Archiving in SharePoint Online: Document Archiving Flow Diagram

Archiving in SharePoint online – this is a part 3 article in the series of record management in SharePoint Online. In the previous articles, we have seen what is the record management in SharePoint Online, how to configure the record management, and how to fix the various issues while working on the record management configuration – in this article, we learn what the various flow we need to follow or when the documents get moved from the active library to record library as a record (locked document) what are interim steps involved in this process.

Archiving in SharePoint online

Archiving in SharePoint Online refers to the process of moving older, less frequently accessed content from primary storage locations to a designated archive location. This helps manage storage limits, improve performance, and maintain a clutter-free and organized site environment. SharePoint Online offers various methods and best practices for archiving content, ensuring data retention and compliance.

Benefits of Archiving in SharePoint Online

1. Storage Management: Frees up space in primary document libraries and lists, helping to stay within storage quotas.
2. Improved Performance: Reduces the load on active lists and libraries, improving performance for frequently accessed content.
3. Compliance and Retention: Ensures that older content is retained according to organizational policies and compliance requirements.
4. Organized Workspaces: Keeps active sites clutter-free, making it easier for users to find current and relevant information.

Methods for Archiving in SharePoint Online

1. Manual Archiving:
   • Move to Archive Library: Manually move older documents or items to a separate archive document library or site.
   • Copy and Delete: Copy the items to an archive location and then delete them from the original location.
2. Retention Policies and Labels:
   • Retention Labels: Apply retention labels to content to automatically retain or delete it based on pre-defined rules.
   • Retention Policies: Create policies that automatically move content to an archive after a specified period.
3. Automated Archiving with Power Automate:
   • Create Flows: Use Power Automate to create flows that automatically move or copy items to an archive location based on conditions such as date modified, metadata, or other criteria.
4. Use of Content Types and Metadata:
   • Content Types: Define content types with specific retention and archiving rules.
   • Metadata Filters: Use metadata to filter and identify items for archiving.
5. Third-Party Tools:
   • Archiving Solutions: Use third-party tools designed for archiving SharePoint content, offering advanced features and automation capabilities.

Best Practices for Archiving in SharePoint Online

1. Define Archiving Policies:
   • Policies and Procedures: Establish clear policies and procedures for archiving content, including criteria for what should be archived and when.
   • Retention Schedules: Define retention schedules that align with legal, regulatory, and business requirements.
2. Use Metadata for Classification:
   • Consistent Metadata: Ensure consistent use of metadata across sites and libraries to classify content accurately.
   • Automated Classification: Implement automated classification based on metadata to identify content for archiving.
3. Communicate with Users:
   • User Training: Train users on archiving policies and procedures.
   • Notifications: Notify users when content is moved to the archive to avoid confusion.
4. Monitor and Review:
   • Regular Audits: Conduct regular audits to ensure compliance with archiving policies.
   • Usage Reports: Monitor usage reports to identify items that should be archived based on activity and access patterns.
5. Leverage Retention Labels and Policies:
   • Configure Labels: Configure and apply retention labels to ensure that content is automatically managed according to retention schedules.
   • Policy Application: Apply retention policies at the site, library, or item level to enforce archiving rules.

Example Workflow for Archiving Using Power Automate

1. Create a Flow in Power Automate:
   • Navigate to Power Automate and create a new flow.
2. Define Trigger:
   • Select a trigger, such as “When a file is created or modified” in a specific document library.
3. Add Conditions:
   • Add conditions to filter items for archiving, such as items older than a certain date or items with specific metadata values.
4. Move or Copy Action:
   • Add actions to move or copy the filtered items to an archive document library or site.
5. Delete Original Items (Optional):
   • Optionally, add an action to delete the original items after they have been successfully archived.
6. Test and Deploy:
   • Test the flow to ensure it works as expected and deploy it to automate the archiving process.

Archiving Example Using Retention Labels

1. Create Retention Labels:
   • Go to the Microsoft 365 compliance center and create retention labels with the desired retention period and actions (e.g., retain for 7 years and then delete).
2. Publish Labels:
   • Publish the retention labels to the appropriate SharePoint sites, libraries, or content types.
3. Apply Labels:
   • Apply the retention labels to documents or items that need to be archived based on the defined policies.
4. Automated Management:
   • The content will be automatically managed according to the retention label settings, moving items to the archive or deleting them as specified.

By implementing effective archiving strategies and using the tools available in SharePoint Online, organizations can ensure their content is managed efficiently, stays compliant with retention policies, and remains accessible for future reference.

Auto archive in SharePoint Online step by step

Let’s look at the below picture.

