Archive or restore a channel
Team and channel owners can archive a created channel within a team when it’s no longer active but is needed for reference or to reactivate in the future. The conversations and files in the channel become read-only and you’ll still be able to search for and within it. Once archived, any retention or deletion policies applied to the channel will still apply, and the channel can be renewed.
Archive or restore a channel on the Teams desktop app or Teams on the web.
Note: Only team owners for standard, private, and shared channels, and channel owners for private and shared channels can archive and restore channels.
Archive a channel
-
Find the channel you want to archive on your list of teams and channels.
-
Select the channel, then choose More options
You can also archive multiple channels from a team.
-
After selecting your team, click More options
-
Select Channels, then choose the channels you'd like to archive.
-
For each channel, select More options
Tip: To prevent people from editing the content in the SharePoint site and Wiki tab associated with the team, select Make the SharePoint site read-only for team members (team owners will still be able to edit this content).
After it's archived, the channel will have an archived icon next to it. You can find the channel by going to Manage team > Channels. Select Archived to only view archived channels.
Tips:
-
Easily view and search through the content of an archived channel by adding it to your favorites. To do this, select the channel, then select More options
-
Favorites are part of the public preview program and might undergo further changes before being released publicly. To get access to this and other upcoming features, switch to Teams public preview.
All channel activity is frozen once the channel is archived. No one will be able to start new conversations or reply to posts in a channel, edit team settings, or add apps. As a team/channel owner, you’ll still be able to add or remove members, update roles, and delete, renew, or restore an archived channel.
Restore a channel
To restore an archived channel, navigate to the channel you want to restore and select More options
To find the channel,
-
From the combined chat and channels view, go to the team and select See all channels.
-
From the separate teams view, select See all your teams and channels, then select the team.
Note: A team can still be archived if the channels within the team are archived. If you restore an archived team, there'll be no impact on archived channels, and they'll remain archived.
Related topics
Need more help?
Want more options?
Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.
Communities help you ask and answer questions, give feedback, and hear from experts with rich knowledge.
