How to set up data retention (messages and logs)
Set how many months messages, attachments, and the activity log are kept, and whether what's past the deadline is anonymized or deleted.
1 min readBasicUpdated on November 12, 2026
Where to find it in Cognizy
Video lesson coming soon. For now, follow the steps below.
Data retention automatically deletes what's past its deadline, so your company only keeps what's necessary (as required by LGPD). It comes turned off: nothing is deleted until you set the time limits.
Where to find it in Cognizy
Before you start
- Only the owner and administrators can change retention settings.
- What's deleted can't be recovered. If you need a copy, export it first.
Step by step
- Step 1:
Open and scroll down to Data retention.
- Step 2:
In Messages and attachments (months), type how many months conversations are kept. For example, 24.
- Step 3:
In What to do with old messages, choose Anonymize (the text becomes "[removed]" and the counts remain for reports) or Delete permanently.
- Step 4:
In Audit log (months), set the time limit for the team's activity log. For example, 12.
- Step 5:
Click Save retention. Cleanup runs every night, in batches.
How to know it worked
The time limits are saved on the screen. Starting the following night, anything past the deadline is anonymized or deleted. Received attachments (WhatsApp media, site chat, email) go along with it; files in the media library are never deleted.
If something goes wrong
I want to turn off retention.
Clear the numbers from the fields and save. When left blank, nothing is deleted.
An old conversation still shows up.
Cleanup runs at night and in batches; it may take a few days to reach everything.
Next step
Check the team's activity log.
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