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  3. Microsoft Teams – Restoring and Archiving your Class Team

Microsoft Teams – Restoring and Archiving your Class Team

Around three to four weeks after the end of a semester, all Class Teams for that semester are archived. The archival process includes the following:

  • The Class Teams is renamed with the prefix “ExpMMYY_”, for expired and the date of expiration
    • Example: An archived Fall 2020 course would be prefixed with “Exp0121_”
  • All students are removed from the Class Team
  • The Class Team is moved out of your list of Active and Hidden Teams

Instructors may restore (recover) archived teams as needed using the steps outlined in this article.

Restoring a Class Team doesn't restore student access

Students must be manually granted access to restored class teams. Please see the instructions below on adding students back to a restored Class Team.

Two year old courses not recoverable

Two years after the course ends, the Class Team for that course will be removed and will no longer be recoverable – this corresponds with timeline for Brightspace courses.

Restoring your Class Team

Only Team Owners can Restore an Archived Team

  1. Select Teams on the left, click the ellipsis icon () at the top of the list of Teams, and select Your teams and channels.Your teams and channels button
  2. Expand your list of Archived Teams to find the Class Team you want to restore.
    Archived Teams List
  3. Click the three-dot menu () on the right side of your Class Team, then select Restore team.
    Team ellipsis menu with Restore team highlighted
  4. Your team should now be visible in the list of Hidden teams below your other teams on the sidebar.

The ExpMMY_ prefix remains even after a Class Team is restored.

Add Students and Teachers to your Restored Class Team

  1. Click the three-dot menu () on the right side of your restored class Team.
    Team Ellipsis menu button
  2. Select Add member. Team ellipsis menu with Add member highlighted
  3. Search for the person or people you’d like to add, choose their role(s) as either Member or Owner, and click Add.
    Search for Team members
  4. Successfully added users will appear in the Members tab of the Manage team window.

Remove Students and Teachers from your Restored Class Team

  1. Click the three-dot menu () on the right side of your restored class Team.
    Team ellipsis menu button
  2. Select Manage team.
    Team ellipsis menu with Manage team highlighted
  3. From the Members tab of the Manage team window, expand the list of Members and guests, find the person you would like to remove, and click the on the right side to remove them.

Owners can't be removed.

You cannot remove other Owners – you must first make them a Member, then you can remove them as normal.


Team members tab

Archiving your Class Team

Restored Class Teams should be archived again when you are finished with them. When a Team is archived, the conversations and files associated with that Team become read-only. People still added to that Class Team can still view these files, though by default, all students are automatically removed from a Class Team, as described at the start of this article.

Two year old courses not recoverable

Two years after the course ends, the Class Team for that course will be removed and will no longer be recoverable – this corresponds with timeline for Brightspace courses.

  1. Select Teams on the left, click the ellipsis icon () at the top of the list of Teams, and select Your teams and channels.Your teams and channels button
  2. Expand your list of Active Teams and find your restored Class Team.
    Active Teams list
  3. Click the three-dot menu () on the right side of your class Team, then select Archive team.
    Team ellipsis menu with Archive team selected
  4. Click Archive to confirm. You may optionally set the SharePoint site associated with this Class Team as Read-Only.
    Archive button

Updated on October 31, 2024

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