# Retention of files

Nextcloud's Files Retention app allows to automatically delete files that are tagged with a collaborative tag and have a certain age.

## Example

After installing the Retention app as described in [Apps management](/link/982) navigate to Administration settings and then to Flow.

> ![Sample rule to delete files after 14 days after creation.](https://docs.cocobook.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-10/retention-sample.png)

The rule from the example will delete all files tagged with `Temporary file` 14 days after the creation.

You can also use the "Notify owner a day before a file is automatically deleted" option to make sure the file owner will get a notification before a file will be deleted.

## File age

There are 2 options available that can be used to decide when to delete a file:

- **Creation:** Time the file was created on the Nextcloud Server or uploaded to it.
- **Last modification:** Time when the file was last modified. Uploading also counts as a modification, so files that have not been modified since a long time before uploading are not deleted shortly after the upload.

## Common misconfigurations

### Public collaborative tag

Similar to [Files access control](/link/977) retention should use `restricted` or `invisible` tags. Otherwise any user can remove the tag and the file is not removed after the given period. Use [Automated tagging of files](/link/978) to assign such tags to newly uploaded files.