IT Services
Retain email archive
The centralised archive system (Retain) provides a central
managed repository of historical email. The archiving
process is an automatic one and will be applied in a
consistent manner to all staff accounts across the School
– please note if you are on an MSc course this system will
not apply to you.
How does it work?

Retain is the archive solution whether you are using
GroupWise or Outlook as your email service.

Items will be transferred to the archive and then
deleted from your mailbox after 18 months from
the date of creation. Hence your mailbox will
contain the latest 18 months worth of email.

Messages will be copied to Retain when they are
older than 40 days.

Email will be retained for 7 years.

All folders will be archived except for "Trash".

Deleted emails will be removed from Trash after 28
days and are not archived.

All email items including their attachments will get
copied across into the archive solution.

‘25 year’ retention is available upon request and
approval from the School's Record and Archivist
Manager. This request can be made by filling out an
online form: (to be created)
How do I access it?
The Retain archive is accessible via the web, meaning
that you will be able to reach your archived email outside
of the School without needing to use Remote Desktop:
http://emailarchive.lshtm.ac.uk
There is a direct link to the email archive on the ITS
intranet page or simply save the above URL as a
favourite for quick access.
How do I use it?
We have produced videos and instruction materials which
are available via the ServiceDesk portal.
To summarise, after 40 days, your emails are archived to
Retain as well as being in Outlook. After 18 months, your
emails, which have already been migrated to Retain, will
be removed from Outlook. After 18 months, if you need to
find emails sent or received before this, you will need to
search Retain. Retain holds emails up to 7 years old,
unless you have successfully requested 25 year retention.
http://servicedesk.lshtm.ac.uk