You may need to export messages from Microsoft Teams chat from time to time. But as the procedure of exporting your chat history is not given in the platform, it can be neither easy nor clear. But with a little effort and following this guide, you will be able to do so.
Many Microsoft Team members have complained that their previous conversations have vanished without a trace, presumably because they were not informed of the company’s chat retention policy in the first place. The standard retention policy is to keep previous conversations on the system for an extremely extended period.
However, while accessing a Microsoft Teams account given by an organization, the retention regulations are handled by that certain organization, not MS Teams. Typically, corporations only preserve chat messages and some other mailbox records for a small time before moving them to the SubstrateHold folder, which can then be searched using an eDiscovery program.
It will be completely erased within 1-7 days after being removed and will no longer be searchable by an eDiscovery tool. That’s why, to avoid losing track of your previous conversations on Teams, it is recommended that you save a backup of your old chat history for future usage.
However, storing your old chat history is not as straightforward as it seems. As a result, in this post, we will explain a variety of ways to export messages from Microsoft Teams chat history data. So, keep reading this post until the end to learn more in detail.
How to Export Messages From Microsoft Teams Chat
There are many ways to export messages from Microsoft Teams. You can export by using the official method, or also you can do it unofficially. Below we described all the ways to do that. So, follow the steps carefully.
1. Export Microsoft Teams Chat History Officially
You can download and export all your Microsoft Teams chat history, even in an official way. Because the exported conversation data will be obtained straight from the Microsoft server, you can be confident in its validity. As a result, there are no exceptions when it comes to authenticity.
To follow this method, you will have to go through a lot of actions to export the chat history from Microsoft Teams. But you don’t have to sweat as we have already put out a step-by-step tutorial to assist you in the process. Simply follow the procedures outlined below, and then you are ready to go.
- Open Google Chrome or your favorite browser on your computer.
- Go to the Microsoft Export My Data website to get started. The link to that website is https://privacy.teams.live.com/ui/en/dataexport.
- Sign in using your user name and password.
- On the main page, tick on the Chat History
- Now, to submit a request, click on the Submit Request
- On the next window, press the Continue button to finish the process.
Once you are done completing all the steps above, for now, you are all set. Now all you have to do is to wait. If you want to monitor the status of your Export, you can easily check that by taking a look at the AVAILABLE EXPORTS section. There you will get to see your Chat History ID, Requested date, and the status of the process. Since you have requested it just now, the status will show Pending.
However, you should bear in mind that the data may not be available for export and download right away. To finish the application, will take one or two days. Afterward, they will take care of your application and send you a record of your conversation record. After that, you will be able to access it and save it.
As a result, make regular visits to the Export My Data page and keep a look at the export status to ensure that you are always up to date.
2. Export Chat History Using The Print Option
You might be the person who’s always in a rush or needs anything without any delay. So, if you want to get the whole conversation history immediately, without the need for any type of processing, I also have that option available to you.
As we previously informed you that Microsoft would require some time to complete your chat history exporting request until your file is available for download. However, you can’t export it legally if you require them right away, such as if the retention policy is implemented in the next few hours or days. So, to access your conversation history, you’ll need a method that is both reliable and quick.
And we got just the method that you need. A few clicks and your whole chat history will be saved as a portable document file AKA PDFfor you to access later.
The most interesting point is that you will not be required to install any additional application to carry out this procedure. It’s entirely free and hassle-free to do so. We’ve put up a step-by-step tutorial to help you do this procedure on your own.
To duplicate the conversation history and convert this into a PDF file, follow the procedures outlined below:
- Open Google Chrome or your favorite browser on your computer.
- Go to the web version of Microsoft Teams. The link to the website is https://teams.microsoft.com/.
- Sign in by using your email and password.
- Click on a conversion to open the chat history that you want to Export.
- To load all of the chats properly, you have to scroll way up to the top of the conversation.
- Now press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all of the text messages.
- Press Ctrl + P on your keyboard to open up the Printing window.
- Now on the Destination option, click on Save as PDF from the drop-down menu.
- Hit the Save button and choose the destination folder where you want to save the file.
Once you have done all the steps above, your whole chat has now been exported as a PDF file, which you can access and use whenever and wherever you choose.
If you want to try something else as well, follow the methods below.
3. Export Chat History using Google Chrome Extension
Although the steps we showed above are a hundred percent reliable and accurate, for some reason, if you are not able to export the chat history, then don’t worry. We got your back covered.
In this method, we are going to use the Google Chrome browser’s extension. There are two extensions that we will use.
Using Go Full Page Extension
You can take a full-page screenshot and then convert it into a PDF file which should be an easy task for you. Also, it will solve your problem of exporting the chat history.
So, follow the below steps carefully to take a full-page image and convert it into a PDF file:
- Open the Google Chrome browser on your computer.
- Visit Chrome Webstore’s website, which is: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/.
- Search the GoFullPage extension on the search bar and then click on it.
- Add to Chrome by clicking on the Add to Chrome button.
- Make sure to choose the Add extension option from the pop-up menu.
