Teams Chat Retention Policy
06/10/2026
As part of our ongoing management of Microsoft 365 services and in line with Microsoft best practice guidance for information governance and data lifecycle management, Moray Council will be introducing a retention policy for Microsoft Teams chats.
What is changing?
From 26/10/2026, Microsoft Teams chat messages that are more than 90 days old will be automatically removed.
This applies to individual (1:1) chats, group chats, meeting chats and bot chats. It does not apply to Teams channel conversations.
Why is this change being made?
Implementing a retention period helps align with information governance best practice, reduce unnecessary retained data, improve management of collaboration data and ensure information is retained only as long as necessary.
What do I need to do?
If you have information in Teams chats that must be retained for business, legal, operational or record-keeping purposes, ensure it is stored in an appropriate location outside of the chat.
What happens after the change?
Chat messages older than 90 days will become eligible for automatic deletion. New messages will be retained for 90 days from the date they are created.
Further Information
If you have any questions regarding this change, please contact project.m365@moray.gov.uk.