Where do My Files Sent Using Teams Chat Go?

Do you know what happens when you share a file via a Microsoft Team’s – Team Chat? That file is not just saved in the Teams chat but is also uploaded to either SharePoint or OneDrive depending if the chat was directly with another person or with a Team. In this blog, we will cover the locations that you can access shared files for future use.

OneDrive:

When sharing a file directly with another person using the Teams chat, the file you send is uploaded to both you and your target user’s OneDrive. This is why when you go to share a file with someone in Team’s which you’ve previously shared, you’ll get a warning that the file already exists. By default, these files are uploaded into the Microsoft Teams Chat Files directory. You can view all your OneDrive files right from the Teams app by navigating to the Files directory on the left-hand side and clicking OneDrive.

Teams:

When you upload a file to a Teams channel, that file is stored in your team’s SharePoint folder. This means that files shared amongst your team’s chat will be accessible by any new members added to the team.

The files are uploaded to the Teams site into a folder named after the channel.

For example: This team has two channels – General and TestPublicTeam2Channel

On the Team site, there are folders within the Document Library that contain all the files shared in the respective channel.

These files are stored here indefinitely, so you should be aware of what files exist inside your team’s sites before inviting new people to collaborate. Especially when it comes to external collaborators.

And there you have it! Now you will be able to access shared files for future use.