After the 30 days goes by for a private channel to be permanently deleted can you have move than 30 private channels in a team?

Dear @JL,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. I’d like to clarify both points for you.

You asked:

1. After the 30-day retention period for a deleted private channel has passed and the channel is permanently deleted, can a team then have more than 30 private channels?
2. Is it possible to move a channel from one team to another?

Here are the answers:

1. Private Channel Limit After 30-Day Deletion Period

Each Microsoft Teams team can have a maximum of 30 private channels at any given time. When a private channel is deleted, it enters a 30-day soft-delete period during which it can be restored. During this 30-day window, the deleted channel still counts toward the 30-channel limit. Only after the 30 days have passed and the channel is permanently deleted does it stop counting toward the limit. Therefore, you cannot exceed 30 private channels in a team, even if some are deleted, until the 30-day retention period has expired.

2. Moving Channels Between Teams

Currently, Microsoft Teams does not support moving a channel (standard or private) from one team to another. Channels are tightly linked to their parent team’s Microsoft 365 Group and associated SharePoint site, which prevents them from being transferred. If you need to replicate a channel in another team, the recommended approach is to manually create a new channel in the target team and migrate any necessary files or content. Please note that conversation history and membership settings cannot be transferred automatically.

References:

• Microsoft Learn: Private channels in Microsoft Teams
• Microsoft Learn: Limits and specifications for Microsoft Teams
• Microsoft Q&A: How to move channel to other team in Teams?

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