Delete old chat text.

Wayne 0 Reputation points
2026-09-18T02:23:24.46+00:00

I have chat text that I cannot seem to delete as far back as Mar 2025. Any more current chats can be deleted after each meeting

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for business | Meetings and calls | Other
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  1. Jade Ng 15,485 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-18T03:32:30.6166667+00:00

    Dear Wayne,

    I understand that newer meeting chats can be removed successfully, while the older chat containing messages from March 2025 cannot.

    For better assist, please let me know:

    • Could you please confirm whether the affected conversation is a one-to-one chat, group chat, or meeting chat? If it is a meeting chat, please also confirm whether you were the meeting organizer.
    • When you try to delete a message from the affected chat, what exactly happens? Do you receive any error message or is the Leave/Remove chat history option simply unavailable?
    • If an error appears, please take a screenshot and share it with me.
    • When selecting More options (...) next to this older meeting chat, please let me know whether you see an option Leave.

    Untitled

    • If the affected conversation is a regular one-to-one Teams chat, you can normally remove it from your own chat history by selecting More options (...) > Remove chat history.

    Untitled

    Please provide a detailed description of the issue you are experiencing, along with the information requested above. This will help me gain a clearer understanding of the situation and assist you more effectively.

    Thank you very much for your valuable time and your cooperation.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-09-18T02:23:38.3866667+00:00

    For Microsoft Teams for business meeting chats, older meeting chat history cannot be permanently deleted by a participant, and if the user is the meeting owner, the meeting chat also cannot be deleted or left.

    Supported behavior:

    • Participants in a meeting chat can delete or leave the meeting chat from their own view.
    • Leaving can remove the chat history from that user’s chat and search lists.
    • The chat itself remains stored and accessible to other participants.
    • If the user is the meeting owner, the meeting chat cannot be deleted or left.

    If newer chats can be removed after each meeting but older chat text from March 2025 cannot, that matches the product behavior when those older items are meeting chats that remain retained rather than fully deletable.

    If the goal is to remove the chat only from the personal chat list:

    1. Open Chat.
    2. Select the meeting chat.
    3. Select More options > Leave.
    4. Select the check box to confirm removal of chat history from chat and search lists.
    5. Select Leave.

    Important: this removes it from the personal list, but does not delete the meeting chat for everyone.

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

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