We want to remove PMs that are over 1 or 2 years old. Is there any setting to auto-delete personal/private messages that are older than a year? Or conversations that are inactive for 1 year?
AI-generated summary
The user hmmmnotsure inquired about a built-in setting to automatically delete personal messages or inactive conversations older than a specified period, such as one or two years. This request is driven by compliance team requirements to purge old data while preserving active discussions. JammyDodger suggested that no automatic feature currently exists and recommended using Search combined with Bulk Actions for manual cleanup. pfaffman clarified that a plugin would be necessary, highlighting the technical complexity involved in distinguishing between truly inactive topics and those with recent replies in older threads. Upon clarification, hmmmnotsure confirmed the goal is to remove only conversations inactive for over a year. pfaffman confirmed that a custom plugin would need to be built for this specific functionality. The thread concludes with hmmmnotsure acknowledging the solution.
Hmm. 
I don’t think there’s anything truly automatic currently, but you may be able to utilise the Search + Bulk Actions to do a batch tidy-up?
You’d need a plugin.
What problem are you solving with this?
It’s not straightforward. What do you do with a topic that’s started 5 years ago that has replies yesterday?
Thank you for your replies, pfaffman & JammyDodger.
Is there a plugin? Or it needs to be custom-built?
I’m trying to purge inactive, old conversations - something our compliance team wants us to explore.
If there are ongoing conversations, they remain unaffected. Only conversations that are inactive for over a year.
You’d need a custom plugin.
ah.. got it. Thank you!