How do I set up a new Enterprise Retention Policy in Acrobat?

First, talk with your IT department to define the rules for document retention and naming. As an administrator, go to the account or group-level settings for retention. Choose the number of days to keep documents, up to 15 years. Select if the policy will use a password or certificate for security. Apply these rules to documents when they are finished and ready for storage.

Set Retention And Naming in Adobe Acrobat — How-to & AI prompts

AI prompts

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CDecide — “help me choose”We’re hiring a junior writer on Monday and comms wants retention and naming rules in place so…+

We’re hiring a junior writer on Monday and comms wants retention and naming rules in place so they don’t clutter the docs repo. I’m nervous about picking rules that break archive retrieval later. Propose a simple naming convention and retention policy that balances findability and storage limits, tell me which folders to apply it to first, and give the exact sentence I should send to the new hire explaining the rule.

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed.

How to do it

the tool · the steps · what to avoid

1
Sign in to the Adobe Admin Console using your administrator credentials.
2
Navigate to the storage management section in the Admin Console.
3
Select the option to manage individual user folders from the available storage management options.
4
Locate and select the retention policy option.
5
Choose whether to retain inactive user folders permanently or set a custom retention period (e.g., 30, 90, 365 days).
CautionSetting a shorter retention period will result in automatic deletion of user content after the specified time.
6
Confirm and save your retention policy settings.

In the appWith the API

You can view and manage retention settings for both active and inactive user folders directly in the Admin Console under Storage.

This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.

Glossary

words on this page

Retention PolicyA set of rules that decides how long documents are kept and how they are handled.ExampleOur company's retention policy states that all invoices must be kept for seven years.

Terminal StateThe final stage of a document, after which no more changes are expected.ExampleOnce approved and archived, the contract reached its terminal state, meaning no further edits were allowed.

ComplianceFollowing the rules or laws about how something should be done.ExampleEnsuring compliance means all invoices meet the company's financial record-keeping standards.

Who does this

3 roles

IT AdministratorEnterprise Storage ManagerCompliance Officer

FAQ

about this task

First, talk with your IT department to define the rules for document retention and naming.
As an administrator, go to the account or group-level settings for retention.
Choose the number of days to keep documents, up to 15 years.
Select if the policy will use a password or certificate for security.
Apply these rules to documents when they are finished and ready for storage.

An Enterprise Retention Policy helps companies manage their documents by setting rules for how long files are kept and how they are named. This is important for following legal rules like HIPAA or ISO 27001, which require specific data handling. It makes sure that important information is stored safely and consistently across the organization, reducing risks and improving organization.

If your company must follow PCI DSS 3.0, the Enterprise Retention Policy helps by letting administrators standardize file naming. This means all documents, especially those with sensitive payment card information, can be named in a consistent way. Standardized naming makes it easier to track, protect, and audit these documents, ensuring they meet the strict security and retention requirements of PCI DSS 3.0. It also helps in quickly finding and managing documents during compliance checks.

Enterprise Retention Policies are set by administrators because they apply to the entire company or specific groups within it. This ensures that all employees follow the same rules for document retention and naming, which is crucial for legal compliance and data governance. If individual users could set their own policies, it would lead to inconsistent practices, making it difficult to meet regulatory requirements and manage company data effectively.

You can set a document retention period for a maximum of 5475 days. This is equal to 15 years. This allows companies to meet long-term legal and business requirements for keeping important documents.

Set Retention And Naming

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