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    Creating and managing data retention policies in Airtable
    • 11 Apr 2024
    • 3 Minutes to read
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    Creating and managing data retention policies in Airtable

    • Updated on 11 Apr 2024
    • 3 Minutes to read
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    • PDF
    Article Summary

    Airtable provides customizable retention policies to customers on our Enterprise Scale plan. Admins can use these policies and settings to address critical requirements their company may employ to maintain communications for specific periods. Admins can also use these settings to align with company policies around inactive data usage.

    Introduction

    Plan availability

    Enterprise Scale

    Permissions

    Admin  

    Platform(s)

    Web/Browser, Mac app, and Windows app

    Related reading

    Airtable terminology

    Revision history - The revision history of a record shows the changes made to the record over time.

    Data retention in Airtable overview

    For Enterprise Scale plan customers, a base’s revision and snapshot history is stored for 3 years. Additionally, any deleted base(s) is available in the creator’s trash for 30 days before a creator can no longer restore the base. Once a base is created, Airtable will not delete it unless a creator moves it to trash.

    Data retention controls in the admin panel allow admins to update retention policies for their organization or org unit. Airtable provides admins with the following controls:

    • The ability to customize the time a base remains in the trash before it is no longer restorable.

    • The ability to customize how long Airtable retains a base’s revision and snapshot history.

    • The ability to define inactive base deletion policies so bases that have not been edited within a prescribed time frame are deleted.

    Accessing data retention settings in Airtable

    Accessing data retention settings

    1. Visit your admin panel.

    2. Click Settings.

    3. Click Sharing & data.

    Customizing revision history and snapshot retention in Airtable

    NOTE

    Updates to your data retention policy are future-looking, meaning if you modify your retention policy from 3 years to 5 years, that data will take 2 additional years to become available.

    Customizing revision history and snapshot retention

    NOTE

    You can update your retention revision history settings, allowing you to customize it to a maximum of 10 years.

    1. Visit your admin panel.

    2. Click Settings.

    3. Click Sharing & data.

    4. Scroll to "Revision History" located under the "Data" header.

    5. Click the pencil icon on the far right side of the page to update your retention revision history.

    1. Click the ⌄ icon and choose your preferred number of years.

    2. Click Save.

    Customizing trash retention timeframe in Airtable

    NOTE

    Updates to your trash retention timeframe do not affect in-base trash behavior, which retains deleted records for 7 days. Trash retention timeframe updates only impact trash connected to deleted bases.

    Enterprise Scale plan admins can customize their workspace trash retention period in the admin panel, allowing them to choose between 30, 60, 90, and 180 days.

    Customizing trash retention timeframe

    1. Visit your admin panel.

    2. Click Settings.

    3. Click Sharing & data.

    4. Scroll to "Trash retention" located under the "Data" header.

    5. Click the pencil icon on the right side of the page to update your trash retention history.

    1. Click the ⌄ icon and choose your preferred number of days.

    2. Click Save.

    Customizing inactive base deletion policies in Airtable

    Customizing inactive base deletion policies

    1. Visit your admin panel.

    2. Click Settings.

    3. Click Sharing & data.

    4. Scroll to "Inactivity deletion policy" located under the "Data" header and toggle ON “Inactivity deletion policy.”

    1. Click the ⌄ icon next to “Additional configuration.”

    2. Click the pencil icon on the far right side of the page to configure your inactivity deletion policy.

    3. Click the ⌄ icon and choose your preferred number of years.

      1. By default, inactive base deletion starts after 3 years of inactivity.

      2. By default, base creators are notified 3 times before an inactive base(s), which can be configured, is deleted.

    Inactive base deletion FAQS

    What is considered base activity?

    Bases are considered "Active" if a user or automation has updated a base in a given period. For example, simply opening a base is not considered activity—a record must be modified for a base to be "Active."

    How will I know which bases are at risk of being deleted?

    Admins automatically receive a summary of all bases scheduled for deletion 30 days before being deleted. Base creators also receive email notifications if their base(s) is scheduled for deletion if the admin enabled their org's notification policy.

    In addition to the email notifications mentioned above, users are notified of any future base deletions via their Airtable homepage.

    What happens to an inactive base once it’s deleted?

    Inactive bases are automatically moved to trash after being deleted. If a base is deleted in error, creators can restore any base for the pre-determined trash retention period set by the company's admin.

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