How To Archive Microsoft Teams

Struggling to keep your Microsoft Teams tidy and well-organized due to numerous inactive teams? You are not alone. Many people do not know that they can conveniently archive these teams, keeping the interface clean while preserving all data for future reference.

This blog will walk you through step-by-step instructions on how to easily archive and unarchive teams in Microsoft Teams, taking full advantage of this often overlooked feature. Ready to declutter? Let’s dive right in!

Key Takeaways

• Archiving teams in Microsoft Teams is a great way to keep your workspace organized and decluttered.
• Archiving a team preserves all its chat history, files, and information while preventing any further editing or posting within it by regular members.
• You can easily unarchive teams in Microsoft Teams either through the Teams app, the Teams Admin Center, or by using PowerShell commands.

How to Archive Teams in Microsoft Teams

To archive a team in Microsoft Teams, select the team you want to archive, click on the three dots, and choose the “archive team” option.

Archive Teams in the Microsoft Teams app

Securing, protecting, and preserving your team’s communication and collaboration data in Microsoft Teams is key, especially for regulatory compliance. One effective way to do this is through archiving your teams using the app itself. Here are the step-by-step instructions:

1. Launch the Microsoft Teams app on your desktop or mobile device.
2. Navigate to the ‘Teams’ section located on the left sidebar.
3. Click on ‘Manage Teams’ from the dropdown menu.
4. Look through your Active list to find the team you want to archive.
5. Once found, click on ‘More options’, represented by three dots beside the team’s name.
6. From a list of options presented, select ‘Archive team’.
7. Confirm your action by clicking ‘Archive’. This will make the SharePoint site read – only for all team members preventing changes.

Archive Teams in the Microsoft Teams Admin Center

Archiving Teams in the Microsoft Teams Admin Center provides an efficient way to store and secure old team information. Here’s how to do it:

1. Access the Microsoft Teams admin center; this is your hub for managing all teams.
2. Locate the team you wish to archive under the ‘Teams’ section.
3. Click on the team name; this will reveal various options for managing it.
4. Among these options, select “Archive.” Remember, only admins and team owners can execute this task.
5. Confirm your decision; your team is now archived.

What Happens When You Archive Microsoft Teams?

Archiving a Microsoft Team essentially freezes all activities within the team, meaning you can no longer add, edit or delete posts in the conversations. Despite this state of inactivity, all previous discussions and content remain available for review.

This includes every aspect of the respective team including chats and files; Microsoft Teams archiving captures it all.

Unlike deleting a Team which completely removes it from your platform’s interface, an archived Team maintains its presence while disabling any further changes. Importantly, archival doesn’t affect the associated SharePoint site – it remains intact.

The process simply enables team owners to make site content read-only so as to preserve existing data whilst preventing modifications or additions. Consequently, even though an archived Team isn’t actively used anymore, vital records are kept safe and secure for possible future needs.

How to Unarchive Microsoft Teams?

To unarchive a Microsoft Teams team, users can either unarchive the team directly in the Teams app or use the Teams Admin Center to restore archived teams.

Unarchive Teams from Microsoft Teams app

To unarchive teams from the Microsoft Teams app, follow these steps:

1. Open the Microsoft Teams app.
2. Select the Teams button on the left side of the app.
3. From the list of teams, locate and select the archived team you want to unarchive.
4. Click on the “More options” (three – dot) button next to the team’s name.
5. Choose “Restore” from the dropdown menu.
6. The team will be unarchived and restored to its previous state.

Unarchive Teams from Microsoft Teams Admin Center

To unarchive Teams from the Microsoft Teams Admin Center, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Microsoft Teams admin center.
2. Select “Teams” from the left sidebar.
3. Click on “Manage Teams.”
4. Choose the desired team that you want to unarchive from the list of teams.
5. In the team settings, click on “More options” (represented by three dots).
6. A dropdown menu will appear, and from there, select “Restore team.”
7. Confirm your selection in the Restore Team window.

Unarchive Teams using PowerShell

To unarchive Teams in Microsoft Teams, you can use PowerShell commands. Here’s how:

1. Open PowerShell on your computer.
2. Connect to the Microsoft Teams module by running the following command: `Connect-MicrosoftTeams`.
3. Once connected, use the `Set-TeamArchivedState` command to unarchive a specific team. For example, to unarchive a team with the ID “abc123”, use this command: `Set-TeamArchivedState -GroupId abc123 -Archived false`.
4. To unarchive multiple teams at once, you can create a CSV file with the team IDs and run a PowerShell script that loops through each ID and uses the `Set-TeamArchivedState` command. This allows for bulk unarchiving of teams.
5. After running the appropriate PowerShell commands, the archived teams will be restored and visible in the Microsoft Teams app.

Bulk unarchive Teams using PowerShell

To bulk unarchive Teams in Microsoft Teams, you can use PowerShell. Here is how:

1. Open PowerShell on your computer.
2. Run the command `Connect – MicrosoftTeams` to connect to Microsoft Teams.
3. Use the command `Get-Team | Where-Object {$_.Archived}` to get a list of all archived teams.
4. Copy the Group ID or email ID of the teams you want to unarchive.
5. Run the command `Set-TeamArchivedState -GroupId -Archived: $false` for each team you want to unarchive, replacing `` with the actual Group ID or email ID of the team.
6. Repeat step 5 for each additional team you want to unarchive.

How to find archived teams

To find archived teams in Microsoft Teams, follow these steps:

1. Open the Microsoft Teams app.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the team’s list and select “Manage”.
3. In the Active list, locate the name of the team you want to find and select “More”.
4. From the menu, choose “Archive”. The team will then be added to the Archived list.

Conclusion

In conclusion, archiving teams in Microsoft Teams is a simple yet crucial step to keep your workspace organized and ensure efficient data management. With just a few clicks, team owners and admins can archive inactive teams, making them easily accessible if needed in the future.

The Teams Admin Center provides additional options for managing and archiving teams, giving administrators more control over their collaboration platform. So don’t forget to utilize the archiving feature in Microsoft Teams to streamline your workflow and maintain a clutter-free environment.