Preserve Content, Maintain Access, and Reactivate When Needed
🧩 Why Archiving Matters
Archiving is the safest way to keep inactive Microsoft Teams organized without deleting valuable data. It’s ideal for completed projects, seasonal operations, or departments no longer active but still referenced.
When you archive a team:
- Channels, chats, and files remain stored.
- Members can view content but not edit.
- Owners can manage membership or restore the team later.
🔒 What Happens to Content
When a team is archived, Microsoft 365 preserves all related data, including:
- Posts, messages, and chat history
- Files stored in SharePoint
- OneNote notebooks, Planner tasks, and Wiki pages
- Retention and compliance holds (if applied through Microsoft Purview)
💡 Tip: Retention policies override archive settings, so even deleted or edited messages are still retained per your compliance rules.
👥 Access and Permissions After Archiving
| Role | Access Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Members | Read-only | Cannot create posts, edit files, or add tabs. |
| Owners | Full control | Can manage users or unarchive the team. |
| Guests | Read-only | Retains access if guest permissions were active. |
✅ Archived teams still appear in Microsoft Teams search, SharePoint, and eDiscovery, ensuring easy retrieval.
⚙️ How to Archive a Team
Option 1: Through the Teams Admin Center
- Sign in to the Teams Admin Center → admin.teams.microsoft.com
- Go to Teams > Manage teams.
- Select the team to archive.
- Click Archive.
- (Optional) Choose Make the SharePoint site read-only.
Option 2: Through the Teams App (for Team Owners)
- Open Microsoft Teams.
- Go to Teams > Manage teams.
- Select the target team.
- Click Archive team under settings.
🔁 How to Reactivate (Unarchive) a Team
- In the Teams Admin Center, find the archived team.
- Select Unarchive.
- The team returns to active status—members can post, share files, and collaborate again.
⚠️ Reactivation does not reset permissions or retention policies; everything resumes exactly as before.
📅 Lifecycle Management Best Practices
- Set archiving criteria (e.g., project completed or inactive for 90 days).
- Notify members before archiving.
- Apply retention policies to preserve records for compliance.
- Use Teams activity reports to identify inactive teams.
- Maintain a central archive log with team names, owners, and dates.
- Ensure ownership continuity — at least one Teams or Global Admin should retain access.
🧭 Example: Project Archive Scenario
Team: “Project Phoenix”
Status: Project completed 6 months ago, may resume next year.
Action Plan:
- Archive the team and mark its SharePoint site read-only.
- Apply a two-year retention policy.
- Add the archive date to a tracking spreadsheet.
- When the project restarts, unarchive the team and reassign owners.
✅ Summary
| Aspect | Key Point |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Keep Teams tidy while preserving data. |
| Data Retention | All messages, files, and notes remain stored. |
| Access | Read-only for members, full for owners. |
| Reactivation | Simple “Unarchive” restores all functions. |
| Governance | Combine with retention policies for compliance. |
