Owner can't delete flow bot posts in teams channel

[Lise Arsenault]

Since the new update (October 2023), owners of a team are not able to delete flow bot posts posted in a teams channel. Does anyone have a solution? I've had our Admin check the messaging policies and "Owners can delete sent messages" is toggled on. 

[#2]

Nothing simple / out of the box for that (yet). But you should check out this GitHub page: https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/msteams-docs/blob/main/msteams-platform/bots/how-to/update-and-dele.... Has a bit more context than Microsoft's main page on bot messages: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/bots/how-to/update-and-delete-bot-messages... Hope that helps!

[#3]

@Lise Arsenault, while it may seem like a convenient solution to simply ask an admin to delete the flow bot posts, this approach is not without its drawbacks. Granting admin permissions to team owners, even temporarily, can pose significant security risks. First and foremost, elevating a team owner to admin status grants them the same level of access as an admin. This means they can make sweeping changes to the Teams environment, potentially disrupting workflows or even compromising sensitive data.

Furthermore, granting admin privileges could inadvertently expose the organization to malicious actors. If a team owner's account is compromised, the attacker would gain full admin access, enabling them to wreak havoc on the Teams infrastructure. Apart from the security concerns, granting admin permissions can undermine the established roles and responsibilities within the organization. Admins are tasked with safeguarding the Teams environment and ensuring its integrity, while team owners focus on managing their respective teams' activities. Blurring these lines can lead to confusion and potential conflicts.

Therefore, while it is technically possible for admins to grant admin permissions to team owners, it is strongly discouraged due to the associated risks. A more secure and sustainable approach is for admins to directly delete the flow bot posts as needed. This maintains the clear separation of duties and ensures that admin privileges are only exercised by those specifically authorized to do so.

[#4]

Hi BarryGoblon, Thank you for the quick reply. I am not asking if owners should have admin rights to our Teams. I was only asking (it may not have been clear), that in the older version of Teams, before the update, owners of a Team were able to delete any post within their Teams Channels. Now since the update, they are able to delete regular posts but not the ones that are sent to a channel via power automate/flow bot.
I did find a post in this community that speaks to this. It says that owners are able to delete when using the mobile app but not on PC. I tested this theory and yes, I am able to delete when using the app on my cell phone but not when using either the browser app or desktop app on my PC. What would be the difference between the these?

[#5 · Accepted solution]

@Lise Arsenault Keep in mind that while awaiting the bug fix, team owners can still delete flow bot posts using the mobile app. It's an effective workaround until the issue with the desktop app is addressed.

[#6]

In Microsoft Teams, team owners usually have the ability to delete messages, but sometimes they can't delete posts made by flow bots, like those set up with Microsoft Power Automate. This could be puzzling, but there are a few reasons why this happens:

Bot Rules: Sometimes the bots are programmed with specific rules that don't allow their messages to be deleted. This could be part of how the bot was initially set up.

Company Policies: Your organization might have certain rules in place that stop these messages from being deleted. This could be for keeping records or making sure certain information stays put for compliance reasons.

How the Bot is Built: The way the bot is configured might also prevent the deletion of its posts. Some bots are meant to send out important notices that aren’t supposed to be removed.

If you're running into this issue, here’s what you can try:

Check the Bot’s Settings: Take a closer look at the bot’s settings to see if you can change permissions about deleting messages.
Talk to IT: It might be helpful to chat with your IT department to see if there are any organizational policies you’re not aware of that are affecting this.
Adjust the Bot: If it’s possible, you might want to tweak the bot’s setup or reach out to the person who can, to allow team owners to delete messages when needed.
If these options don’t work, you might need to just leave those messages as they are, or think about using different settings or another bot that fits better with how you want to manage your team’s communications.