How to find and export your Microsoft Teams data.

Teams message counts are in the Microsoft Teams usage reports in the Microsoft 365 admin center, which go back 180 days at most. Global, Exchange, SharePoint and Teams Administrators and Reports Readers can open them. Report messages, and scale the 180 day figure to your years in use unless you run a full eDiscovery export.

At a glance

Report in: messages
Category: Team chat
Checked: September 2026

Check your data

Where Microsoft Teams shows how much you have.

Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center with a role that can view usage reports, such as Reports Reader or Teams Administrator.
Select Reports > Usage. If you don't see Reports, select Show all first.
Under Reports, select Microsoft Teams, open the User activity tab and set the period to 180 days.
Select Export to download the CSV. Add up the Team Chat Message Count and Private Chat Message Count columns to get channel and chat messages for the period.
The same data is in the Teams admin center under Analytics & reports > Usage reports, in the Teams user activity report.

Plan and role. Usage reports need Global Administrator, Exchange Administrator, SharePoint Administrator, Teams Administrator, Teams Communications Administrator or Reports Reader. User names are hidden in reports by default until a Global Administrator changes the reports setting, which does not affect message totals.

What to report on the Polyshares intake.

Report Microsoft Teams in messages. The intake also asks how many years the company has used it and how many seats it has.

Enter total messages and choose messages as the unit. Usage reports stop at 180 days, so take the 180 day channel and chat total, divide by six for a monthly rate, and multiply by the months Teams has been in use. Note that it is an estimate.

If you run a full Purview eDiscovery export of Teams content, the export's overview shows the number of items collected, which is a closer count than the estimate.

For years in use, use the date your company started using Teams or the oldest message an eDiscovery search returns. For seats, count users marked Is Licensed in the User activity export, or the Teams licenses assigned in the admin center under Billing, Licenses.

Export the full history.

Confirm the account running the export has eDiscovery permissions and a Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 or E5 license.
In the Microsoft Purview portal, select the eDiscovery solution card, then Cases, and create or open a case.
On the Searches tab, create a search across all people and groups, limit it to Teams content and your full date range, and run it.
In the search, select Export. In the tenant-wide source options, include shared Teams channels and departed users. Select Organize conversation into HTML transcript for threaded transcripts, and choose Create PSTs for messages.
Track the job in Process manager, then select the packages on the export's Overview tab and choose Download packages within 14 days.

Teams keeps messages in Azure Cosmos DB and stores compliance copies in hidden folders of Exchange Online mailboxes. 1:1 and group chats are copied to each participant's mailbox, and standard channel messages go to the team's group mailbox. Files shared in chats live in the sender's OneDrive and channel files live in the team's SharePoint site, so include those locations or the cloud attachments option if you want the files.

eDiscovery exports produce PST or .msg files inside ZIP packages. PST packages can be set from 1 GB to 10 GB and ZIP packages from 2 GB to 40 GB. Exports that run longer than seven days are cancelled, so split large exports by date range, and search export packages are deleted 14 days after creation.

The Teams Export APIs in Microsoft Graph export 1:1, group, meeting chat and channel messages as JSON, with reactions and attachment information. They need admin-approved application permissions (Chat.Read.All, ChannelMessage.Read.All and User.Read.All) and an active Teams license for each user exported. Calling the API for every user returns duplicate copies of shared chats, so filter by sender.

Deleted content has short windows. Messages a user deletes stay available to the Export APIs for 21 days, and messages from deleted teams, channels and users for 30 days, unless a hold or retention policy keeps them longer.

The intake only needs the size, so you do not have to run an export to fill it in. You also do not need to clean or scrub an export. Polyshares handles anonymization before anything moves.

Why Microsoft Teams data has value for AI training.

Teams chats and channel threads record how work gets coordinated in companies that run on Microsoft 365. Posts, replies, mentions and reactions tie each message to a team, a channel and a moment in time.

Channel conversations sit next to the files and meetings they discuss, so one project can be traced across messages, documents and meeting chat.

What stays private.

You choose which mailboxes, teams and date ranges go into the eDiscovery search, so 1:1 chats can be left out entirely.

We anonymize identifying details before anything moves. Polyshares does that work, so your team does not have to scrub records first.

Your company keeps ownership of its data. The license is bounded to defined material and a defined use.

Polyshares is the buyer and pays your company directly. There is no fee or commission, and Polyshares reviews the record before it makes any offer.

Common questions about Microsoft Teams data.

Can Teams usage reports show messages older than 180 days?

No. The Microsoft 365 admin center usage reports show the last 7, 30, 90 or 180 days. For older history, use a Purview eDiscovery search or the Teams Export APIs.

What license do we need to export Teams chats with eDiscovery?

Microsoft says the person running the eDiscovery export needs a Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 or E5 license and eDiscovery permissions. Premium eDiscovery features have extra license requirements for the people whose data is collected.

Are files shared in Teams chats included in the export?

Messages carry attachment references, but the files live in OneDrive for chats and SharePoint for channels. Add those locations to the search, or select the option to collect cloud attachments when you export.

Where are Teams chat messages stored?

Teams keeps messages in Azure Cosmos DB and stores compliance copies in hidden folders of Exchange Online mailboxes. Chats are copied to each participant's mailbox and channel posts to the team's group mailbox, and eDiscovery searches those copies.

Source: Microsoft Teams User activity report, Export search results in eDiscovery, Finding content in Microsoft Teams in eDiscovery, Export content with the Microsoft Teams Export APIs. Checked September 2026.

Put your numbers on the intake.

List your systems, their sizes and your headcount in one intake. Polyshares reviews the record and prices it. There is no fee or commission to your company.