Archive or restore a team

Desktop and webMobile

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Archive a team when it's no longer active, but you want to keep it around for reference or to reactivate in the future. The conversations and files in the team become read-only once you archive it. You'll still be able to search through it for stuff you need—you can even keep it as a favorite. Only team owners can archive and restore teams.

Archive a team

1. Select Teams on the left to see the list of your teams.

2. At the bottom of the list, select Manage .

3. In the Active list, find the name of the team you want to archive, then select More options > Archive team.

4. To prevent people from editing the content in the SharePoint site and Wiki tab associated with the team, select Make the SharePoint site read-only for team members (team owners will still be able to edit this content).

To view and search through the content of the archived team, select its name in the Archived list, or make it a favorite if you think you'll refer to it often (in the list, select the team, then More options > Favorite).

All of the team activity is frozen once the team is archived. No one will be able to start new conversations or reply to posts in a channel, add or remove channels, edit team settings, or add apps. As a team owner, you'll still be able to add or remove members, update roles, and delete, renew, or restore an archived team.

Restore a team

To restore an archived team, follow steps 1 and 2 above. Then, in the Archived list, find the name of the team you want to archive, and select More options > Restore team.

Related articles

Delete a team

Show, hide, or pin a team or channel in Teams

Want to learn more?

First things to know about teams and channels

For now, go to the Teams desktop app or Teams on the web to archive or restore a team. To view an archived team on your mobile device, first make it a favorite team (again in the Teams desktop app or Teams on the web). It'll then show up in your Favorites list.