Dear colleagues, 

Following on the Aug 12, 2024 reminder memo on Teams Chat Retention, the University of Toronto will be implementing a 30-day retention protocol for all individual Teams Chats, effective September 30, 2024. These are messages that occur outside of a Microsoft Teams Channel.  

Important: Teams Chats deleted by a retention protocol are permanently removed and cannot be recovered. The new Teams Chat Retention protocol will be applied to all UofT Teams users.  

Based on community questions, here is additional guidance on preparing for the new protocol. 

• • Once the retention protocol is implemented, all chats that take place outside of a Teams channel will be subject to the 30-day retention rule. These messages will have a 30-day lifespan and will then be automatically deleted. For those with the existing 7-day retention protocol, the schedule will continue as before.  

• • Search your chat history and ensure that you copy and save those threads that are important to you before September 30, 2024. All messages older than 30 days will be affected. 

• • Is there a bulk mechanism to save chat threads? At present, there are no such tools. There are some simple methods to save chats, for example: 

• • To save a specific message from your Teams chat, hover over the message and click on the three-dot icon.  

• • Then, select the “Share to Outlook” option to send an email to the individual you had the conversation with or to yourself, ensuring the message is saved as an email. 

• • Any files or document links shared in one-on-one chats will remain accessible. To access these files, go to the specific Teams chat, then click on the Files tab next to the Chat tab. 

• • Chats inside Teams channel are not affected by this protocol. How to obtain a Team -Teams may be requested by sending an email to  need.team@utoronto.ca with the desired Team name, and the Team owner(s). Teams are subject to an institutional naming convention. More details on Team creation are available in this knowledge base article — Teams & Channels: Request to set up a new Team. 

• • What happens to chat threads that are created during a meeting? 

• • If you intend to save chats from Teams meetings, the meeting must be created from inside a Team channel. These chats are not affected by the new retention protocol. Please refer to the knowledge base article, Creating a meeting from a Microsoft Teams Channel, to learn how to create a meeting from inside a Teams Channel. 

• • If there is no intent to preserve the meeting chat, it is not necessary to create the meeting inside a Team. 

Join us for MS Chat Retention information session on September 18 @11am. To add this event to your calendar, click Add to Calendar . You can also access the meeting via the Teams Meeting Link. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter. 

Kind regards,  

Enterprise Applications & Solutions Integration (EASI)  

Information Technology Services (ITS)  

University of Toronto  

Dear colleagues,

Following on the May 29,2024 memo on Teams Chat Retention, the University of Toronto will be implementing a 30-day retention protocol for all individual Teams chat messages. These are messages that occur outside of Microsoft Teams Channel.

Please note: Based on community feedback, the new retention protocol will be postponed by 2 weeks and will take effect on September 30, 2024.

Based on questions from the community, we are providing additional guidance on preparing for the change.

• • First, note that once the retention protocol is implemented, all chats that take place outside of a Teams channel will be subject to the 30-day retention rule. These messages will have a 30-day lifespan and will then be automatically deleted. For those who have the 7-day retention rule already, this retention schedule will continue as before.
  • In preparation for the protocol’s implementation, please take the time to search your chat history and ensure that you copy and save those threads that are important to you. All messages older than 30 days will be affected.
  • Community members asked if there were bulk mechanisms available to save chat threads. At present, there are no such tools. There are some simple methods to save chats, for example:
  • To save a specific message from your Teams chat, hover over the message and click on the three-dot icon.
  • Then, select the “Share to Outlook” option to send an email to the individual you had the conversation with or to yourself, ensuring the message is saved as an email.
  • Any files or document links shared in one-on-one chats will remain accessible. To access these files, go to the specific Teams chat, then click on the Files tab next to the Chat tab.
  • As chats inside Teams channel are not affected by this protocol, community members have asked how to obtain a Team. Teams may be requested by sending an email to the support group at need.team@utoronto.ca with the desired Team name, and the Team owner(s). Teams are subject to an institutional naming convention. More details on Team creation are available in this knowledge base article — Teams & Channels: Request to set up a new Team.
  • We were asked what happens to chat threads that occur during a meeting.
    • If you intend to save chats from Teams meetings, it is best to create the meeting from inside a Team channel. These chats are not affected by the new retention protocol. Please refer to the knowledge base article, Creating a meeting from a Microsoft Teams Channel, to learn how to create a meeting from inside a Teams Channel.
    • If there is no intent to preserve the meeting chat, it is not necessary to create the meeting inside a Team.

It is essential that you review your chat history and save your important conversations that need to be preserved.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We appreciate your understanding as we work to enhance security, promote efficient communication practices, and support good records management practices.

Kind regards,