Retention vs. expiration

Retention and expiration both control how long a secure message can be opened — but they work differently, and it's easy to mix them up. Here's what each one does.

Retention

Retention is the maximum length of time a secure message — along with its activity log — stays in the system and available to view. It's set by your plan, and it applies differently depending on who's viewing:

  • Users in your subscription — your own team members who send and manage messages — can access messages for your full retention period (up to several years on paid plans).
  • Free / guest recipients — people who receive your secure messages without a business subscription of their own — can view a message for 30 days by default. That window is governed by the sender's subscription, so it's set by your account rather than by the recipient. (A recipient who has their own business subscription falls under their own plan's retention instead.)

Expiration

Expiration is an optional, shorter cutoff you can place on top of retention. When a message expires, it can no longer be opened — by the recipient or the sender — even though retention would otherwise keep it available.

When a message expires, it still appears in the list and its activity log / Proof of Delivery stays available — it's only the message content that can no longer be opened. Choosing “Use default retention” simply means no expiration: the message stays available for its full retention period.

A quick comparison

  Retention Expiration
What it is The maximum time a message stays available An optional shorter cutoff on top of retention
Set by Your plan The sender, or your message policy default
Default Always applies — 30 days for free/guest recipients by default; longer windows available depending on the sender's subscription Off unless set (“Use default retention”)
After the window Message is removed from the system Content can't be opened; record & log remain

How to set an expiration

You can set an expiration two ways:

  • On a single message — choose an expiration from the dropdown on the Compose page when you send.
  • As a default for your team — an administrator can set a default expiration in your message policy. See Set the default message expiration.

Our recommendation: for your default message policy, keep the default set to Use default retention. Messages then stay available for your full retention period unless a sender deliberately chooses a shorter expiration — which is usually what you want for everyday sending.

Expiration vs. revoke

Expiration is automatic — you choose a time up front. If you need to close access to a single message sooner, you can revoke it by hand at any time. Use either, or both together. Either way, the Proof of Delivery log keeps a time-stamped record of who opened the message and when.

Questions about the right setup for your organization? Reach out to our team and we'll be glad to help.