Missing teams chat

Question

I had an old Microsoft Teams conversation that suddenly disappeared. The contact is still there, but when I go to it, it says "start a new conversation". The problem is, the conversation was there a month ago, and now it's gone. Note: I did not delete it. I hope there is a way to get that conversation history back.

Answer 1

Was this chat migrated from Skype? If so, then note that Microsoft is doing now some cleanup in 1:1 chats migrated from Skype. In my case, e.g. received images older than ca, October, November 2025 are no longer available in such chats. The sent images are still available, but the received images are gone. Insofar, the text messages are not affected by this "cleanup", but the situation might be different for other accounts.

The situation is exactly the same with the exported data. References to the old received images are available, but the image files are not exported.

Answer 2

Hi Darrius Smith

I understand that an old Microsoft Teams Free chat suddenly disappeared, and when you open the contact, it now shows “start a new conversation.”

Please reply with these details only, without posting private chat content:

• Are you using Teams Free with a personal Microsoft account, or Teams for work/school?
• Does the missing chat appear when you search for the contact’s name?
• Does the chat appear in Teams on the web?
• Can the other person still see the old conversation?
• Did you ever select Delete chat, Remove chat history, Leave, or Hide for that conversation?

Also try the steps below.

1) Check whether the chat is hidden

A hidden chat is removed from the recent chat list, but it may still be found through search.

• Open Microsoft Teams Free.
• Use the Search box at the top.
• Search for the contact’s name, email address, or a keyword from the old conversation.
• If the chat appears, open it.
• If available, select More options > Unhide, or send/add new content to the chat so it appears again in the chat list.

2) Test Teams on another platform

Please check whether the issue is only happening on one device or app.

• Sign out of Teams completely.
• Sign back in using the same Microsoft account that was used when the old chat existed.
• Check Teams on the web here: https://teams.microsoft.com/.
• If possible, also check Teams on another device.

If the chat appears on one device but not another, the issue is likely related to local app sync or cache, not a deleted conversation.

3) Check whether the chat was removed from your view

Please ask the other person in the chat to check whether the old conversation is still visible on their side. If they can still see it, they may be able to send a new message in that conversation or copy any needed information from it.

4) Export your Teams Free chat data

You can also try exporting your Teams Free data.

• Go to the Teams Free export page
• Sign in with the same Microsoft account.
• Select the option to export Chat history, Media, or both.
• Select Submit request.
• Check back on the export page and download the export when it becomes available.

See: Export or delete your data in Microsoft Teams Free | Microsoft Support

Please note that exporting data can help confirm what is still available under your Microsoft account, but it may not restore a chat that has already been removed from your Teams view.

5) If this was actually a work or school Teams account

If this was not Teams Free and was instead a Teams account managed by an organization, please contact your IT administrator.

Please tell me how it goes. If the problem persists, please don’t hesitate to reply to this thread and I will be happy to help. Have a lovely day!  

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