Google Vault — Data Archiving and Compliance
Google Vault is available on **Business Plus, Enterprise, and Frontline** plans. It provides data retention, legal holds, search, and export for compliance and eDiscovery.
### Accessing Google Vault
Go to **vault.google.com** and sign in with a Workspace admin or Vault admin account.
### What Vault Covers
- Gmail messages (including deleted)
- Google Drive files
- Google Chat messages
- Google Meet recordings
- Google Groups conversations
### Setting Retention Rules
Retention rules define how long data is kept before expiry.
1. Vault → Retention → Create rule
2. Select service: Mail, Drive, Chat
3. Set duration (e.g. keep for 7 years)
4. Choose scope: entire domain, specific OUs, or groups
5. After expiry action: Expunge (delete) or Do nothing
**Default retention rule** applies to all data without a specific rule.
**Custom rules** override the default for specific users or teams.
### Creating a Legal Hold (Matter)
A legal hold preserves data indefinitely regardless of retention rules:
1. Vault → Matters → Create matter (name it for the legal case)
2. Add hold → select service and users (or OUs)
3. Holds are active until manually released
### Searching Data
1. Vault → Matters → Searches → New search
2. Select service, accounts, date range, keywords
3. Preview results before exporting
### Exporting Data
After search: Export → choose format (PST, mbox, JSON) → Download
Exported data includes metadata for legal chain of custody.
### Audit Logs
Vault → Reports → See who searched, exported, modified holds, or changed retention rules
### Common Compliance Scenarios
- GDPR: Set 6-year email retention + right-to-erasure holds
- Legal dispute: Place hold on specific employees' data
- Internal investigation: Search for keywords across all email