- In Chrome, tap the puzzle symbol next to your user picture.
- To add GoFullPage to the quick bar, click the pin symbol next to it.
- Now take a look at the Microsoft Teams web version.
- Use your credentials to log in.
- Select the conversation you want to export.
- Navigate up to the very first message.
- Tap on the GoFullPage button and wait for it to capture the whole page.
- On the capture preview screen, tap on the download as PDF
- On the pop-up window for managing download permissions, choose Allow.
- Now open the PDF file that you downloaded.
If you’d like to save the file as a PNG image instead of a PDF, just tap the download button next to the PDF button.
But, since the document is in picture format, you cannot copy the document’s content. However, OCR services may be used to generate text files from these images. Google Vision, for example.
Using Microsoft Teams Chat Extractor
You have already seen how time-consuming it is to get conversation history from Microsoft Teams during this whole article. As Teams don’t provide a straightforward means to access conversation history, we had to go through all these troubles.
But we now will provide you with the Microsoft Teams chat extractor! With a single click, you may get all of the conversations from the Microsoft Teams chat.
Follow the below steps to use this method:
- Open the Google Chrome browser on your computer.
- Visit Chrome Webstore’s website, which is: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/.
- Search Microsoft Teams Chat Extractor extension on the search bar and then click on it.
- Add to Chrome by clicking on the Add to Chrome button.
- Make sure to choose the Add extension option from the pop-up menu.
- In Chrome, tap the puzzle symbol next to your user picture.
- To add Microsoft Teams Chat Extractor to the quick bar, click the pin symbol next to it.
- Now take a look at the Microsoft Teams web version.
- Use your credentials to log in.
- Select the conversation you want to export.
- Navigate up to the very first message.
- Select the Microsoft Teams Chat Extractor icon on the toolbar.
- As soon as the extension has extracted all of the conversations, copy the content and paste it into a Microsoft Word document.
You should now get all of the messages from a Microsoft Teams chat in your possession. However, just the text from the chat will be loaded; no picture or gif files will be loaded.
But, in contrast to the GoFullPage extension, you may copy and paste the content from the doc file. Although but you will lose the aesthetic characteristics of Microsoft Teams as a result. So, we recommend you use the GoFullPage extension, even if it means doing some extra work.
Also, we have some of the other techniques available on our sleeves. So, keep reading this post until the end to know some of the other methods.
4. Export Chat History Using Share to Outlook
You can also share the whole chat history with an Outlook account. To do that, follow the steps below:
- Open Microsoft Teams software on your computer.
- Choose the chat that you want to share and save.
- Click on the More options (the three dots).
- Tap on the Share to Outlook option from the list.
- Now give the email address with whom you want to share.
If you have done the steps above as described, this will send a copy of the chat history for that particular conversation to the email address associated with your Outlook account.
I hope you enjoyed this method. Even if you didn’t, go to the below methods.
5. Export Chat History Using Exchange PowerShell
If you have done all the methods above and still can’t find the kick, then this method may help you to easily export messages from Microsoft Teams chat. In this method, we are going to use PowerShell. The Exchange Management Shell is yet another excellent tool for getting the Team conversation history. Accessibility to a group mailbox that has been established by Office 365 is provided via this function.
The creation of a Teams group also results in the automated creation of an Office 365 mailbox, which serves as a storage location for the conversation history. To get accessibility to the Team conversation history for a certain mailbox, you must use a few precise instructions.
It is not a problem if you are unsure of how to use the codes or instructions. To export Microsoft Teams conversation history using Exchange PowerShell, all you have to do is to follow the procedures outlined below:
- Launch the Exchange PowerShell command prompt.
- Type the following command into your PowerShell:
Get-mailbox – groupmailboxname | get-mailbox statistics | select-object identity, itemsinfolder, foldersize
- However, if you don’t have permission to enter that mailbox, type the following command in its place:
Get-mailbox – groupmailboxname | get-mailboxfolderpermission
- Now add the Teams mailbox, which contains a folder named -\conversation\teamchat in your Onedrive Web Application so that you can simply access the contents.
Keep in mind that this command should only be used for conversation histories from shared mailboxes. It will not apply to the Microsoft Teams mailbox, as previously stated.
FAQ
Can I copy the whole Microsoft Teams chat?
For the time being, you will not be able to copy a whole Team’s discussion. For security concerns, Microsoft does not allow the export of a whole chat. The authority to copy the whole of a team’s chat room violates business norms and laws on data sharing. But, there are various manual techniques for copying the conversations of Teams that you should know by now if you have gone through this article.
Where do Microsoft Teams store the chat history?
Messages exchanged using Microsoft Teams are saved in a secret file that is accessible only to those who have access to their mailboxes. However, Exchange PowerShell may read the data and send the chat messages to a particular Outlook account, even if the file is not publicly accessible.
Conclusion
We hope you went through this whole article and cleared up any more questions you may have regarding exporting Microsoft Teams’ conversation history. For the most part, Microsoft does not let its customers download their whole conversation history to protect business privacy. But by following this guide, you can easily export messages from Microsoft Teams chat data.