---
title: "Lock one object version or place a legal hold"
description: "Set a governance lock or a legal hold on one version of an object in a TIR Object Storage bucket, and know who can shorten or remove a lock."
content_type: "how-to"
product: "tir-object-storage"
platform: "TIR"
url: "/tir/tir-object-storage/how-to/lock-an-object-version/"
topic: ["protect-and-manage"]
---

# Lock one object version or place a legal hold

Protect one version of an object with its own governance lock, a legal hold, or both. A legal hold
stays until someone removes it.

## Before you begin

- A bucket created with object lock, and an object version in it; see
  [Set a default object lock on a bucket](/tir/tir-object-storage/how-to/set-a-default-object-lock/).
- Permission to update datasets in the project. A Member gets it through a policy that allows updating datasets. To view a version's lock settings, read permission is enough.
- The Owner or an Admin role, if you need to change or remove a governance lock. Only these two
  roles can change or remove one.

## Open the lock settings

1. On the **Data Objects** tab, select the **View Versions** button on the object's row.
2. In **Object Versions**, open the version's **Actions** and select **Lock Settings**. You can lock
   a version only in a bucket with object lock, on any version except a delete marker.

**Lock Settings** has two kinds of lock: **Legal Hold** and **Governance Lock**.

## Place a legal hold

Select **Enable legal hold**. A legal hold stops the version from being deleted or overwritten by
anyone, or by a lifecycle rule, until someone selects **Remove hold**. A legal hold wins over
governance: the version stays protected even after its retention has ended.

## Set a governance lock

A governance lock protects the version from deletes and overwrites by lifecycle rules and by everyone
other than the Owner or an Admin, until the retention ends.

1. Tick **Enable governance lock on this version**.
2. Enter the number of days. The field starts at 30.
3. Select **Save changes**.

**Governance Lock** then shows **Retained until** and the days left, which count down to 0. Use **Edit** to
change the retention and **Remove lock** to remove the lock. **Remove Governance Lock** asks "Are you
sure you want to remove the governance lock on the selected version? It can be deleted straight away
afterwards."

## Delete a locked version

A version under retention or a legal hold is protected from deletion. To delete it, remove a legal hold
in **Lock Settings** first. As the Owner or an Admin, you can also select
**I want to bypass the governance lock and delete this version** in the **Delete Version** dialog.

A locked version stays protected until its lock ends. If a delete is refused, see
[Troubleshooting TIR Object Storage](/tir/tir-object-storage/troubleshooting/tir-object-storage/).