How to archive Teams channels via MS PowerAutomation?

Question

We are using Teams for business purposes. Due to the business demands, we create a lot of channels and periodically want to archive channels that are not being used anymore, and want to automate this process. Teams can be managed via MS Power Automate actions, but actions do not have direct archive instructions. I try to send a Microsoft Graph HTTP request with:

    "parameters": {
      "request/method": "PATCH",
      "request/url": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/teams/#'Teams_ID'/channels/#'channel_id'",
      "request/body": "{\n  isArchived: true\n}"
    },

But get an error:

    "body": {
        "error": {
            "code": "Forbidden",
            "message": "ServiceException: Channel Properties Update failed for Channel ThreadId: 19:0db9438018f64637b06d06400f734629@thread.tacv2. Exception: Failed to execute Skype backend request SetThreadPropertiesRequest.",
            "innerError": {
                "code": "AccessDenied",
                "message": "ServiceException: Channel Properties Update failed for Channel ThreadId: 19:0db9438018f64637b06d06400f734629@thread.tacv2. Exception: Failed to execute Skype backend request SetThreadPropertiesRequest.",
                "details": [],
                "date": "2026-02-05T17:11:51",
                "request-id": "c3d3cf25-9a4c-48f1-b852-558254c7aed0",
                "client-request-id": "c3d3cf25-9a4c-48f1-b852-558254c7aed0"
            }
        }
    }

Channel is nor private and nor shared. User who sends the request is owner of Teams. Permission ChannelSettings.ReadWrite.All assigned.

Could you please assist to. sort out the cause of issue or advise how to automate archiving channels

Answer 1

To archive Teams channels via Microsoft Power Automate, you cannot directly set the isArchived property to true using a PATCH request as you attempted. Instead, you should use the Microsoft Graph API's specific endpoint for archiving channels, which is a POST request to the following URL:

POST https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/teams/{team-id}/channels/{channel-id}/archive

Steps to Automate Channel Archiving:

1. Use the Correct HTTP Method: Instead of PATCH, use POST to archive the channel.
2. Set the Request Headers: Ensure you include the required Authorization header with a valid Bearer token and set Content-Type to application/json.
3. Request Body: You can optionally include a JSON object in the request body to set permissions for channel members to read-only on the SharePoint Online site associated with the team. For example:

      {
        "shouldSetSpoSiteReadOnlyForMembers": true
      }
   

4. Check Permissions: Ensure that the user making the request has the necessary permissions, such as ChannelSettings.ReadWrite.All.
5. Handle the Response: If the archiving is successful, you should receive a 202 Accepted response code.

If you continue to face issues, ensure that the channel does not belong to a team that is archived, as channels cannot be archived if their team is archived.

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References:

• channel: archive
• Examples

Answer 2

Hi @Maxim Filipovich

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum. 

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your question about automating the archiving of Microsoft Teams channels. From your description, it is clear that your organization manages a high volume of channels for business operations and would like to streamline the process of archiving inactive ones. You mentioned that you have already explored Power Automate and attempted to trigger channel archiving through a Microsoft Graph HTTP request, but the call returned a Forbidden / AccessDenied error, even though the user is a team owner with the ChannelSettings.ReadWrite.All permission assigned. 

To provide some clarity, Microsoft Teams currently does not offer a built‑in Power Automate action dedicated specifically to archiving individual channels. Although Power Automate supports many Teams‑related operations, channel archiving is not one of the available actions. In addition, Microsoft Graph does not provide a documented or supported endpoint that allows individual channels to be archived programmatically. Because of this limitation, even when the user has elevated permissions, the backend service will still reject the request. This is the main reason the AccessDenied error appears. 

Moreover, although Power Automate and Microsoft Graph are commonly used together to implement automated governance procedures, such as detecting inactivity or managing large numbers of channels, full automation is not currently possible for channel archiving. Since Graph does not support this operation, the workflow cannot be completed through automation at this time. 

Given that your question involves a combination of Microsoft Teams governance, Microsoft Graph behavior, and Power Automate workflow design, the most suitable place to receive specialized guidance would be the Microsoft Power Platform forum. Experts in that community can help explore alternative governance strategies, provide insights into unsupported API behavior, and monitor whether channel‑level archiving becomes supported in future Graph API updates. 

I hope this explanation helps clarify why the archiving operation is not working and assists you in determining the next steps for your process. If you find this response helpful, please consider marking it as the Accepted answer, so others in the community with the same question can benefit. 

Thank you again for participating in the forum, and please feel free to reach out anytime if you need further assistance. 

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