Place Hangouts Chat messages on hold

Use holds to preserve data indefinitely to meet legal or preservation obligations.

If a user who's subject to a hold deletes data, it's removed from the user's view, but the data is preserved in Vault. As long as the hold is in place, you can search and export that data.

Note: When a G Suite administrator deletes a user's account in the Admin console, the user's data is no longer available in Vault and can’t be restored. If you want to hold or retain a user's data, the user must have both G Suite and Vault licenses. Learn more about Vault licenses. 

For more information about holds, see the holds FAQ.

Important information about Hangouts Chat and holds

Retention rules and holds apply to DMs only when history is on

Retention rules and holds always apply to rooms. However, they apply to DMs only when history is turned on. A G Suite admin can control whether history is on or off, or they can allow users to decide.

A hold preserves conversations in rooms only if a held user sent a message

A hold applied to a user covers only conversations in which that user sent at least one message. Conversations in a room where the user wasn't an active participant aren't included in the hold, even though that user may have viewed messages.
Direct messages (DMs) sent to a user on hold are included in the hold even if the user doesn't reply.

You can't place an entire room on hold

Rooms in Hangouts Chat can't be restricted to an individual organizational unit, meaning anyone in your domain can be invited to any room. Vault won't hold messages sent by room participants who aren't covered by a hold. 
Messages on hold are visible to users

When you create a hold, messages covered by the hold will remain visible to the user, even if a retention rule should have removed the messages from that user's view.

Place Hangouts Chat on hold

  1. Create or open the matter that will contain the hold.
  2. Click Create Hold.
  3. Enter a unique name for the hold. 
  4. Choose the type of hold: Hangouts Chat.
  5. Use the down arrow to apply the hold to either individual accounts or to an entire organizational unit:
    • Accounts—enter one or more email addresses for the accounts that are subject to this hold.
    • Organization—Choose an organizational unit from the drop-down list.
  6. (Optional) Check the box to include conversations from rooms. 
  7. Click Save to create the hold.

Modify an existing hold on Hangouts Chat

You can change some of the criteria of a hold. However, you can't change the data type.

  1. Open the matter that contains the hold.
  2. Click the hold, then click Edit Hold.
  3. Modify any of the following criteria:
    • Accounts—Add or remove accounts or organizational units. You cannot add accounts to a hold that covers an organizational unit, nor can you add organizational units to a hold that covers individual accounts. Additionally, If you remove all users, you're prompted to delete the hold. 
    • Also include conversations in rooms—Change this setting as desired to include or exclude conversations in rooms.
  4. Click Save.

 

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