I created a Retention Policy and Retention Tags by following the steps in https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/securitycompliance/set-up-an-archive-and-deletion-policy-for-mailboxes
The policy deletes deleted items older than 3 weeks.
I manually applied (Optional) Step 5: Run the Managed Folder Assistant to the New Settings because "it can take up to 7 days in Exchange Online for the new retention settings to be applied to the mailboxes." However, I still see items older than 3 weeks in the mailbox.
Should the policy start removing deleted items older than 3 weeks immediately after manually running Managed Folder Assistant or will it take 3 weeks from the time I manually ran Managed Folder Assistant for items older than 3 weeks to disappear?
What happens when you run the Managed Folder Assistant? It applies the settings in the retention policy by inspecting items in the mailbox and determining whether they're subject to retention. It then stamps items subject to retention with the appropriate retention tag, and then takes the specified retention action on items past their retention age.
- To me that implies that it should start taking action immediately.