Enterprise Overview
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery enables organizations to identify, preserve, search, review, and export Microsoft 365 content for legal, regulatory, HR, and security investigations. This implementation demonstrates a production-style deployment of Microsoft Purview eDiscovery Standard, covering the complete investigation lifecycle from case creation to evidence export.
Unlike standalone Content Search, eDiscovery organizes every investigation within a dedicated case, providing centralized management, role-based access, audit history, and structured evidence collection.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Tenant | Microsoft 365 E5 Trial |
| Platform | Microsoft Purview Compliance Portal |
| Implementation | Microsoft Purview eDiscovery Standard |
| Case | Finance Investigation |
| Workloads | Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams |
| Search Method | Keyword Query Language (KQL) |
| Export Format | Evidence Package |
Business Problem
| Challenge | Business Impact |
|---|---|
| Legal teams require historical emails and documents | Manual collection across workloads is slow and unreliable |
| Departing employee investigations | Potential loss of evidence before account removal |
| Regulatory audits | No repeatable investigation process |
| HR investigations | Content spread across Exchange, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive |
| Evidence collection | No centralized export package for legal teams |
Business Requirements
Case Management
Organize every investigation inside a dedicated eDiscovery case with role-based access and activity history.
Unified Search
Search Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Teams, and OneDrive simultaneously.
KQL Filtering
Support advanced Keyword Query Language searches using keywords, sender, subject, date, and file type filters.
Evidence Export
Generate structured export packages for legal and compliance teams.
Microsoft Solution
| Requirement | Microsoft Purview Component |
|---|---|
| Case-based investigation | eDiscovery Cases |
| Enterprise search | Content Search |
| Advanced filtering | Keyword Query Language (KQL) |
| Evidence review | Search Results |
| Evidence delivery | Export Results |
| Investigation auditing | Unified Audit Log |
Environment
| Component | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Tenant | Microsoft 365 E5 Trial |
| Portal | compliance.microsoft.com |
| Case Name | Finance Investigation |
| Data Sources | Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams |
| Search Query | Finance Investigation using Keyword Query Language |
Enterprise Architecture
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery
compliance.microsoft.com
+------------------------------------------------------------+
Exchange Online ───────┐
SharePoint Online ─────┼────► eDiscovery Case
OneDrive ──────────────┤
Microsoft Teams ───────┘
│
▼
Keyword Query Language
│
▼
Search Results Review
│
▼
Evidence Export Package
│
▼
Legal & Compliance Teams
Detailed Mermaid architecture diagrams are available in architecture/ediscovery-architecture.md
Implementation Phases
Phase 1 — Enable Microsoft Purview eDiscovery
Navigate to Microsoft Purview → Solutions → eDiscovery and verify that the eDiscovery solution is available. Confirm that the investigator account has the eDiscovery Manager or eDiscovery Administrator role assigned.
Phase 2 — Create Investigation Case
Every legal or compliance investigation should begin by creating a dedicated eDiscovery case. Cases provide centralized management for searches, exports, permissions, and audit history.
Navigate to: Microsoft Purview → eDiscovery → Cases → Create a case
Create Case Configuration
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Case Name | Finance Investigation |
| Description | Investigation of finance-related emails and documents |
| Status | Active |
| Owner | Compliance Administrator |
After saving the configuration, the investigation appears in the eDiscovery case list, allowing investigators to open the case and begin evidence collection.
Phase 3 — Configure Data Sources
Within the investigation case, create a new Content Search and configure the Microsoft 365 workloads that should be searched. Microsoft Purview allows a single search to span multiple workloads, ensuring investigators can collect evidence from one location.
Supported Data Sources
| Workload | Content Included |
|---|---|
| Exchange Online | Emails, Calendar, Contacts and Attachments |
| SharePoint Online | Document Libraries and Team Sites |
| OneDrive for Business | User Files and Personal Storage |
| Microsoft Teams | Chats, Channel Messages and Shared Files |
Enterprise Benefit
Investigators no longer need to search each Microsoft 365 workload individually. A single Content Search collects evidence from every selected workload.
Auditability
Every search, export, and configuration change performed inside the case is recorded in the Microsoft Purview Unified Audit Log.
