It depends on the tool and on how the subscription ended. Slack starts deleting year-old messages the day a paid plan ends; Google drops Gmail and Drive from its export tool on cancellation; Microsoft 365 deletes 120 days after a lapse; Zendesk starts irreversible deletion 90 days after cancelling. Pick your tools for exact dates.
Page updated 19 Oct 2026. Figures checked 18 Oct 2026 at their sources.
Retention day counter
Pick the cancellation, failed payment or contract end date. A future date works too.
Google Workspace
Day 0 is the day you cancelled.
day 0
export deadline
day 0Gmail, Drive and Chat drop out of the Data Export tool (export deadline)
day 51Last day to resubscribe
day 84Cancellation process finishes
day 90Deleting users' data can take up to 90 days
Export to do now
Run Google's Data Export tool for the whole organisation (super admin account at least 30 days old, 2-Step Verification on). Copy the archive out of Google's bucket within 60 days of starting.
day 90Data might be deleted from this day (export deadline)
day 180Data deleted, at the latest
Explicitly deleting the subscription deletes SharePoint and OneDrive immediately.
Export to do now
Run a Purview eDiscovery export over every mailbox, Teams chat and channel, SharePoint site and OneDrive while admins still have access. The exporting account needs an E3 or E5 licence.
day 0Free plan: only the last 90 days visible; messages and files older than one year deleted daily (export deadline)
Deleting the workspace is permanent, with no grace period.
Export to do now
Export before the paid plan ends. Private channels and DMs need Business+ (apply to Slack) or Enterprise Grid. Download the files the export links to while the workspace is live.
Windows as published by each vendor, checked 18 Oct 2026. Day counts are added to the date you pick.
All windows at a glance
The same rules as the tool above, in one table. The export deadline is the last day a vendor's own published policy lets you get everything out.
Tool
After you cancel
After you stop paying
Source
Google Workspace
Day 0: the day you cancelledDay 0: Gmail, Drive and Chat drop out of the Data Export toolDay 51: Last day to resubscribeDay 84: Cancellation process finishesDay 90: Deleting users' data can take up to 90 days
Day 0: the day the payment failedDay 30: Suspended if payment is not fixed; core data then excluded from exportDay 90: After 60 days suspended, the subscription might be cancelled
Day 0: the day you cancelledDay 0: Disabled: only admins can reach the dataDay 90: Data might be deleted from this dayDay 180: Data deleted, at the latest
Day 0: the day the subscription endedDay 30: Expired period ends: users lose access, admins onlyDay 120: Disabled period ends: data deleted, Entra ID removedDay 180: All customer data deleted, at the latest
Day 0: the renewal date the cancellation took effectDay 0: Downgraded to free tools; workflows turned offDay 90: Workflows, sequences and knowledge bases deleted
Day 0: the day the subscription terminatedDay 0: Smart CRM and free services: no access to customer dataDay 30: Marketing Hub Pro or Enterprise: last day for a written request for temporary access
Day 0: the day the contract endedDay 30: Last day to request your data backDay 121: Deletion from production startsDay 211: Deleted from production, at the latestDay 301: Deleted from backups, at the latest
Day 0: the day the contract endedDay 30: Last day to request your data backDay 121: Deletion from production startsDay 211: Deleted from production, at the latestDay 301: Deleted from backups, at the latest
The tables show one pattern: the export window often closes before the deletion date. Google drops Gmail and Drive from its export tool on the day of cancellation, Slack starts trimming year-old history the day a paid plan ends, and Atlassian deletes a product's data at once if it is removed from a site that stays live.
For anyone closing down a team, a tool or a whole company, a safe order is:
Keep paying until every export is finished and checked.
Confirm that someone still holds admin rights on each tool, with two-step sign-in working.
Start the slow exports first: Google's Data Export and Microsoft Purview can run for days.
Download each export, open it, and confirm that it holds what you expected before letting a plan lapse.
Records you keep may have legal retention duties of their own, and whatever you later license or hand over depends on what survives. For what complete records have fetched in the market, see the licensing deals database; for the vocabulary, the glossary.
01How long after cancelling does Slack delete our messages?+
A cancelled paid plan drops to Free. From then on only the last 90 days are visible, and anything posted more than a year earlier is permanently deleted on a rolling basis, once a day. There is no grace period for anything already past a year.
02Can I still export Google Workspace data after cancelling?+
Not the core data. Google excludes Gmail, Drive and Chat from the Data Export tool once a subscription is cancelled or suspended. Resubscribing within 51 days of cancelling is the way back in.
03How long do we have after Microsoft 365 ends?+
If the subscription lapses: 30 days Expired with normal access, then 90 days Disabled with admin-only access, then deletion. If you cancel, it goes straight to Disabled and data might be deleted after 90 days, no later than 180.
04When does Zendesk delete a cancelled account?+
An automated deletion process starts 90 days after cancellation and cannot be reversed. Zendesk support can temporarily reactivate the account within that window so you can export.
05What about Jira and Confluence?+
Access continues until 15 days after the subscription period ends, then the site is deactivated and data kept 60 days on paid and Free plans. After that it is permanently deleted.
06Is this legal advice?+
No. It restates each vendor's published policy as checked on 18 October 2026, with links. Contracts, resellers and enterprise agreements can change the timings, so confirm with the vendor for anything critical.
07Does HubSpot delete CRM records after a downgrade?+
CRM records stay in the free tools after a downgrade. Workflows, sequences and knowledge bases are deleted 90 days after the change takes effect on the renewal date.
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