Email archiving (also spelled e-mail archiving) is a systematic approach to saving and protecting the data contained in email messages to enable fast retrieval. These tools play a vital role at organizations in which data permanence is a priority.

Email communications are placed in a secure repository that resides outside of production environments. Incoming and outgoing messages are indexed, along with any document attachments. The contents of retained email are preserved in their original state in read-only format.

An email archive tool aids with compliance, knowledge management, litigation support and storage management. Aside from storing email, most content archiving products have evolved to encompass enterprise file sync-and-share data, instant messaging and corporate social media activities.