigation. This is because litigation hold places a hold on an entire mailbox, safeguarding all content including deleted items and previous versions, and permanently prevents users or automated processes from purging any data. On the SC-900 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of preservation solutions versus retention policies; a common trap is confusing litigation hold with retention labels, which apply to specific folders or items rather than the whole mailbox. Remember that litigation hold is designed for indefinite, mailbox-wide legal preservation, while retention policies are for time-based compliance. A helpful memory tip: think of “litigation” as a full legal lockdown—it locks the entire mailbox, not just pieces of it.
SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions
This SC-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe the capabilities of microsoft compliance solutions. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is subject to a legal investigation and must preserve all email communications related to the case for an indefinite period, even if users try to delete them. The compliance officer needs a solution that can place a hold on specific user mailboxes and prevent any permanent deletion of relevant content. Which Microsoft Purview feature should be used?
Why wrong: Retention labels can preserve content, but they are policy-based and can be overridden by users unless locked. Litigation Hold is more appropriate for legal hold scenarios.
B
Litigation hold
Litigation Hold preserves all mailbox content, including deleted items, and prevents permanent deletion until the hold is removed.
C
Data loss prevention
Why wrong: DLP prevents data sharing but does not preserve data for legal holds.
D
Compliance Manager
Why wrong: Compliance Manager helps manage compliance activities and assessments but does not place holds on data.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Litigation hold
Litigation hold is the correct feature because it places a hold on an entire mailbox, preserving all content including deleted items and versions, and prevents permanent deletion by users or automated processes. Unlike retention labels or policies, litigation hold applies to the entire mailbox and is designed specifically for legal investigations where indefinite preservation is required.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 labels
Why it's wrong here
Retention labels can preserve content, but they are policy-based and can be overridden by users unless locked. Litigation Hold is more appropriate for legal hold scenarios.
✓
Litigation hold
Why this is correct
Litigation Hold preserves all mailbox content, including deleted items, and prevents permanent deletion until the hold is removed.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Data loss prevention
Why it's wrong here
DLP prevents data sharing but does not preserve data for legal holds.
✗
Compliance Manager
Why it's wrong here
Compliance Manager helps manage compliance activities and assessments but does not place holds on data.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse retention labels or policies with litigation hold, not realizing that retention labels apply granularly to content while litigation hold applies to the entire mailbox and is specifically designed for legal preservation scenarios.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
Retention labels can preserve content, but they are policy-based and can be overridden by users unless locked. Litigation Hold is more appropriate for legal hold scenarios.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Litigation hold works by placing a mailbox in a special state where all items, including deleted items and previous versions, are preserved in the Recoverable Items folder. The hold is enforced at the Exchange Online mailbox level using the Set-Mailbox cmdlet with the LitigationHoldEnabled parameter, and it overrides any user-initiated deletions or retention policies. In a real-world scenario, even if a user empties their Deleted Items folder, the items remain accessible to eDiscovery searches for the duration of the hold.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this SC-900 question in full detail.
Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions — This question tests Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Litigation hold — Litigation hold is the correct feature because it places a hold on an entire mailbox, preserving all content including deleted items and versions, and prevents permanent deletion by users or automated processes. Unlike retention labels or policies, litigation hold applies to the entire mailbox and is designed specifically for legal investigations where indefinite preservation is required.
What should I do if I get this SC-900 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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