By the end of this guide, you will have:
- Understood the scope of capture for Microsoft Teams messages and the licensing requirements for successful archiving.
What is the Scope of Capture for Microsoft Teams Users?
In Microsoft Teams, message capture depends on the participants in a conversation and their licensing. All users in the conversation must have a compatible E5 license (or equivalent) to ensure messages are fully captured. The table below outlines capture scenarios:
| Scenario | Message Capture | Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Internal to Internal User | Captured | All internal users must have a compatible E5 license. |
| Internal to External User | Captured | Both internal and external users must have a compatible E5 license. |
| External to Internal User | Captured | All participants, both internal and external, need a compatible E5 license. |
Important Note: We only capture content from licensed users. If one or more participants in a conversation lack the required E5 license, only licensed users’ content may be captured, potentially resulting in an incomplete (partial) conversation record. This limitation is due to Microsoft’s licensing and API restrictions, not a technological limitation of MirrorWeb.
Capture Capabilities
Chat capture
- One-to-one chats
- Group chats
- Meeting chats
- User information - The first and last names of both Sender(s) and Receiver(s) of Teams Chat archive content are displayed
- Attachments in chat - Photos, videos, files, gifs, stickers, emojis
- Edited messages
- Deleted messages
- System messages
Channel capture
- Channel messages
- Attachments in channel - Photos, videos, files, gifs, stickers, emojis
- Edited messages
- deleted messages
Licensing Requirements for Full Capture
To fully capture and archive Microsoft Teams messages, organizations should ensure that both internal and external participants in a conversation have the necessary licensing:
-
Microsoft Teams E5 Security & Compliance License: This license provides essential tools for message retention and compliance, ensuring all participants’ messages are archived.
-
Export API Licensing: For capturing messages via Microsoft’s Export API, correct licensing enables effective capture, including conversations with licensed external users.
For more information on licensing requirements, refer to the MirrorWeb support article on required license types.