Meeting chat history

Steel Contributor

Is there Microsoft documentation around meeting chat history (not channel meetings)?  Looking for information on where that chat history is stored, retention options, ability to delete meeting chat history if someone requests it, etc.  I've found plenty of documentation on 1v1 chat and channel chat, but nothing on meeting chat.

10 Replies

+1 for me on this topic.  In order to better explain to end users how to leverage meeting history, it is important to understand the backend administration.  I agree with @Erin Scupham that there is a lot of information on all other forms of chat/history in Teams, but not when it comes to meetings.  I hesitate to create materials based on technical assumptions (nothing ever goes wrong with that!) and am at a standstill when it comes to the details behind meeting history.

@Shannon Duffy Yeah, add me in the same boat.  I'd definitely like to see more documentation around how Teams meetings chats are handled when it comes to retention policies.  Are they handled by the same policies as 1-on-1/impromptu chats, or are they subject to Teams channels/groups chat?  Some more clarity would be helpful.

@JackBurt0n The answer is that it depends.

 

If you create a meeting from a channel then the chat in that meeting is a thread in your channel and has the same expiry as any over channel conversation.

 

If you create a meeting that isn't in a channel then it's a chat, and will have the same retention that you define for 1:1 chats.

@Steven Collier Thank you!  Been looking all over the documentation for a clear answer on that.  Okay, so my next question on this subject then - if we have a Teams meeting that is scheduled outside of a group (so essentially a 1:1 chat, like you mentioned), and we turn on retention for say, 3 days, will people still be able to see/post in the meeting chat after the retention period, or will the meeting chat disappear from their chat history list?  Just trying to assuage some C-level fears.

@JackBurt0n 

 

Just like a 1:1 chat, the messages will go but the conversation will still exist in the meeting. It will age out of your chat list after 30 days.

 

There is a new feature coming soon that will let a meeting organiser define if chat is available after a meeting ends, look in the message centre at MC224359. 

@Steven Collier thanks for the two quick replies, Steven.  This is immensely helpful.  Appreciate the information!

@Steven Collier Thanks so much for the information!  The chat situation in Teams is becoming a bit clearer with time and this simple clarification helps tremendously! 

@Shannon Duffy In our testing we did find that the chat history in a meeting (non-channel) follows 1:1 chat retention.  We also submitted a ticket with Microsoft to get confirmation on this and they confirmed as well.

@Steven Collier How can users clean up their chat lists so that old meeting chats that are no longer needed disappear?  Is the retention the only solution via system admin?  Or can the user organize their own chat window to some extent?  I have tried leaving the chat but the chat remains in the list.  I have 10, sometimes 15 meetings a day and the meeting chats are clogging up my chat list with individuals and groups. Any help would be appreciated.  

@Lani_T You can hide any chat you don't need anymore, however I've always found that not really necessary as inactive conversations age down the list quickly. I also pin key conversations I don't want to age to the top of the list, then they are always there in the same order.