Learn how data retention works in Harvey, including how the Workspace Retention Period applies and which features follow their own retention timelines.
Last updated: Dec 16, 2025
Overview
At Harvey, we prioritize giving customers control over their own data. Each customer can set a Workspace Retention Period — the amount of time data is retained in Harvey after it’s created or uploaded.
Your workspace retention can be customized anywhere from 3 hours after the data is processed by Harvey to 30 days after your agreement with Harvey ends.
As Harvey’s product has evolved, some features now require their own retention timelines to maintain peak performance, reliability, and functionality. This article explains which features have separate retention rules and why.
Workspace Retention Period
Your Workspace Retention Period determines how long data in your workspace, such as Assistant queries, is stored before it’s automatically deleted.
Once your workspace reaches its configured limit, content is securely and permanently removed from Harvey’s systems, unless the feature has its own specific retention configuration described below.
Note: users and admins can review and manage history only while data remains available, within the configured retention period.
Features with Independent Retention Timelines
Some features are designed to function independently of the workspace retention setting to prevent data loss or preserve essential configurations.
Admins can configure Vault Retention, separate from Workspace Retention.
Submit a ticket to adjust this setting.
Flexible Vault retention settings allow you to retain important work beyond the workspace period, preventing accidental loss of important work.
Custom Workflows (including Words to Workflow)
If not deleted, they are automatically deleted 30 days after the Agreement ends.
Custom workflows are retained independently to ensure teams don’t lose their automations once workspace retention ends.
Note: Inputs and outputs produced by workflows still follow workspace retention.
Library
Admins and users can delete starred inputs and examples at any time.
If not deleted, they are automatically deleted 30 days after termination.
Libraries are stored beyond workspace retention to avoid automatic deletion of valuable references or examples.
Playbook Reference Guide and Rules
Admins and users can delete these at any time.
If not deleted, they are automatically deleted 30 days after termination.
Retaining playbooks and rules ensures guidance and compliance materials remain accessible beyond workspace retention.
Matter Numbers
Admins and users can delete matter numbers at any time.
If not deleted, they are automatically deleted 30 days after termination.
Matter numbers support consistent reporting and historical tracking for your records, even after the workspace retention period ends.
User Profiles
Admins and users can delete profiles at any time.
If not deleted, they are automatically deleted 30 days after termination.
Keeping user profiles temporarily allows for personalized experiences during offboarding and transition periods.
Custom Export Formats
Admins and users can delete export formats at any time.
If not deleted, they are automatically deleted 30 days after termination.
Retaining export templates prevents the need for admins to reconfigure templates every time the retention period expires.
Note: Ask Harvey follows platform-wide policies for query retention and deletion. Refer to the Service Terms for applicable data retention and deletion practices.
FAQs
If your workspace retention is set to 3 hours (0 days), thread history and saved examples are not available in your workspace.
You may also experience reduced sharing functionality, because content shared with others may expire before they can access it.
Deleted work is generally not recoverable as it’s often automatically removed due to retention settings.
If you accidentally deleted something or would like help checking for lost resources, you’re welcome to submit a ticket to our support team.
By default, all customer data and content will be deleted 30 days after your agreement is terminated.
Custom retention settings are currently available only at the workspace level and for Vault.
If additional features become eligible for customization, this article’s table of features with independent retention timelines will be updated accordingly.
Files brought in via DMS integrations (e.g., Google Drive/SharePoint) remain available according to your workspace retention once uploaded.