Archive and unarchive channels

Available on Entry, Professional, Enterprise, and Enterprise Advanced plans

Archive a channel

Delete public channels and private channels when they're no longer needed by archiving them. Archiving channels removes them from the channel sidebar and marks them as read-only. Anyone can archive a public or private channel they're a member of, unless your system admin has disabled your ability to do so.

+Tip

You can continue to access archived channels, unless your system admin has disabled your ability to do so.

Web/Desktop

To archive a channel, select the channel name at the top of the center pane to access the drop-down menu, then select Archive Channel.

Mobile

To archive a channel:

1. Tap the channel you want to delete.

2. Tap the More icon located in the top right corner of the app.

3. Tap View info.

4. Tap Archive Channel.

5. Tap Yes to confirm.

iNote

• When a Mattermost user is deactivated in the system, your direct message channel with that user are archived and marked as read-only. An Archived icon displays next to archived channels. From Mattermost v11.5, archived private channels display a distinct Archive Lock icon to differentiate them from other archived channels.
• Group message channels can't be archived, but they can be closed to hide them from the channel sidebar.
• The default Town Square channel can't be archived.
• System admins can archive channels without needing to be a channel member by using the System Console.
• Because a copy of the channel exists on the server, you can't reuse the URL of an archived channel when creating a new channel.

Unarchive a channel

System admins and Team admins can restore archived channels. When a channel is unarchived, channel membership and all its content is restored, unless messages and files have been deleted based on a data retention policy.

Web/Desktop

Search for the channel if required. Then, open the channel, select the channel name at the top of the center pane to access the drop-down menu and select Unarchive Channel.

Mobile

To unarchive a channel:

1. Tap the channel you want to unarchive.

2. Tap the More icon located in the top right corner of the app.

3. Tap View info.

4. Tap Unarchive Channel.

5. Tap Yes to confirm.

+Tip

Alternatively, system admins can unarchive channels via the mmctl, and Team admins can unarchive channels via the API.