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This article was reviewed by Laura Rogers and by wikiHow staff writer, Glenn Carreau. Laura Rogers is a Microsoft 365 Educator based in Birmingham, AL. With over 23 years of experience working with Microsoft's messaging and collaboration systems, Laura is a speaker, author, educator, and expert on SharePoint and Power Platform technologies. She is well-versed in helping organizations make the most of their SharePoint and Teams implementations, using out-of-the-box functionalities such as Power Apps and Power Automate with SharePoint. She is currently the owner of IW Mentor, a SharePoint, Teams, Power Apps & Power Automate training company. She has been named a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for the past fifteen years and has co-written seven books on these topics. She has spoken at over 100 conferences all over the world, and has 45K followers on YouTube.
This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.
If you’re new to Microsoft Teams, it might be tricky to navigate—especially if there’s a hidden chat you really need to access! But don’t sweat it: we’re here to help. Once you get the hang of Teams (and its Chat tab), you’ll be sorting through your messages in no time and managing them like a pro. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll show you how to hide, unhide, and mute chats in Teams—and even delete old chats you aren’t using anymore. Keep reading to learn more!
Unhide a Chat in Teams: Quick Steps
- Find the Search box at the top of the page and type the person’s name into it.
- Hover over the person's name and select More options (•••).
- Select Unhide to make the chat visible once more.
- Use the Filter to find the chat if you can’t find it with the Search box.
Steps
Unhiding Chats in Teams (Desktop)
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Type the person’s name into the Search bar. You’ll find the Search bar (with a magnifying glass icon) at the top of the Teams page. Click it, then type the name of the person whose chat you want to unhide into the box.[1]- If you're using the Teams app on your Android phone or tablet, iPhone, or iPad, jump to our mobile steps.
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Select the person’s name from your Search results. Once you type their name into the Search bar, you should see it appear in a drop-down list of results. Click on it, and your chat with them will appear in your list of chat threads (but the chat history itself will remain hidden).[2]- To view past conversations, simply click Show hidden chat history on the chat page.
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Use “Filter” to search for the chat if you can’t find it. You might not see the person’s name (and the hidden chat) right away when you search for it—but don’t panic! If that’s the case, select the Filter icon (a funnel) or press CTRL + Shift + F to filter the chat list by name. Once you find the right name, proceed with the next step! -
Hover over a chat and click the menu •••. You’ve managed to find and view the chat, but you haven’t permanently unhidden it yet! When you click the three-dot menu, the option to unhide the chat will appear. -
Click Unhide. Select Unhide from the drop-down menu to officially unhide the chat.[3]- You can also select Show hidden chat history to view your entire conversation with the person in question.
- If you want to make sure you can find the chat again, you can also select the Pin option from the drop-down menu; this will pin the chat to the top of your conversation list.
Hiding Chats in Teams (Desktop)
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Navigate to the Chat tab. In Microsoft Teams, look for the navigation bar on the left side of the screen and select Chat to view your list of chats. -
Hover over a chat and click the menu •••. Scroll down the list until you find the chat you want to hide. Then, hover over it and click the three-dot menu. -
Select Hide to hide the chat. The chat in question (and the entire chat history) will be hidden, and remain that way until you reverse it (or someone sends a message in that chat).
Muting a Chat in Teams (Desktop)
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Hover over the chat and select "More options" •••. You will see a drop-down menu appear.- Muting a chat ensures you won't be notified of new chat activity. You'll still be included in the conversation, and unlike hiding chats, the chat will still be easy to find on the Chats tab.[5]
- Muting a chat can be especially helpful for busy group chats.
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Select Mute to mute the chat. From the drop-down menu, select Mute (with an icon featuring a crossed-out bell). This will stop you from getting any notifications from that chat, even if someone in it messages you. However, you’ll still be notified of @Mentions.- To unmute the chat, just navigate back to More options ••• and select Unmute from the drop-down menu.
Expert Q&A
Video
Tips
References
- ↑ Laura Rogers. Microsoft 365 Educator. Expert Interview
- ↑ Laura Rogers. Microsoft 365 Educator. Expert Interview
- ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/hide-unhide-mute-add-a-chat-to-favorites-or-mark-a-chat-as-unread-in-microsoft-teams-9aee02ef-713d-495b-8a73-9762d8e4b066
- ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/hide-unhide-mute-add-a-chat-to-favorites-or-mark-a-chat-as-unread-in-microsoft-teams-9aee02ef-713d-495b-8a73-9762d8e4b066#id0ebd=mobile
- ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/hide-unhide-mute-add-a-chat-to-favorites-or-mark-a-chat-as-unread-in-microsoft-teams-9aee02ef-713d-495b-8a73-9762d8e4b066
- ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/delete-a-chat-in-microsoft-teams-free-ec4bfaa8-2197-4541-8bb4-edbef256f29e
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