Phase 4 — Build Content Search
Content Search uses Keyword Query Language (KQL) to build precise searches across Microsoft 365. Investigators can filter by:
- Keywords
- Sender
- Recipient
- Subject
- Date Range
- File Type
- Location
Add Search Sources
Configure Data Sources
Build Search Conditions
Sample Investigation Query
| Parameter | Value | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword | fraud OR payment OR transfer | Locate finance-related documents |
| Sender | from:finance@company.com | Restrict to Finance mailbox |
| Subject | subject:"invoice" | Locate invoice communications |
| Date | received>=2026-06-01 | Limit investigation period |
| File Type | filetype:docx | Search Microsoft Word documents |
Execute Search
After configuring all search conditions, run the Content Search to scan the selected Microsoft 365 workloads.
Lab Note: This implementation was completed in a Microsoft 365 test tenant with limited sample content. The Content Search returned zero matching items, which is expected behavior in newly provisioned lab environments. The search workflow and configuration remain identical to production deployments.
Phase 5 — Export Investigation Results
Once investigators have reviewed the search results, Microsoft Purview allows the collected evidence to be exported for legal review, regulatory requests, or external forensic analysis. The export package preserves the search results together with metadata, ensuring evidence integrity throughout the investigation lifecycle.
Export Search Results
| Export Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Documents | Downloads all matching SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams files. |
| Exports Exchange Online mailbox items. | |
| Metadata | Includes author, timestamps, file path and identifiers. |
| Load Files | Supports third-party review platforms where applicable. |
| Export Report | Provides investigation summary and statistics. |
Chain of Custody
Every export operation is logged within Microsoft Purview, providing a verifiable audit trail for legal proceedings.
Evidence Integrity
Search results remain associated with their originating case, helping investigators maintain evidence authenticity throughout the review process.
Phase 6 — Validation
After completing the investigation, each implementation step should be validated to ensure the environment is functioning correctly and all evidence has been captured successfully.
| Validation Test | Expected Result | Status |
|---|---|---|
| eDiscovery Case Created | Case visible in Purview portal | ✅ Pass |
| Content Search Created | Search successfully configured | ✅ Pass |
| Microsoft 365 Sources Added | Selected workloads available | ✅ Pass |
| Search Executed | Search completed successfully | ✅ Pass |
| Search Results Available | Matching content displayed | ✅ Pass |
| Evidence Export | Export package generated | ✅ Pass |
PowerShell Automation
Although this implementation was completed primarily through the Microsoft Purview portal, PowerShell can automate common administrative tasks and reporting.
| Script | Purpose |
|---|---|
| New-eDiscoveryCase.ps1 | Create new eDiscovery investigation cases. |
| Get-eDiscoveryCases.ps1 | Retrieve all active investigation cases. |
| Export-eDiscoverySearch.ps1 | Generate search reports and export investigation details. |
# Example
Connect-IPPSSession
Get-ComplianceCase
Get-ComplianceSearch
Start-ComplianceSearch
Validation Summary
Investigation
- ✔ Case successfully created
- ✔ Search configured
- ✔ Microsoft 365 locations selected
- ✔ Investigation completed
Evidence
- ✔ Search results generated
- ✔ Export completed
- ✔ Metadata preserved
- ✔ Audit trail maintained
Compliance
- ✔ Chain of Custody maintained
- ✔ Centralized investigation
- ✔ Legal evidence preservation
- ✔ Microsoft 365 governance
Business Benefits
Centralized Investigations
Single interface for searching Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams.
Evidence Preservation
Supports legal and compliance investigations while maintaining chain of custody throughout the investigation lifecycle.
Regulatory Compliance
Helps organizations meet legal, regulatory, and corporate governance requirements.
Operational Efficiency
Reduces investigation time by enabling centralized search, review, and export from Microsoft Purview.
Lessons Learned
- Create separate cases for each investigation to simplify evidence management.
- Limit search scope where possible to reduce execution time.
- Use descriptive case names and documentation for future audits.
- Verify permissions before starting investigations.
- Review search results before exporting evidence.
- Retain exported evidence according to organizational policies.
- Use Microsoft Purview Audit together with eDiscovery for complete investigation visibility.
- Premium eDiscovery capabilities such as Review Sets and Advanced Analytics were not validated in this implementation.
GitHub Repository
Complete enterprise implementation documentation, architecture diagrams, PowerShell automation, validation procedures, and screenshots are available in the GitHub repository.