--- sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/platform-administration Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform Administration ft:clusterId : - platadm bundleId : - platadm workflow : - Platform --- # Email retention # Email retention {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated March 12, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 3 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Email Retention Email Retention in ServiceNow enables archiving and destruction of email messages to manage storage and maintain system performance, especially when the Email table becomes excessively large. This feature has been available since the Helsinki release and relies on the Data Archiving and Email Retention plugins. Show full answer Show less The Data Archiving plugin is required to enable archiving and deletion of email records, while the Email Retention plugin defines rules specifying when to archive and destroy these records. The Email Retention plugin also preserves watermarks necessary for inbound email actions to function properly. ## Activation and Compatibility For new ServiceNow instances, Email Retention and its archive and destroy rules are active by default. For upgraded instances, customers must manually activate both the plugin and the associated rules. It is recommended to review and approve these rules before activation. If you already have an existing email management process, you do not need to activate Email Retention. If you choose to replace your current process with Email Retention, ensure to deactivate the existing process first to avoid conflicts or unexpected deletions. ## Archiving and Destroying Email Records Archiving moves email records from the Email \[sysemail\] table to the Archive Email \[arsysemail\] table based on the archive rule's time limit. Destroying permanently deletes records from the Archive Email table when they exceed the destroy rule's time limit. Watermarks linked to email records are preserved even after destruction to maintain the functionality of inbound email actions. ## Default Retention Rules * **Archive Rule:** Archives emails older than 365 days that are of type received-ignored or sent-ignored. * **Destroy Rule:** Deletes archived emails that have been in the Archive Email table for more than 365 days. This default configuration retains emails for a total of two years: one year in the Email table and one year in the Archive table before deletion. ## Effects on Email Visibility and System Behavior * When inbound emails are deleted, their content is removed from the Email Received section in work notes but the text copy remains. * Archiving removes the Sent Email section in the activity formatter; deleting removes it entirely from the interface. * It is important to set the archive time sufficiently long to allow users to access sent emails through the activity formatter before they are archived. * After archiving, the system no longer uses the In-Reply-To field to match incoming emails to previous email records but can still match using record numbers or watermarks. ## Manual Archiving and Additional Resources ServiceNow allows manual archiving of email messages on demand, providing flexibility beyond scheduled archiving jobs. Additional related concepts include managing email notifications, templates, layouts, watermarks, email digests, domain separation, and diagnostics, which support comprehensive email handling within ServiceNow. You can archive and eventually destroy email messages that you no longer need or if your Email table is excessively large. Email retention is available starting with the Helsinki release. ## Email archive and destruction plugins The email archiving and destruction feature uses the [Data archiving](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/XGBitdVNdjRuBmAjtXEH1w "System Archive enables you to manage table growth by moving inactive records out of primary tables into dedicated archive tables within the same instance.") and [Email Retention](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/YCU6vnpsoRWFB3eQfaucjg "The Email Retention plugin provides archive and destruction rules for email messages. It is active by default for new instances, but must be activated for upgrades.") plugins. The Data Archiving plugin must be active to archive and destroy email records. The Email Retention plugin provides a set of rules that specify when the system archives and destroys email records. Note: The Email Retention plugin also prevents the system from deleting watermarks, which are required for inbound email actions to continue to function. The Email Retention plugin and associated archive and destroy rules are active by default on new instances. On upgraded instances, you must manually activate both the plugin and the archive and destroy rules. ServiceNow recommends that you review and approve these rules before activating them. If your instance already has a process to manage email records, you do not need to activate the Email Retention plugin. If you want to replace your current process with Email Retention, be sure to deactivate the current process before activating the archive and destroy rules. ## Archiving and destroying email records Archiving means moving records from the Email \[sys_email\] table to the Archive Email \[ar_sys_email\] table when they exceed the archive rule time limit. Destroying means deleting records in the Archive Email table when they exceed the destroy rule time limit. Note: When a destroy rule deletes email records, associated watermarks are not deleted. They are preserved to ensure that your inbound email actions continue to function. ## Default archive and destroy rules Email Retention provides this email archive rule:{#email-retention__archive_destruction_rules} Email - Over a year old or Ignored: archives email message records that were created more than 