How do we preserve Teams and Slack messages when we are decommissioning the platform and migrating to a new one?

Decommissioning a collaboration platform like Microsoft Teams or Slack is a high-risk moment for records. Conversations, channels, shared files, and metadata can be permanently lost the day a contract lapses or an export window closes. Treating messaging content as records — not disposable chatter — is the key to a defensible migration.

Decide What Is a Record First

Not every message is a record, but many are. A chat that documents a decision, approval, transaction, or business activity carries the same retention obligations as an email or memo. Before migrating, work with your records and legal teams to:

• Identify content covered by retention schedules or active legal holds.
• Confirm which channels, direct messages, and attachments must be retained and for how long.
• Suspend any disposition that would destroy records still within their retention period.

When in doubt, preserve. Deleting potential records to simplify a migration can create discovery and compliance exposure.

Capture Content and Its Context

A message is only meaningful with its context. A defensible export preserves not just the text but the surrounding metadata — author, timestamps, channel or thread structure, edits, reactions, and links to attachments. Capture files, images, and shared documents alongside the conversations they belong to.

Use the platform’s native or administrative export tools while you still have access, and validate that the export is complete and readable. Per ISO 16175 principles for records in digital environments, records should remain authentic, reliable, usable, and fixed against alteration once captured.

Migrate or Preserve Outside the New Tool

The new platform may not import old conversations, and forcing a migration can distort threads and dates. A common, defensible approach is to export legacy messages into a neutral, long-term format or a managed repository governed by your retention schedule, rather than cramming them into the replacement tool.

Document the entire process: what was exported, how it was validated, what was retained, and what was lawfully dispositioned. This audit trail demonstrates that records survived the transition intact.

For broader guidance on governing chat and email as records, see the email and messaging topic hub.

Plan Before You Pull the Plug

Engage records, IT, and legal early — ideally before contract renewal decisions force a deadline. The cost of a planned export is small compared with the cost of records lost when a platform goes dark.