High-level document archiving processes are as below:

Step 1: Create a “send to the connection (move or copy)” in record management from the SharePoint Online admin center.

Step 2: Create a content type and configure the information right management policy – add the condition to transfer the document to another location, there select the custom connection that you have created in step 1.

Step 3: Configure the newly created content type in the document library and upload a document to the document library using the newly created content type.

Step 4: Once the rule matches the uploaded document (what you have created for the content type information right management policy settings) – the said document will be moved to the drop-off library of the record center site collection.

Step 5: The same content type that you have created in the active site, create in the record center site collection as well along with all site columns, and this content type both in the drop-off library as well as in the record library.

Step 6: Create a content organizer rule from the manage record center settings – where select the content type as the newly created content type and target location as the relative URL of the record library URL, then when the documents come to the drop-off library from the active library using the record management connection and find the matching content type as a content organizer rule, the document automatically will be moved to the record library.

Once the document comes to the record library, it becomes a record (locked) that cannot be modified or deleted. This is how the process, which I have diagrammatically shown in the above process flow.

The above-mentioned process is the defined one, however, things do not go as expected – many times what happens is the document gets stuck in the drop-off library, it does not move to the record library.

In those cases, we might get any of the below messages when documents come to the drop-off library.

Moved to Drop Off Library
The document was submitted successfully. Its location will change pending action from a site administrator. For now, you can continue to access the document here: item_in_drop-off library

I didn’t find the reason or answer to the above message, if you know please add your comment in the comment section, and I will modify the article.

Another message, we might get is,

Saved to Drop Off Library
The Document Set was submitted successfully.
It will be saved to its final location by a scheduled process.
Once the Document Set has been moved to its final location you can access it here: item_in_drop-off library

 

The above message is quite explanatory, it says, for the time being, the document will be stored in the drop-off library but in the next scheduler timer job, the document will be moved to the target location record library automatically, this scheduler job runs once a day every day. So, nothing to worry about with this warning message.

With that being said, if you try to upload any custom document for example word file in the drop-off library, that gets moved automatically to the record library, and also it can be seen that if you create a document set in the drop-off library, that too also comes to the record library automatically. However, if you upload any package zip file or migrate it from another site to a drop-off library, it does not move the zip file to the target record library, even though the drop-off library has packaged content type configured (document set content type).

We might see the other types of error while configuring the information policy settings for a content type.

Information Management Policy Settings is Missing in SharePoint Online Content Type Setting

In order to fix the Information Management Policy Settings is missing, issue from Content-Type settings or List Settings, we need to activate the site collection level “Activate Library and Folder Based Retention” feature, to do this, we need to follow the below steps:

Go to Site Settings  page –> Site Collection Features ->  Activate Library and Folder Based Retention Feature

How to fix the “The Site scoped feature being activated has a dependency on hidden Site Collection scoped feature”?

Sometimes, while we try to activate the content organizer site level feature, we will get this error – ”

The Site scoped feature being activated has a dependency on the hidden Site Collection scoped feature‘FeatureDefinition/15/0c8a9a47-22a9-4798-82f1-00e62a96006e’ (ID: ‘0c8a9a47-22a9-4798-82f1-00e62a96006e’). Hidden features cannot be auto-activated across scopes. There may be one or more visible Site Collection scoped features that auto-activate the dependent hidden feature.” .

After some investigation found that the above error message is misleading – it is not the hidden features, the above-mentioned features we can activate from the site collection feature activation page.  In order to successfully activate the content organizer site level feature, we need to activate the below two site collection level features:

• SharePoint Server Standard Site Collection features
• SharePoint Server Enterprise Site Collection features

Summary: What do we have here (Archiving in SharePoint online)?

Thus in this article, we have learned the below with respect to document archiving flow in the SharePoint Online record management site:

• How does the document archiving flow work in SharePoint Online using the record management mechanism?
• How to fix the issue “Information Management Policy Settings is Missing in SharePoint Online Content Type Setting”?
• How to fix the “The Site scoped feature being activated has a dependency on hidden Site Collection scoped feature”?

See Also: Archiving in SharePoint online

You may also like the below record management articles:

• Understanding the record center in SharePoint Online – Part 1
• Understanding the record center in SharePoint Online – Part 2
• Enable and configure information rights management (IRM) in SharePoint Online
• Use a SharePoint Server records archive or manage records in place

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Microsoft Techy

As a SharePoint and Power Platform Maven, my greatest joy comes from sharing my expertise with colleagues, friends, and the tech community, helping them navigate the ever-evolving world of technology and guiding them through the dynamic landscape of modern technology.

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