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Microsoft Teams Backup and Restore for Teams and Channels Arrives in December
A Teams channel wiped of its files by a user who was a little too hasty, or by an attacker who gained access to an account. To help recover files, Microsoft is finally preparing a native backup and restore feature for Teams teams and channels. Here’s what we know.
I spotted this upcoming feature while checking the Microsoft 365 roadmap (ID 570668). Microsoft describes a backup and recovery feature that will make it possible to restore a team’s data and its channels to a previously known state. Whether the cause is an accidental action or a malicious act, this option could prove very useful.
Here is what is currently known about this new feature:
- Scope. Teams, channels (standard, private and shared, or "public") and the underlying data, meaning files and messages exchanged in channels.
- Retention period. 30 days. I do not know whether this will be customizable, and this is a relatively short period as announced here.
- Interface. The feature is tied to the Microsoft 365 admin center, on the web.
The roadmap does not mention private conversations (1:1 and group chats), but only messages "exchanged in channels".
A Microsoft 365 Backup Component? Most Likely
Microsoft does not link Teams channel backup to Microsoft 365 Backup, but there may be a connection. As a reminder, Microsoft 365 Backup has existed since 2024 and is capable of backing up OneDrive, SharePoint and Exchange Online, with consumption-based billing and restore points every 10 minutes. This year, it has already evolved with the addition in March 2026 of granular restore in Microsoft 365 Backup, proof that the tool continues to grow step by step.
Teams, for its part, is only indirectly covered by the current version of Microsoft 365 Backup. In fact, as of today, only files stored in the SharePoint sites associated with channels are backed up, provided those sites are included in the protection policy. So, Teams channel conversations are not protected. With this new feature, the Redmond company could therefore extend Microsoft 365 Backup capabilities to back up Teams channels and their messages.
However, for now, this is only a hypothesis. But we will know quite soon, since this new feature is expected in December 2026. By then, we can expect Microsoft to provide more details.
Still on the subject of Teams, two days ago I discussed the default hiding of QR codes sent by external senders to slow down quishing.
What do you think?
