Is there a way to delete messages posted by other users in Microsoft Teams?

Question

Is there a way to delete messages posted by other users in Microsoft Teams?

Eve Louisa 0

We use Microsoft Teams as the primary communication platform for our online radio station and have multiple channels for our DJs.

In Skype, we were able to assign administrators who could remove messages posted in the wrong chat rooms. We would like to know if a similar feature is available in Teams.

Is there a way for team owners or administrators to delete messages posted by other users in Teams channels or chats? If so, what license or Teams plan is required to enable this functionality?

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Yes, in Teams channels this is possible through a messaging policy.

Team owners can delete messages or posts sent by other users in channels when Owners can delete sent messages is enabled in the Teams messaging policy.
This setting does not let owners delete their own messages unless Delete sent messages is also enabled.
For chat, users can delete messages they sent if Delete sent messages is enabled.
Admins can also remove confidential or sensitive chat and channel messages. When that happens, Teams shows This message was deleted by an admin.

To enable owner deletion in channels:

Sign in to the Microsoft Teams admin center.
Go to Messaging policies.
Edit the target policy.
Turn Owners can delete sent messages to On.
Assign that policy to the required users under Users > Policies.

For the scenario described, this is the Teams equivalent of allowing moderators/admins to remove posts made in the wrong channel.

No Teams plan or license requirement is stated in the provided documentation for enabling the Owners can delete sent messages messaging policy setting.

Answer 2

Hi Eve,

In Microsoft Teams, a Team Owner’s ability to delete other users’ channel posts or replies is governed by your organization’s Messaging policy. Specifically, this capability becomes available only when the “Owners can delete sent messages” option is enabled in the Teams admin center by your Teams or IT administrator.

Once this setting is turned on and the policy is applied to your account, you can delete a channel message by selecting More options (...) next to the post or reply and then choosing Delete.

If you don’t currently see the Delete option, it usually indicates that this policy hasn’t been enabled for you yet. In that case, I recommend asking your IT administrator to review your assigned messaging policy and confirm that Owners can delete sent messages is set to On and properly applied.

To enable owner deletion in channels, you can do the following steps:

Sign in to the Microsoft Teams admin center.
Go to Messaging policies.
Edit the target policy.
Turn Owners can delete sent messages to On.
Assign that policy to the required users under Users > Policies.

For reference, your IT administrator can review the official documentation here: Manage messaging policies in Teams.

Please note that it is not possible to delete messages sent by other users in a group chat. However, you can remove posts from other users in channels, delete messages sent by bots, and manage group or meeting chat messages if the user has full permissions through a custom policy.

I hope this information helps clarify how the feature works. Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any additional questions or need further assistance, please feel free to reach out again, and I’ll be happy to continue supporting you.

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