365 days prior to the current date and are of type received-ignored or sent-ignored. Email Retention also provides this email destroy rule: Email Archive - Over a year old: destroys email records that have been archived for more than 365 days prior to the current date. With these default settings, your email messages are kept on the instance for a total of two years: one year in the Email table, and one year in the Email archive table. At the end of this period, the system deletes the expired email records from the Email archive table. Note: By default these rules are active on new instances and inactive on upgrades. The system runs archive and destroy rules when you activate them. ## Compatibility with other record management implementations If you are already using another method to manage email records, such as table cleaners, you do not have to use the Email Retention feature. To prevent unexpected record deletion, ServiceNow recommends that you avoid using multiple email management processes on the same instance at the same time. Note: For assistance replacing your existing record management implementation with Email Retention, contact your professional services or sales representative. ## Effects of archiving and deleting email records Inbound email actions copy the body of an email to the work notes of the related record. If the inbound email record is later deleted, Email Received section is no longer visible in the work notes though it still contain a text copy of the email. When the system sends an email message about a record, the activity formatter displays a Sent Email section with a link to the email message. If the system archives the email message, the activity formatter removes Sent Email section. When the system deletes the email message, it is no longer visible in the activity formatter nor the work notes. Note: Set the archive time length long enough so your users can access sent emails though the activity formatter. Archiving email records changes the methods available to the system to identify inbound email as a reply. After archiving an email record, the system can no longer use the In-Reply-To field to match an incoming email to an email record. However, the system can still match incoming email to an existing record from a record number or watermark. * **[Activate Email Retention](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/YCU6vnpsoRWFB3eQfaucjg)** The Email Retention plugin provides archive and destruction rules for email messages. It is active by default for new instances, but must be activated for upgrades. * **[Archive email manually](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/GcVlv8C6sH7ySpAyrR2h~A)** You can archive email messages manually on demand instead of waiting for the instance to archive them based on a scheduled job. **Related concepts** * [Email notifications dashboard](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/7w9gLUk1hgdIguY6LdmvSA "The email notification dashboard provides visibility into key metrics and enables admins to configure the dashboard to enable access to other users.") * [Email diagnostics dashboard](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/TG91rsHsoDsrTycgWCr5tQ "The email diagnostics dashboards provide visibility in to email delivery metrics that can help in improving the email health by identifying errors and areas that need deeper investigation.") * [Email templates](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/1UcF1oidqHjvH5Ns8OL1jg "Email templates enable administrators to create reusable content for the subject line and message body of email notifications.") * [Email layouts](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Kxp0niVjdVEeJbibbk6~rQ "Create reusable content for the message body of email templates.") * [Watermarks on notification emails](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ddxOaboR2DYrjHfmbzG6IQ "By default, a unique watermark label will be generated at the bottom of each notification email to allow matching incoming email to existing records.") * [Email digests](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/CMni76waFoQqBH9zjw3lUQ "An email digest is a single email that summarizes the activity for a selected notification and its target records during a specified time interval. You can enable an email digest to reduce the number of notifications received when frequent updates to the associated records occur within a short time period.") * [Domain separation and Notifications](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/z2mlKcCb9O4aXDNiNbqQlA "Domain separation is supported in the Notifications application. Domain separation enables you to separate data, processes, and administrative tasks into logical groupings called domains. You can control several aspects of this separation, including which users can see and access data.") * [Notification email logs and diagnostics](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/D_yFPyVFKtPooU6ZggERxg "Use logs and diagnostics to monitor notification email delivery, identify issues with individual emails, and check recipient details.") **Related tasks** * [Create notification categories](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/DASk94Dmhx2~I72XCdR17w "You can create notification categories to identify and group related notifications that are listed in the notification settings for your users.") * [Create an email notification](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/vaPuVLOcN_zPS8jyrTPDmw "Create an email notification specifying when to send it, who receives it, what it contains, and if it can be delivered in an email digest.") * [Parse an email thread](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/dW4sdZAsP3OLWhP~rkVw7w "When an email is received, parse the most recent message in an email thread by creating Email Reply Separators using specified string or regular expressions.")