How to Identify Teams Chat and Channel Message Activity with Reports
When you manage Microsoft Teams, it’s important to know how users are communicating. Are they using chat messages, or are they posting in channels? Microsoft 365 provides built-in reports to help you track this information.
This guide explains:
- Which reports answer specific questions.
- How to access those reports in the Microsoft 365 and Teams admin centers.
- Why these reports matter for both administration and the MS-700 exam.
Reports to Use
Before diving into the steps, let’s clarify which reports provide the information you need:
- Teams user activity report → Number of chat messages sent (last 30 days).
- Teams usage report → Number of channel messages posted (last 90 days).
1. Track Chat Messages with the Teams User Activity Report
This report shows how users interact with Teams through chats, calls, meetings, and reactions.
Steps:
- Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center: https://admin.microsoft.com.
- In the left menu, expand Reports > Usage.
- Under Select a report, choose Teams user activity.
- Adjust the date range to 30 days.
- Review the Chat messages column for activity counts.
📌 Tip: Export the report to Excel or CSV if you need to analyze usage trends across departments.
2. Track Channel Messages with the Teams Usage Report
This report helps you understand how active teams and channels are in your organization.
Steps:
- In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Reports > Usage.
- Under Select a report, choose Teams usage.
- Set the date range to 90 days.
- Look at the Channel messages column to see how many posts were made.
- Drill down to specific teams for detailed channel activity.
📌 Tip: Use this data to measure adoption of structured communication (channels) vs. ad-hoc chats.
Why These Reports Are Important
- For admins: They help monitor adoption, measure collaboration, and guide training or governance strategies.
- For compliance: Reports provide evidence of communication trends across the tenant.
- For exams: On the MS-700 Managing Microsoft Teams exam, you’ll need to know which report answers which question.
Quick Recap
- Chat messages in 30 days: Teams user activity report.
- Channel messages in 90 days: Teams usage report.
Both reports are found in the Microsoft 365 admin center → Reports → Usage.
✅ With these steps, you can easily monitor Teams activity in real environments and prepare for exam scenarios.
