View, filter, and control how retention rules are applied and maintained over time.
Retention rules define when agreements and associated data are deleted. Managing these rules ensures that active policies are applied correctly and that previously applied rules continue to govern agreements as expected.
Before you begin
- You must be an account-level or group-level administrator to manage retention rules.
Configuration
Availability
- Acrobat Sign Solutions: Supported.
- Acrobat Sign for Government: Supported.
- Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro: Not supported.
Configuration scope
Retention rules can be managed at the account and group levels.
Group-level settings override account-level settings.
To access this setting
Account-level:
- Navigate to Account Settings > Data Governance.
Group-level:
- Navigate to Admin > Groups.
- Select a group.
- Select Group Settings > Data Governance.
How retention rules behave
Retention rules follow a defined lifecycle:
- Only one retention rule is active at a time for newly terminal agreements. When a new rule is created, it becomes the active rule and applies to all agreements that are recorded in a terminal state going forward. Previously active rules continue to apply to agreements that were already assigned to them and do not need to be disabled.
- Each agreement is assigned a retention rule when it is recorded in a terminal state.
- Agreements retain their assigned rule even if newer rules are created later.
- Disabling a rule prevents deletion for all agreements that have not yet been deleted under that rule.
Rule statuses
Retention rules can have one of the following statuses:
- Enabled – The rule is currently applied to newly terminal agreements or still governs agreements scheduled for deletion.
- Disabled – The rule is no longer applied. Agreements associated with the rule are not deleted.
- Expired – All agreements previously governed by the rule have already been deleted.
- Legacy – Represents retention policies configured through earlier system settings. Agreements already assigned to legacy rules continue to honor those deletion schedules.
Filter retention rules
Use the filter control to view rules by status:
- All rules (default).
- Enabled rules.
- Disabled rules.
- Expired rules.
You can configure the number of records displayed per page, including options such as 15, 30, or 50 rules.
Disable a retention rule
Disabling a rule stops deletion for all agreements associated with that rule.
- Select the rule you want to disable.
- Select Disable.
Disabling a rule cannot be reversed.
Agreements associated with a disabled rule no longer have a deletion action applied and must be removed using other methods, such as GDPR tools.
View group-level rules from the account level
You can access group-level retention rules from the account-level interface:
- Navigate to Account Settings > Data Governance.
- Select the Groups with Retention Rules tab.
- Select a group.
- Select View Group Retention Rules.
Things to know
- Only one retention rule is active at a time for newly terminal agreements.
- Retention rules cannot be modified after they are created. New rules must be created to change retention behavior going forward.
- Previously applied rules continue to govern agreements that were already assigned to them.
- Retention rules cannot be edited after they are applied to an agreement.
- Terminal-state processing may be delayed by up to 12 hours during peak times, delaying when retention begins.
- Disabled rules cannot be re-enabled.
- Retention rules associated with deleted groups remain accessible to preserve audit history. Group settings can still be reviewed and managed through the account-level interface.
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