Log & Record Retention
Logs, run records, and generated downloads have different retention periods on Files.com. These periods determine how long an administrator can review an operation, retrieve a report, or investigate a failed delivery through the web app or API. They are separate from the retention of files stored in your folders.
Files.com automatically removes expired records. Cleanup runs periodically, so a record may briefly remain visible after its retention period ends.
Audit Logs
Audit log retention depends on the record being reviewed. The following periods describe the original records available on Files.com, separately from generated exports and SIEM delivery backlogs.
| Audit Record | Retention |
|---|---|
| API, FTP, SFTP, and WebDAV logs | 180 days. |
| Outbound Connections | 180 days. |
| Sync run summaries | 90 days. |
| Sync file events | 180 days. |
| Identity and account events, file processing failures, and CLI run logs | 90 days. |
| SIEM delivery events | 90 days. |
| Outbound email attempts and Public Hosting requests | 180 days. |
| Settings Changes and Webhook Logs | Indefinitely while the site remains active. |
Other records, including Automation runs, inbound email, file history, and registrations, follow their own periods below.
AS2 message logs and retained message data are kept for 90 days by default. The Message Retention Timeframe setting can extend this period to 365 days.
Operational Records
Operational records describe individual runs, requests, and deliveries. Their expiration removes the corresponding details from the feature's history; it does not delete the feature's configuration or files already saved in your folders.
| Record | Retention | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Automation runs | 30 days from creation | Run records, detailed run logs, and temporary execution data. |
| Event records | 30 days from creation | Events and their associated delivery attempts and email batch items. |
| Event delivery attempts and email batch items | 30 days from creation, or until their event is removed | Delivery and email batching records. |
| Event folder delivery records | 30 days after the completed delivery record's last update | Delivery tracking records, not the files delivered to the target folder. |
| Incoming email messages | 30 days from creation | Message records, including the recorded body, sender, and processing result. Attachments and bodies saved as files in an Inbox folder follow file retention rules. |
| Webhook failures | 3 days from creation | Failure records used for retries. Retry processing can replace or remove these records earlier. This is separate from the Webhook Logs. |
| File migrations | 72 hours after the final activity of a completed operation; 30 days without activity if never completed | Background operation records and their logs. Completed includes operations that ended in failure or were canceled. |
| Inbox uploads | 1 year from creation | Upload activity records, not the uploaded files. |
| SCIM logs | 1 year from creation | SCIM request and response records, not the provisioned users or groups. |
| AI Assistant sessions and AI Task runs | 30 days | Chat sessions and run transcripts. |
Registration and Activity History
| Record | Retention | Starting Point |
|---|---|---|
| Share Link registrations | Lifetime of the Share Link, plus 7 years after deletion | The Share Link's deletion time, including deletion when it expires. |
| Inbox registrations | 7 years | Each registration's creation time, whether the Inbox is active or deleted. |
| Share Link downloads and actions | 7 years | The activity record's creation time. |
| Deleted Share Links | 7 years | The Share Link's deletion time. |
| File action history | 7 years | The action's timestamp. This includes the corresponding Folder Activity and User Activity views. |
Keeping registration records does not keep a deleted Share Link or Inbox accessible to visitors. A deleted Share Link's historical record is read-only. The seven-year period for each download or action starts when that activity is recorded, rather than restarting when the Share Link is deleted.
Exports and Download Links
Table exports, report exports, History exports, and notification exports are retained for 30 days from creation. At the end of that period, Files.com removes the export record and its generated CSV. Completing or downloading an export does not restart the 30-day period.
The download link in an export-ready email expires seven days after the email is sent. That link has a shorter lifetime than the export itself: an expired email link does not mean the export has been deleted. The export remains available to its creator through your site until its 30-day retention period ends. An emailed link does not extend the export's lifetime.
An export is a copy of the data available when it runs and belongs to the user who created it. That user can open the export and download its CSV through the site for the full 30-day lifetime, even after changes to their administrative access or folder permissions, including removal of Site Administrator privileges. Disabling or deleting the user ends their access through the site.
Removing the export does not delete the underlying records or files, which follow their own retention rules. A new export can include only data still available at the time it runs. A CSV downloaded and saved outside Files.com remains subject to your own storage and retention policies.
Each Scheduled Report Export creates a separate export with its own 30-day lifetime. The schedule itself remains configured when an individual export expires.
Temporary Downloads and Snapshots
| Item | Retention | What Expires |
|---|---|---|
| ZIP downloads | 24 hours from creation | The temporary ZIP download record and the list of paths included in that download. The source files and ZIP archives saved in your folders are unaffected. |
| Unfinalized snapshots | 96 hours from creation | A snapshot that has never been finalized, including its snapshot folder and contents. |
The 96-hour cleanup rule does not apply to finalized snapshots. Finalized snapshots follow their own expiration date.
File Retention and Delivered Copies
Deleted file retention is configurable and defaults to 30 days after deletion. That setting controls the recovery window for deleted files; it does not extend the lifetime of exports, operational records, or expired download links.
For audit requirements that extend beyond a log's retention period, SIEM integrations and Log File Streaming provide ongoing delivery of supported logs to storage you control. Retention of those delivered copies follows the destination's policies.