Why did Teams dissapeared all my chats and how do I get them back?

Question

This is not about a retention policy because all chats with a wide range of ages where all gone at once and new chats are no longer maintained at all. The only setting related to this is "Suggestions for hiding inactive channels", but that's just a suggestion, it should not actually turn anything off. Note that I never agreed to hide any chats.

How to bring back my chats?

Answer 1

Hello Wouter Vos, Good morning! Thank you for posting in the Microsoft Community. We will be happy to help you. Based on your description, I understand that the issue you're experiencing is that all your chats in Microsoft Teams have disappeared, and new chats are not being maintained. You are sure that this is not related to any retention policy, as chats of various ages have vanished simultaneously. The only relevant setting you mentioned is "Suggestions for hiding inactive channels," but this should not actually hide any chats, and you never agreed to hide any chats. We understand your concern and let work together and find the cause of the issue in order to provide the efficient resolution.

Typically there are various reasons why Microsoft Teams chats may disappear. It includes connection problems, software errors, account issues, Huge Chats Data and incorrect settings.

In order to narrow down the problem for a better understanding of the situation, I may ask questions as follows. Thank you very much for your cooperation and time.

1. Please you confirm if you are facing the issue in teams online version and your mobile ? Check if chats are present on Microsoft Teams web:
   Usually, the problem occur in the Microsoft Teams desktop
2. Please follow the below steps : Step 1# Check the Internet Connection : Microsoft 365 network connectivity test and provide the results Step 2# Restart Microsoft Teams : please close Teams completely and then reopen the chat to see if it comes back. Moreover, you can go for sign out and sign in again and see if the missing chats come back or not. Step 3# Update the Application : check if there is any update notification so make sure your teams is update and share with us your teams version Step 4# Verify the Account Settings & Adjust Permissions: First check your app setting : Make sure separate option is choose and if you don't want periodically get suggestion to hide channel u're not active in you can disable , make sure others are enable. If you are using multiple account in the new teams make sure you are using your professional account so clear your teams cache and log in with your professional account. Reference: Clear Teams cache - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
3. If the issue still persist as end user you can't resolve the issue, you need to contact your admin or IT department : the Microsoft Teams chat disappearance issue, you can use the SysTools Microsoft Teams Migration Tool. This tool helps you to migrate and manage the team data from the source environment to the destination. However, it also ensures that your chats and other data are safely transferred without any data loss. Reference: Microsoft Teams Migration Tool - Industry Leading Software .Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites, or any support related to technology.  As admin or It department you can raise a support ticket and our support online will help on this process.  You can refer to this article to check the way how to raise a ticket. Ways to contact support for business products - Admin help. (if you are not admin you need to contact your admin or IT department)  They can use this process : When your chat history is lost, you can use PowerShell to search for local user Teams chat data and export it, refer to this reference.

Please understand that our initial response may not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution. Thank you for your help.

We look forward to hearing from you. SincerelyEben | Microsoft Community Moderator