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Quick Answer

Hover over your message in the conversation, click More options (the ... icon) in the toolbar that appears above it, then choose Edit or Delete. On mobile, press and hold the message instead.

How to Edit or Delete a Sent Message in Teams ​

Applies to: Microsoft Teams (Windows and Mac desktop, web, iOS, Android)
Article Type: How-To
Last Updated: 2026-07-29

Summary ​

You sent the message with the wrong number in it, or to the wrong channel. Teams lets you fix your own messages in place or remove them entirely, and lets you undo a delete you regret. This article covers editing, deleting, restoring, the Edited label you cannot get rid of, and the thing worth knowing before you rely on delete: the message is still in the company's records.

Prerequisites ​

  • A Microsoft Teams account.
  • The message must be one you sent, unless you are a team owner acting in a channel (Step 5).
  • Editing and deleting your own messages are on by default. A team owner can turn either off for a specific team, which Step 5 explains.

Instructions ​

1. Edit a Message You Already Sent ​

Editing changes the message in place, so links to it and replies under it stay intact.

  1. Find your message in the chat or channel.
  2. Move your pointer over the message. A small toolbar appears above the top-right corner of it, showing reaction emoji and a More options button (the ... icon).
  3. Click More options, then select Edit from the menu.
  4. The message turns into an editable text box with your cursor in it. Make your changes.
  5. Press Enter, or click the checkmark icon below the box, to save. The box closes and the corrected text appears in the conversation with Edited beside the timestamp.

Tip: To edit the last message you sent in a conversation, click into the empty compose box at the bottom and press the Up arrow key. Teams opens that message for editing without any hovering.

Verification: The message now shows your corrected text and carries the Edited marker. Nobody receives a new notification — editing is silent, which matters in Step 6.

2. Live with the Edited Label ​

The marker is permanent, and knowing that up front changes how you use edit.

  • Everyone sees it. The Edited label sits next to the timestamp for every participant in the conversation, on every device.
  • There is no way to remove it. No user setting, team setting, or admin policy hides it. An edited message stays visibly edited for as long as it exists.
  • Colleagues cannot see what changed. Teams shows the marker, not a version history, so people see that you corrected something without seeing the original wording.
  • Compliance can see what changed. Prior versions of an edited message are retained in the compliance copy of the conversation and are reachable through an eDiscovery search. Edit is a correction tool, not a way to rewrite the record.

3. Delete a Message You Sent ​

Deleting takes the content out of the conversation and leaves a visible marker behind.

  1. Move your pointer over your message until the toolbar appears above it.
  2. Click More options (the ... icon), then select Delete.
  3. The message text is replaced by the italic placeholder This message has been deleted. An Undo link appears next to it in your own view.
  4. Everyone else in the conversation sees the same placeholder without the Undo link. The placeholder itself does not disappear — colleagues can see that a message was there and is now gone.

Note: Attachments sent with the message stay in the underlying SharePoint or OneDrive location after the message is deleted. To remove a file as well, delete it from the Files tab of the channel, or from your OneDrive if you sent it in a chat.

4. Restore a Deleted Message with Undelete ​

Deleting is reversible, which is the part most people do not know.

  1. Straight after deleting, click the Undo link beside the This message has been deleted placeholder. The original text returns immediately, with no Edited marker.
  2. If you navigated away and the Undo link is gone, move your pointer over the placeholder until the toolbar appears.
  3. Click More options (the ... icon), then select Undelete. The original message reappears in its original position in the conversation.

Verification: The placeholder is replaced by your original text, in the same spot in the thread, with the original timestamp. Replies underneath it are unaffected.

5. Delete Someone Else's Message as a Channel Owner ​

Channels and chats follow different rules, and the difference catches people out.

In a channel: A team owner can delete messages posted by other people when the organization's Teams messaging policy allows it. Hover the message, click More options (the ... icon), and look for Delete. If the option is not there, the policy has it turned off for your organization.

In a chat: Nobody can delete another person's message in a one-to-one or group chat. Not the other participants, not team owners, not administrators working inside the app. If a message needs to come out of a chat for a genuine reason, hover it, click More options, and select Report this message so the review happens through the proper channel.

If Edit or Delete are missing on your own channel messages: an owner has turned off member permissions for that team. Owners find them in Manage team > Settings > Member permissions, under Give members the option to delete their messages and Give members the option to edit their messages. Message the team owner with this: "Please re-enable 'Give members the option to edit their messages' under Member permissions for this team."

6. Choose Between Editing and Reposting When a Message Has Replies ​

Once people have responded, deleting is rarely the kind thing to do.

  • The message has replies and the fix is small. Edit it. The thread keeps its shape and the replies still make sense above and below your corrected text.
  • The message has replies and the fix changes the meaning. Edit it, then post a short reply saying what changed. Editing sends no notification, so anyone who already read the original will otherwise act on the wrong information.
  • The message has replies and needs to go entirely. Delete it and accept the placeholder. Deleting the first post of a channel thread leaves the replies visible under This message has been deleted, which reads as a conversation with a hole in it — post a new message explaining the correction rather than leaving people guessing.
  • The message has no replies and was sent seconds ago. Delete and repost. This is the only route that gives you a clean message with no Edited marker.

7. Edit or Delete on Teams Mobile ​

The commands are identical, reached with a long press instead of a hover.

  1. Open the chat or channel in the Teams app on iOS or Android.
  2. Press and hold your message. A menu slides up from the bottom of the screen.
  3. Tap Edit to open the message in the compose box — make your change and tap the send arrow to save it.
  4. Tap Delete to remove it. The This message has been deleted placeholder appears with an Undo option beside it.
  5. To restore a message later, press and hold the placeholder and tap Undelete.

Note: Mobile and desktop act on the same message, so an edit made on your phone appears on your laptop within seconds. There is no separate mobile copy to clean up.

Troubleshooting ​

WARNING

Deleting a Teams message removes it from the conversation, not from the organization's records. Teams keeps a compliance copy of every message in a hidden area of the mailbox, where retention policies and eDiscovery searches reach it regardless of what you deleted in the app — and that copy includes the versions of a message that existed before you edited it. Treat delete as "take it off the screen", never as "make it as if I never sent it".

Symptom / ErrorPotential CauseSolution
Edit and Delete are missing from More optionsOwner turned off member permissionsMessage the team owner: "Please re-enable 'Give members the option to edit their messages' under Manage team > Settings > Member permissions."
The Edited label will not go awayWorking as designedThe marker is permanent. If the message has no replies and was sent moments ago, delete it and post a clean replacement instead (Step 6).
The Undo link disappeared before you clicked itNavigated away from the conversationHover the This message has been deleted placeholder, click More options, and select Undelete (Step 4).
A colleague still sees the old text after you edited itClient out of syncAsk them to quit Teams completely — right-click the Teams icon in the system tray and select Quit — then reopen it. Closing the window alone leaves it running.
No Delete option on another person's message in a chatNot supported in chatsChat messages can only be removed by the person who sent them. Ask that person to delete it, or use More options > Report this message.
Deleted message still appears in a search or a compliance exportCompliance retention copyExpected behavior, not a fault. Deletion in the app does not remove the retained copy — see the warning above.