Microsoft is finally going to roll out the delete chats feature for Microsoft Teams later this year. The ability to delete chats was one of the features Teams users have been requesting for quite some time. The rumours to release this feature started towards the end of 2021. To the joy of many Teams users, Microsoft promised to work on this feature but did not commit to a time frame.
Last month, Microsoft finally revealed that they are working on this feature. Now, they have confirmed that the delete chats feature will be available to all Microsoft Teams users (desktop and mobile) this December. This will come as a holiday season gift for Microsoft Team users that have been waiting for years to get this feature.
Currently, Microsoft Teams users can only delete individual messages or hide or archive private chat threads. There is no option to delete the whole chat thread in private messages. Trying to delete a chat thread by deleting individual messages is very inconvenient and takes a lot of time. That is why so many Teams users have been requesting Microsoft to give them the ability to delete chat threads with a single action.
This is going to change now that Microsoft has finally confirmed the timeframe to release this feature. When it finally rolls, users will be able to delete chats by clicking the ellipsis menu (three dots) just beside the chat and then choosing the “Delete chat” option. For those using the mobile version of Teams, this option can be got by tapping and holding the chat you want to delete and selecting the “Delete option.”
The Delete chat feature will be enabled for all users
According to Microsoft, this feature will be enabled by default for all Teams users when the update finally rolls out. That means users won’t have to make any changes to their settings to get this feature working. However, Microsoft Team will allow admins to disable this feature if they wish.
If you are an admin, you can disable the Delete chat feature by going to Microsoft Teams admin Centre>messaging policies. Once the admins disable the feature, no one among the chat participants will have the option to delete the chat threads. This option is very vital, especially for chats whose history has to be maintained for future reference.
Feature to be available by early December
The roll-out for this feature will begin in early December. However, the full roll-out of the feature is expected to be completed in mid-December. So, by the end of December, every MS Teams user running the latest version of the software will have the option to delete chats thread if their Admin doesn’t disable this option.
It should be noted that there are still some users who like to have all their chats for future reference. For such users, this new feature won’t be a big deal to them. It is for those who love to have a clean inbox, especially for chat conversations that were created for a specific purpose that is now accomplished.
Along with this feature, the Microsoft 365 roadmap also shows that many more features will be coming to MS Teams in the next couple of months. Some of the crucial features coming to MS Teams include Group chat invitations from unmanaged users, Group chat invitations from unmanaged users, and a new webinar experience for the Teams collaboration service.
For more details on all the Teams features that Microsoft is currently developing and those that will be rolled out soon, check out the official Microsoft 365 Road map page.
