Teams Retention Behavior: Visibility and Access to Shared Files When Chat Messages Are Deleted

Anindya Kumar Banerjee 160 Reputation points
2026-08-26T06:58:29.6433333+00:00

There is a retention policy for Teams messages but not for files. How does the experience work for a user? Do the shared files remain visible under the "Chat" tab, the "Shared" tab or is removed from one or both the tabs in Teams and remains available only in the sender’s OneDrive?

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for business | Chats | Share photos, files, and video
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Answer accepted by question author
Dora-T 635 Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-08-26T08:17:05.1966667+00:00

Hi Anindya Kumar Banerjee
Based on my research, Teams message retention and file retention are handled separately. Therefore, a file shared in a Teams chat can remain in the sender's OneDrive even after the chat message is removed by a retention policy.

You may also refer to the AI-generated answer for additional information.

However, I could not find Microsoft documentation that explicitly confirms whether the file continues to appear in the Chat tab or the Shared tab in Teams after the chat message is removed by retention. Therefore, I cannot confirm the exact behavior of these tabs based on the available documentation.

I am also testing this scenario in my own environment. However, the retention policy needs additional time to take effect, so I cannot provide a test result yet. Once I have a result, I will update this thread with my findings.

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  1. AI answer

    2026-08-26T06:58:43.6433333+00:00

    If a Teams message is deleted by a retention policy but the file does not have its own retention policy, the message can be removed while the file still exists in OneDrive or SharePoint.

    For the user experience:

    • In the chat or channel conversation, the message can be deleted and replaced by a system message indicating deletion by retention policy.
    • If the file still exists, Teams can still show the message/file preview until the file is separately removed.
    • If the file is later deleted by a file retention policy or manually from OneDrive/SharePoint, the Teams message or preview can still remain visible, but opening it returns "File not found".
    • Files shared in chat are stored in the sender’s OneDrive.
    • Files uploaded to channels are stored in the team’s SharePoint site.

    The available material does not specify exact per-tab behavior for the Chat tab versus the Shared tab. The supported behavior is that message retention and file retention are separate, so a file can outlive the chat message or a chat reference can outlive the file.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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