Object Lock

Object Lock prevents objects from being deleted or overwritten for a defined period. S3 Manager lets you configure the bucket-level default retention policy and view and update per-object retention and legal hold from the file detail panel.

Note

Object Lock can only be enabled at bucket creation time. It also requires versioning, which S3 Manager enables automatically when you tick the Object Lock option. See Create a Bucket for details.

Bucket-level default retention

The Object Lock screen (accessible from the sidebar when you select a bucket) shows the default retention policy for that bucket. When a default is set, every new object uploaded to the bucket inherits the policy automatically — you do not need to set retention on each upload manually.

If Object Lock was not enabled when the bucket was created, the screen shows a notice and no settings are available.

Retention mode

Two modes are available:

Mode	What it means
Governance	Protects objects from most users, but privileged accounts with the right IAM permission can shorten or remove the retention period.
Compliance	No one — including the root account — can shorten or remove the retention date before it expires. Use this for regulatory requirements.

Caution

Switching a bucket default from Governance to Compliance, or shortening a Compliance retention period, is not possible once the lock is applied. Choose Compliance only when you are certain of the required duration.

Retention period

Set how long new objects are protected. Enter a positive integer and choose the unit:

• Days — retention period in days.
• Years — retention period in years.

Click Save to apply. Click Remove default to clear the bucket default; this does not affect objects that already have retention set on them, and Object Lock remains enabled on the bucket.

Per-object retention and legal hold

Per-object settings appear in the Retention & legal hold section of the file detail panel (the panel that opens when you click a file in the file browser).

Per-object retention

The panel shows the current retention mode and retain-until date for the selected object.

• If the object has Governance retention and the retain-until date is in the future, you can pick a new (later) date — the earliest selectable date is the later of tomorrow or the current retain-until date — and click Apply retention. A confirmation dialog warns you that the change is irreversible here.
• If the object has Compliance retention, the date field is hidden — the retain-until date cannot be shortened or removed through the UI.

Note

Per-object retention applied through S3 Manager always uses the Governance mode. The mode shown in the panel is read from the stored object; if it shows Compliance it was set outside S3 Manager or inherited from a Compliance bucket default.

Legal hold

Legal hold is a separate on/off flag that blocks deletion regardless of any retention date. It has no expiry — it stays on until you turn it off.

• On — the object cannot be deleted or overwritten.
• Off — no legal hold is active.

Click Turn on legal hold or Turn off legal hold to toggle. The change takes effect immediately.

Legal hold and retention are independent: an object can have both, either, or neither.