Table of Contents
Archiving Microsoft Teams: A Comprehensive Guide for Channels, Teams, and Chats
Microsoft Teams data now holds increasingly valuable information and business-critical data. Apart from regulatory requirements, it makes business sense to secure your Teams data. Especially as the Shared Responsibility Model puts the onus of Microsoft Teams’ data protection on you. In this blog series, we examine Native Microsoft Teams Backup options such as archival and retention. In Part 1 we provided the steps to creating a Microsoft Teams Retention Policy and in this blog, we examine how to archive Microsoft Teams data (channel, team, and chat) using the Microsoft 365 Admin Center or by using PowerShell.
Setup Microsoft Teams Archive
- Video Walkthrough: Microsoft Teams Archive Setup
- How to Archive Microsoft Teams Data via the Compliance Center?
- How to Archive Microsoft Teams Data using PowerShell?
- Limitations of Microsoft Teams Archive and Retention
Video Walkthrough: How to Archive Microsoft Teams Data
Archive Microsoft Teams Via Teams Administration
Archive Microsoft Teams Using PowerShell
How to Archive Microsoft Teams Data Via Teams Administration
Note, you need to be a Teams Administrator to archive Microsoft Teams.
Step 1: Go to Office 365 Admin Center and open Teams Administration
Step 2: Expand the “Teams” section on the left menu and select “Manage Teams”
Step 3: Select a Team and click “Archive”
Step 4: Check “Make the SharePoint site read-only” and click “Archive”
Step 5: You will see that the Teams status has been changed to “Archived”
How to Archive Microsoft Teams Data Using PowerShell
Step 1: Run your Windows Powershell app
Step 2: Connect to Teams Admin Center
Connect-MicrosoftTeams
Step 3: Run the script to archive Teams and related SharePoint sites
Set-TeamArchivedState -GroupId 4cfa0a7f-58f3-49e6-95c4-65df10bb987d -Archived:$true -SetSpoSiteReadOnlyForMembers:$true
Parameters:
- GroupId – ID of the Office 365 group related to the Teams. You can get that ID on Office 365 Admin Center
- SetSpoSiteReadOnlyForMembers – Set it to TRUE to make the site read-only.
Step 4: If the command has been completed successfully you can check details of the archived Teams in the Admin Center
Limitations of Microsoft Teams Archival as Backup
Microsoft Teams retention policies help make sure that sensitive data is not deleted in keeping with legal or regulatory requirements. However, they are handicapped when used as a substitute for backup and recovery. Limitations include not being searchable by eDiscovery tools and having cumbersome versioning issues. Recovery is time-bound and data held is likely outdated, can rack up storage costs, and is tedious to restore. CloudAlly Backup for Microsoft 365 comprehensively protects Teams, Groups, Mail, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, OneDrive, and SharePoint. It also includes unlimited AWS backup storage and non-destructive recovery to the original or new site. Secure automated backup and easy recovery with a few clicks.
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