Ability to archive channels

Would be nice if we had the ability to archive channels. For example: we created a channel for a specific project. Once the project is complete, we can archive that channel or at least move it out of the primary view. I could see the channel list getting large and clunky quickly with multiple projects many of which are complete.

Also, when a conversation in the channel is complete it should be archived or hidden.

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We’ll send you updates on this idea

Cory shared this idea · Nov 3, 2016 · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →

on the backlog ·

AdminWarren (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Aug 6, 2018

Unfortunately due to re-prioritization this item has slipped back onto the “backlog” for the time being.

I hope to see it move back into “working on it” soon and will continue to engage the feature team with your feedback.
-Warren

Show previous admin responses (6)

working on it ·

AdminWarren (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Jun 1, 2018

Updating feature title to reflect the work for Channel since the chat ability is available.

The work on the channel archiving is still moving along though I have no additional updates to share at the moment.

-Warren

working on it ·

AdminWarren (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Mar 6, 2018

Some good news, the ability to archive (hide) a chat is available.

You simply click the ellipses “…” next to the chat you wish to hide, and select Hide from the drop down menu.

As for the ability to archive a channel, that is still being worked upon.

-Warren

working on it ·

AdminWarren (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Feb 12, 2018

No big updates. This item is still being actively worked upon. No timeline is available at this moment.

I’ll keep an eye on this and provide additional information as soon as I get it.

-Warren

working on it ·

AdminSuphatra (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Oct 2, 2017

Hi everyone, I wanted to let you know that we finished the planning and have started the coding for “restoring deleted channels”. We had to put this work on hold temporarily in order to prioritize some other things (such as Guest Access) so that’s why its been a while since my last update.

For the other feature requested on this ticket — “archiving channels and chats” — this requires a much larger cross-Microsoft collaboration that is also dependent on the Groups team. We’re working with them to figure out how we can make this feature happen across the two products for you.

Thanks for your patience, and for your feedback. We really appreciate you!

Sincerely,
Suphatra

working on it ·

AdminSuphatra (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Apr 28, 2017

Hi everyone,

First, I want to remind you that we have had legal archiving in the product for a long time. That means all messages are retained in a compliance folder automatically for you. For more info on this, read here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Teams-Blog/Top-Features-of-Microsoft-Teams-amp-Information-Protection-in/ba-p/63046

Secondly, for those seeking an end-user way to archive content (essentially, for non-legal reasons), I am happy to report we are actively working on giving you a way to archive channels. We should have this to you soon.

Lastly, archiving chats is a separate work item that we still have in review, as that is harder to solve for. I will let you know when this work begins.

Thanks and hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Suphatra

planned ·

AdminSuphatra (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Mar 3, 2017

Thank you so much for your feedback! We’ve reviewed this and put it into our planning. I’ll let you know as it progresses into the workflow.

Meanwhile, please continue to provide your ideas, bugs, and feedback — its your voice that is making this product better and better every time we ship. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,
Suphatra
Microsoft Teams

Twitter: skprufo Email: sparavimicrosoft.com

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Zoltán Lehóczky commented · January 20, 2019 2:52 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Agree with Lisa R. The move channel feature is desperately needed and would kind of cover this too.
Heather commented · January 16, 2019 8:27 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Slack has had this functionality for so long. We were just discussing that we thought this was something that Microsoft was working on. We have been waiting for this before pushing Teams out across our organization. Just frustrating.
Lisa R commented · January 16, 2019 6:32 AM · Flag as inappropriate

From a prioritization standpoint, I would put "Move channels into other teams" ahead of "Ability to archive channels" because moving channels between teams would provide a work-around to *not* being able to archive channels. I could have an archived Teams space, reactivate it, move a channel into it, then archive the Teams space again. Not as nice/clean as just archiving the channel, but it would get the job done.
Jeff Lyon commented · January 15, 2019 9:29 AM · Flag as inappropriate

This is exactly the reason that Microsoft solutions lack adoption & fall off the face of the planet so often. Ridiculous that this obvious oversight was made to begin with....Why would any organization want to delete a team but not delete a completed channel (aka project). Just plain idiotic. Now, Microsoft would rather ignore for several years the many many requests for that functionality. Indicative of their "take it or leave it, or build your own" attitude towards end users. If it weren't for Windows & Office, Microsoft would be bankrupt and out of business.
Anonymous commented · January 14, 2019 5:19 AM · Flag as inappropriate

I will second to that! Please hurry up!
We can archive whole Team but not channel? Doesen't make any sense!
Anonymous commented · January 13, 2019 3:10 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Hurry up
Shaun Wells commented · January 11, 2019 1:26 AM · Flag as inappropriate

We have a specific buisness requirement for this.. Colleagues across different teams would need to collaborate when performing audits. It doesn't make sense to create a new team for each audit, a separate channel would be the ideal solution.. Archiving the channel once the audit has been completed would clean up the Teams workspace. What's the latest update on this, where is this on the roadmap.. Timescales would be appreciated, so we can feed this back to the business, this would help user adoption, if we can map feature requirements to users cases.
Paul Lenehan commented · January 10, 2019 4:00 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Yep also need this, Channel lists getting lo long and need to Archive to keep all Clean and tidy without loosing data
Anonymous commented · January 10, 2019 2:32 PM · Flag as inappropriate

i saw someone asked for this back in 2016 . . . . really? Topics change every 2 weeks in the Agile world - maybe more. Can we get this feature asap!
Sean Ellis commented · January 10, 2019 12:40 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Yet another feature with 12+ months of "Working on it" and then a sudden de-prioritization, then 5 months of silence.
Chris commented · January 10, 2019 12:27 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Yes! this would be very helpful.
Anonymous commented · January 10, 2019 8:23 AM · Flag as inappropriate

PLEASE make it happen quickly!!!!
Anonymous commented · January 10, 2019 2:18 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Please can an admin provide an update on this - we've only been using teams for a few months and already the channels list is getting unweildy, we have many clients and projects on the go, including small and medium scale projects which we create a new channel for - we need to be able to archive these otherwise we'll have to find a different solution...
Taylor commented · January 10, 2019 1:15 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Checking back into this. This is a must. My team handles many small to medium scale projects, and it makes much more sense to create a channel to dedicate to those projects than a whole new Team.
Drew commented · January 9, 2019 9:07 PM · Flag as inappropriate

I need his in my life right now. pls include archiving in teams.
Laura commented · January 9, 2019 2:42 AM · Flag as inappropriate

I need this feature too! It'll become impossible to work effectively in the future without being able to archive channels.
Anonymous commented · January 8, 2019 8:44 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Team is getting big and big with all the new channels. We need a way to archive the channels.
Anonymous commented · January 7, 2019 3:07 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Hurry up
Bill Lindner commented · January 7, 2019 3:55 AM · Flag as inappropriate

We need a feature like this
Anonymous commented · January 6, 2019 6:17 AM · Flag as inappropriate

We need also a possibility for local archiving of the channel/project for safety reasons