Marketing Cloud Engagement: FAQ on Data Retention Policy Behavior in Data Extensions

Q1. When are records that have exceeded the data retention period deleted?

A. The deletion process runs during nighttime hours in Central Standard Time (CST) after the specified retention period has elapsed. In Japan Standard Time (JST), this is approximately around 3:00 PM. (The exact execution window may vary depending on your specific time zone.)

Please note that the Data Retention Policy sets the threshold at which records become eligible for deletion. Therefore, deletion does not necessarily occur the exact moment the period expires.

If a large number of Data Extensions or records are eligible for deletion, the process may not complete in a single run. In such cases, processing will resume from where it left off during the next scheduled deletion cycle (typically the following day).

Note: Deletion may be delayed by a few days due to system load. If records remain more than a week past their expected deletion date, please contact Salesforce Support for investigation.

Q2. When the retention period is specified in "months," how is the date calculated on a calendar basis?

A. Monthly calculations depend on the standard date functions of the underlying database.

For example, if data registered on January 31 has a retention period of "1 month," it becomes eligible for deletion based on February 28 (or 29 in a leap year). For cases requiring precise management, we recommend using "days" (e.g., "30 days") instead of "months."

As noted in Q1, the actual deletion may not occur immediately upon reaching this date.

Q3. If a Data Retention Policy is enabled on a Data Extension that already contains records, what is the start date for those existing records?

A. In principle, the record's creation date/time (_CreatedDate) is used as the start date. However, special attention is required for existing records.

In older versions of the platform, the _CreatedDate field was only added when the policy was activated, meaning the activation date became the start date. However, since the Spring '24 release, _CreatedDate is now automatically included as a standard field in all Data Extensions.

Consequently, if you enable a policy on an existing Data Extension where the _CreatedDate of records already exceeds the retention period, those records may be deleted immediately during the next scheduled deletion run after activation.

Recommendations:

• Verify the creation dates of existing records via Query Activity before enabling a policy to avoid unintended data loss.

• The Data Extension must have fewer than 1 billion records to enable or modify a Data Retention Policy.

Q4. Why is the "Next Planned Expiration" field not displayed on the Data Extension properties screen?

A. The "Next Planned Expiration" date is only displayed when the policy is configured to delete the entire Data Extension or all records at once. This shows the specific date for that bulk action.

When the policy is set to delete individual records, each record has a different expiration date based on its own creation time. Therefore, no single "Next Planned Expiration" date can be shown for the Data Extension as a whole.

Q5. Why does the "Next Planned Expiration" sometimes show a date that is one day off from my expectation?

A. This discrepancy occurs because the system's internal timestamps are based on Central Standard Time (CST). Depending on the offset between your local time zone (such as JST) and CST, the date may appear shifted by one day.

Q6. Can a Data Retention Policy be disabled after it has been enabled?

A. Yes, you can change the policy setting back to "Off" (disabled) even after it has been activated.

Q7. Is there a maximum period that can be set for the Data Retention Policy?

A. There is no functional maximum limit defined within the system for the retention duration.