How to recover a deleted Teams channel or chat

Communications KB-207

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to recover a deleted Teams channel or chat. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

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Common Causes

Accidentally deleting a Microsoft Teams channel or chat conversation can be stressful, particularly when it contains important project discussions or shared files. Fortunately, Microsoft Teams retains deleted data for a limited period, and there are several ways to recover your information. This guide walks you through the process for both standard channels and chat conversations.

Recover a Deleted Teams Channel

When a channel is deleted in Teams, it is moved to the team's recycle bin and remains there for 30 days before being permanently removed. During this window, a Team owner can restore it.

Quick Fix Steps

Open Microsoft Teams and navigate to the team where the channel was deleted.
Click the More options icon (the three dots) next to the team name.
Select Manage team.
Go to the Channels tab.
Expand the Deleted section at the bottom of the list.
Find the channel you want to recover, click the More options icon next to it, and select Restore.

Detailed Instructions

Only Team owners have the permissions required to restore a deleted channel. If you are a member and do not see the Manage team option, you will need to ask an owner to perform the restoration on your behalf.

Once restored, the channel will reappear in the team's channel list with all its previous messages intact. However, any files that were uploaded directly to the channel's Files tab may take a short time to re-sync with SharePoint.

If more than 30 days have passed since the channel was deleted, it is permanently removed from the Teams recycle bin. Recovery after this period is not possible through the standard interface.

Recover Deleted Chat Conversations

Unlike channels, individual chat conversations cannot be "restored" from a recycle bin in the same way. However, if you have accidentally deleted a chat thread, you can often retrieve the information using the following methods.

Check Hidden Chats

Sometimes a chat has not been deleted but simply hidden from your chat list.

Go to the Chat tab on the left-hand sidebar.
Use the search bar at the top and type the name of the person or group you were chatting with.
If the chat appears in the search results, click on it to open the conversation.
To keep it visible, send a new message or pin it by clicking More options and selecting Pin.

Recover Deleted Messages Using the eDiscovery Tool

If a chat message has been deleted, it is not immediately erased from Microsoft's servers. Your organisation's IT administrator can recover deleted messages using the Microsoft Purview compliance portal (formerly the Security and Compliance Centre). These messages are retained based on your organisation's retention policies.

If you are not an administrator, you will need to request this recovery through your IT support contact.

Troubleshooting

The "Deleted" Section Is Not Visible

If you cannot see the Deleted section under Manage team, ensure that:

You are listed as an Owner of the team, not just a member.
The channel was deleted within the last 30 days.
You are using the desktop or web version of Teams, as the mobile app has limited management capabilities.

Restored Channel Files Are Missing

When a channel is restored, the associated SharePoint folder is also restored. If files are not immediately visible:

Click Files at the top of the restored channel.
Click Open in SharePoint.
Check the SharePoint site's recycle bin if the files are still missing from the channel.

Files deleted from Teams are moved to the SharePoint site recycle bin, where they are retained for 93 days.

Cannot Find the Chat in Search

If a deleted chat does not appear in search results, it may have been permanently deleted. In this case, the only way to recover the content is through an eDiscovery search performed by an administrator with access to the Microsoft Purview compliance portal.

If you are experiencing broader communication issues, such as problems with your email service, see our related article: Email not sending or receiving.

Key Things to Remember

Deleted channels are recoverable for 30 days by Team owners.
Deleted chat messages are retained in the backend and can be recovered via eDiscovery, depending on your organisation's retention policy.
Files from deleted channels are stored in the SharePoint recycle bin for 93 days.

If you continue to experience issues recovering a deleted channel or chat, please Open a Ticket and our support team will assist you.

Still Having Issues?

Need more help? If the issue persists after trying these steps, please open a support ticket and our team will assist you.

💻 Open a Ticket