You can delete your own Teams messages, but the method depends on whether you want to remove them from your view only or erase them entirely

Microsoft Teams gives you two ways to delete a message you've sent. Soft delete removes the message from your own view but leaves it visible to everyone else in the conversation. Hard delete removes the message for all participants — though the deletion itself becomes visible as a system notification saying you deleted a message. Neither option recovers a message after it's gone, and neither works on messages sent by other people.

The steps differ slightly depending on whether you're on desktop, web, or mobile. The desktop app (Windows or Mac) and web version offer the most control, while the mobile app has the same features but in a different layout.

Key Takeaways

  • Right-click or long-press a message you sent to see delete options; soft delete hides it from you only, hard delete removes it for everyone.
  • Hard delete leaves a visible notification that you deleted a message, so others will know something was there.
  • You cannot delete messages sent by other people, only your own.
  • Once deleted, a message cannot be recovered — Teams does not have an undo or restore feature for deleted messages.
  • Deleted messages do not appear in search results, even if the deletion notification remains visible.

Soft delete on desktop or web

Soft delete removes a message from your own chat view without affecting what others see. Open the Teams desktop app or go to teams.microsoft.com in your browser. Find the message you sent, then hover your mouse over it (on desktop) or tap and hold it (on mobile). A row of icons appears above or beside the message.

Click or tap the three dots (more options menu). A dropdown menu shows several choices, including "Delete". Click "Delete" and choose "Delete for me". The message disappears from your chat window immediately. Everyone else in the conversation still sees the message as normal — only you have removed it from your view.

Hard delete on desktop or web

Hard delete removes a message for all participants in the chat. Follow the same first steps: hover over the message (desktop) or tap and hold (mobile), then click or tap the three dots. In the dropdown menu, select "Delete". This time, choose "Delete for everyone" instead of "Delete for me".

A confirmation dialog appears asking you to confirm the deletion. Click "Delete" again. The message is now removed from the chat for all users. In its place, a system notification appears saying "[Your name] deleted a message" with a timestamp. This notification cannot be removed — it serves as a record that a deletion occurred, though it does not show what the deleted message contained.

Deleting messages on the Teams mobile app

The iOS and Android versions of Teams work the same way as desktop, but the interface is touch-based. Open the Teams app and navigate to the chat containing the message. Tap and hold the message you sent until a menu appears with action buttons.

Tap the trash or delete icon (usually shown as a bin). You'll see two options: "Delete for me" and "Delete for everyone". Choose whichever you prefer. The deletion takes effect immediately, and if you chose "Delete for everyone", the deletion notification appears for all participants just as it does on desktop.

What happens to deleted messages in Teams

Deleted messages do not appear in chat history or in Teams search results. If you search for a word that appeared in a deleted message, that message will not show up in the results. However, the deletion notification itself remains searchable and visible — if you search for your name or a date, you may see the notification "[Your name] deleted a message" in the results.

If a message was part of a thread (a reply to another message), deleting it removes the reply but leaves the original message and the thread intact. Other replies in the same thread remain visible. Deleted messages also do not trigger notifications to users who were mentioned in them — the mention notification may have already been sent before deletion, and deletion does not retract it.

Limitations: what you cannot delete

You can only delete messages you sent yourself. If someone else sent a message in a chat or channel, you cannot delete it, even if you are the channel owner or team administrator. Channel owners and team administrators have no special deletion rights over other users' messages in Teams (unlike some other platforms).

You also cannot delete messages in certain contexts. Pinned messages can be deleted by you if you sent them, but unpinning them first is not required. Messages in read-only channels cannot be deleted by anyone, since no one can send new messages in those channels anyway. If a message was sent before Teams was integrated with your organization's retention policies, those policies may prevent deletion — contact your IT department if you believe a message should be deletable but the option does not appear.

Recovering a deleted message

Teams does not have a built-in recovery or undo feature for deleted messages. Once you confirm the deletion, the message is gone permanently. If you need the content of a deleted message, your only option is to ask someone else in the chat to share what they remember or to check if they took a screenshot before the deletion.

Some organizations use Teams retention policies that archive messages before they can be deleted, but this is a setting controlled by your IT department, not by individual users. If your organization has such a policy in place, deleted messages may be recoverable through your IT team — but this is rare and requires administrator access.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I delete a message I sent hours or days ago?

Yes. There is no time limit on deleting your own messages in Teams. You can delete a message from today or from months ago using the same method — hover over it, click the three dots, and choose your delete option. The only exception is if your organization has a retention policy that locks messages after a certain period.

Will the person I messaged know I deleted something?

If you use "Delete for me", no one will know. If you use "Delete for everyone", everyone in the chat will see the notification "[Your name] deleted a message". They won't see what the message said, but they will know a deletion happened.

What if I delete a message in a channel instead of a direct chat?

The process is identical. In a channel, "Delete for me" removes it from your view only, and "Delete for everyone" removes it for all channel members and leaves a deletion notification visible to everyone.

Can I delete an entire conversation or chat thread?

No. You can only delete individual messages. To remove a chat from your view, you can mute it or hide it, but the conversation itself remains on Teams' servers and is visible to other participants.

Does deleting a message also delete any files attached to it?

Deleting the message removes it from the chat, but files attached to it may remain in Teams' file storage depending on your organization's settings. If you need to ensure a file is completely removed, contact your IT department about your organization's file retention policies.