What do you do with materials in completed Teams projects?

When a project or assignment is completed, you often have a lot of materials and documents left that you may not really know what to do with. If the project is paused and you do not really know if it will be activated again, you do not want to delete it, but since it is not active, you do not want to find it in searches either.

It is quite common to take the easy route of hiding or leaving the team so that you do not have to think about it and can move on to new projects and tasks. The problem with this is that the potentially valuable information you have been able to use in other projects is lost, you get a cluttered Teams environment with teams that no one can access anymore, and there is also a high risk that new teams will be created unnecessarily instead of reactivating an “old” team.

In order to be able to decide how to act in this situation, it can help to answer these questions:

• Will we need the material again?
• What is it that needs to be saved - everything or just documents?
• Do we want the material easily accessible and reusable or do we want to put it away so it can't be changed/used accidentally?

What alternatives are there?

Hide so you can focus on other things

When a project or mission is temporarily inactive, for you or for the entire team, it is advisable to choose to hide the team or channel.

Hiding a team means you don't see it in the regular team list, the team is still fully active, but you don't get notifications about updates and events that aren't directly targeted to you. If you choose to hide one team, it doesn't affect anyone else.

Hidden teams can be found under the Hidden teams heading in your team list.

You can also hide a channel. This only affects which channels you see, and your notifications, but makes it easier to focus on the channels you're active in and interested in.

Archive and save the information just as it is

When there is a need to preserve communications and documents, but you do not want the team to be active, it is advisable to opt for archiving.

Archiving means that the team, with conversations and files, is read-protected and hidden. Members can read and retrieve information and documents but cannot add, delete, or modify anything.

An archived team doesn't normally appear in the regular team list, but you can still search the team for things you need.

In the near future, you will also be able to archive an individual channel and thus preserve the content without the channel being active. The channel will not be visible in the feed and the content is read-only, but it is still searchable.

The great thing about archived teams and channels is that they can be reactivated when needed. If you are the owner of the team, you can choose Reset at any time and then the write protection will be removed so that communication can resume.

Get out if you don't want access to the material anymore

If the work is to continue but you do not want to have access to the information anymore, you can choose to leave the team. If you are the owner of the team, you first need to be downgraded to a member and there must always be at least one owner on the team.

You can't leave an organization-wide team because membership there is automatically managed — all users in the organization automatically become members of the team.

In the case of channels, you can exit private channels but not the usual default channels (you can choose to turn off all notifications and hide those that you are not interested in). You can opt out of shared channels, provided they are not shared with a team that you are a member of.

Remove to clean up and free up space

Inactive teams and channels that won't be activated again are a good idea to clear away after they're depleted of any material you want to preserve — both to save space and to keep the team environment up-to-date and well-structured.

Channel conversations can't be moved, but if you don't have any important conversations you want to keep, you can move the documents and other things you want to keep, perhaps to a shared project archive, and then delete the team or channel.

When deleting a channel, keep in mind that the channel folder (the folder for files belonging to the channel) is not automatically deleted, it needs to be emptied and deleted manually.

When you delete a team or channel, you have 30 days to restore it, after which it is permanently deleted and cannot be restored.

Keep order to create the best possible environment

Managing inactive teams and channels is an important part of maintaining a structured and efficient digital workplace. Knowing when it's time to hide, archive, exit, or delete a team or channel can make a big difference to your productivity and workflow.

Remember that whatever option you choose, it's all about creating the best possible environment for you and your team. It's also a matter of good digital hygiene — by keeping your digital spaces organized, you avoid unnecessary confusion and save valuable time.

With these tips and advice, we hope you feel confident in how to manage your inactive teams and channels. If you need additional help or have questions about how to optimize the use of Microsoft Teams, don't hesitate to contact us at Cognit. We're happy to help you navigate Microsoft Teams and find the solutions that best suit your business.