Many businesses, self-employed individuals, and associations ask themselves: How long do emails need to be retained? The answer depends on the content of the message. In Germany, legal retention periods apply to business-relevant emails and must be strictly observed.
Do Emails Count as Business Records?
Yes. Emails can contain tax-relevant and legally relevant documents and are therefore frequently treated like traditional business letters.
Examples include:
- Invoices
- Quotes
- Order confirmations
- Contracts
- Proof of payment
- Business correspondence
- Tax-relevant documents
What matters is not the form but the content of the email.
What Retention Periods Apply?
6-Year Retention
The following documents must generally be retained for at least six years:
- Commercial letters
- Business letters
- Quote requests
- Order confirmations
- General business correspondence
10-Year Retention
The following documents must generally be retained for ten years:
- Invoices
- Accounting vouchers
- Annual financial statements
- Tax documents
- Documents with tax relevance
Since many of these documents are now sent by email, the retention obligation also applies to the corresponding messages and attachments.
When Does the Period Begin?
The period generally begins at the end of the calendar year in which the email was received or sent.
Example:
An invoice is received by email on March 15, 2025.
The retention period begins on December 31, 2025.
With a ten-year retention obligation, the email may therefore not be deleted before December 31, 2035 at the earliest.
Is a Printout of the Email Sufficient?
In most cases, no.
If an invoice or another relevant business document is received electronically, the electronic form should be retained.
A printout alone frequently does not replace the digital original file.
What Requirements Apply to Archiving?
Business emails should:
- be stored in their entirety
- be retrievable at any time
- remain readable
- be protected against loss
- remain available long-term
That is why many businesses use specialized archiving solutions rather than relying exclusively on the email inbox for storage.
Why Is Archiving Important?
Many users rely exclusively on Gmail, Outlook, or other cloud services.
This can lead to problems:
- accidentally deleted emails
- provider changes
- locked accounts
- full mailboxes
- data loss
Local archiving provides additional security and ensures that important messages remain available even years later.
Archive Emails Locally
Anyone who wants to retain their business emails long-term should consider additional local archiving.
With Mail Archive, Gmail, Outlook, and IMAP accounts can be archived on the Mac. Messages are stored locally and remain available independently of the respective email provider.
The most important advantages include:
- Local storage of all emails
- Archiving of attachments
- Fast full-text search
- Long-term data backup
- Independence from cloud providers
Conclusion
Business-relevant emails in Germany are frequently subject to a retention obligation of six or ten years. Since many important documents today are sent exclusively in digital form, secure archiving is becoming increasingly important.
Local email archiving helps to secure important messages long-term, comply with legal requirements, and access relevant information at any time.