Can't delete a site because of a retention policy or eDiscovery hold

Symptoms

You might experience one of the following scenarios.

Scenario 1: When you try to delete a Microsoft SharePoint site, you receive the following error message:

Can't delete site.
A compliance policy is currently blocking this site deletion.

Scenario 2: When you try to delete a version of a document that's on a SharePoint site or on a Microsoft OneDrive site, you receive the following error message:

Versions of this item cannot be deleted because it is on hold or retention policy.

Scenario 3: You exclude or remove a SharePoint or a OneDrive site from a retention policy. More than 24 hours after you make these updates, you try to delete the site or a version of a document on the site. However, the attempt is unsuccessful, and you receive one of the error messages that are mentioned in scenarios 1 and 2.

Scenario 4: You exclude or remove a SharePoint or a OneDrive site from an eDiscovery hold. When you try to delete the site, the attempt is unsuccessful, and you receive the error message that's mentioned in scenario 1.

Cause

These error messages are generated when you try to delete a SharePoint or OneDrive site in either of the following situations:

• You exclude or remove the site from a retention policy. However, the retention policy is invalid.
• The eDiscovery hold is within a 30-day grace period that prevents the site from being deleted.

Resolution

Verify the validity of the retention policy or determine whether the eDiscovery hold is within the grace period. To take this action, run the following diagnostic in the Microsoft 365 admin center. You must have at least Compliance Administrator permissions to use these steps.

1. Select the Run Tests: Invalid Retention or grace eDiscovery Hold button to populate the associated diagnostic in the Microsoft 365 admin center:

   Run Tests: Invalid Retention or grace eDiscovery Hold

2. In the Run diagnostics section, enter the URL of the SharePoint or OneDrive site that you want to delete.

3. Select Run Tests.

If the diagnostic finds an invalid retention policy that might be blocking the deletion, you can choose to remove the policy.

If the test finds that the eDiscovery hold is within the 30-day grace period, you can choose to remove the hold.

Note: To manage holds and resolve the error in Scenario 4, use the Get-CaseHoldPolicy command or the Microsoft Purview portal. Make sure that the location is released from the case hold policy before you try to delete the site. If the hold isn't released, use the Set-CaseHoldPolicy command to release it. If the policy can't be found by using the Get-CaseHoldPolicy command or the Purview portal, use the Invoke-HoldRemovalAction command to clean up the orphan hold.