Chats are a great tool that allow users in the domain to communicate with text messages much faster than using emails.

Keeping a log of that communication can be extremely useful when some important piece of information was mentioned in a chat, but no one took note, or when there was a security problem and you need to investigate all related communications.

Let's start by setting the default retention rules for all Hangouts Chat messages by following these steps:

1. Click on the Hangouts Chat tab.
2. Enable Set a default retention rule for Hangouts Chat.
3. Set the Duration to one of the following options:
   • Indefinitely: This will keep the messages for as long as the account exists. I recommend using this option.
   • N days from when the message was sent: This will keep the messages for the amount of days set here. You can specify a period of up to 36500 days (100 years). If you set a limit, then you must also set the Action after expiration, as follows:
     • Expunge deleted messages: This will erase the messages that the user has already deleted
     • Expunge all messages: This will erase all messages that are older than the retention period

4. Click Save.
5. If you set a retention limit, you will be asked to confirm that you understand the consequences. Please read and confirm each.

Now that you know how to define Hangouts Chat retention rules so that you can save the day next time, there's a need to find something that was said in a chat. In the next section, we will learn how to do this for Hangouts Meet.