When you edit a message in Teams, does it let the other person know?

Have you ever wondered if other people can see when you edit a message in Teams? It’s a common question, and in this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about edited messages, including who can see them and how to find them.

When you edit a message in Teams, does it let the other person know?

The answer is yes. Other users in Microsoft Teams can see when you’ve edited a message. The word ‘Edited’ will appear above the message.

Please continue reading our in-depth guide on everything you need to know about edited messages in Microsoft Teams.

We’ve also created a video to help guide you through the process:

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How to edit a message in Teams

In this section, we’ll edit messages in the main channel, although editing messages during a Teams meeting will have the same effect. First, open your Microsoft Teams web app or desktop app. and go to ‘Chat.’

Write any message in the main channel, then right-click the message.
Alternatively, hover your cursor over the message.
Then click the three dots at the end of the Emoji bar.

Select ‘Edit‘ from the pop-up menu.

Your message will appear inside an editable box.
Edit your message and click the tick icon in the bottom-right corner.

Now the word ‘Edited‘ will appear above your message.

Note: You can ‘Undo‘ a deleted message. However, that option is not available for edited messages.

What can other people see when you edit a message in Teams?

Whether you’re posting in a Teams meeting or on the main channel, other users can see when you’ve edited a message. Edited messages are indicated by the word ‘Edited,‘ which will appear above them.

While a notification will also appear in the ‘Recent‘ chat box for deleted messages, this will not happen with edited messages.

When another user edits their message, you will see ‘Edited‘ above it.

Are edited Teams messages saved?

The short answer is yes. Edited messages are stored inside a hidden Outlook folder called the Exchange mailbox, which eDiscovery managers and administrators can access.

Which Teams data is saved?

Saved	Not saved
Card content	Audio
Chat messages (private and public)	Code snippets
Deleted messages	Feed notifications
Edited messages	Reactions
Images (emojis, stickers, GIFs)
Inline images
Loops
Metadata
Quotes
Subject
Tables

Note: metadata includes start, end, and duration of a meeting, and also users joining and exiting.

Who can see when you edit a message in Teams?

We briefly touched on eDiscovery managers and administrators. They are people within the organization who have access to stored Teams data. You can recover Teams data by running an eDiscovery search. However, the eDiscovery tool is only available to users with the Microsoft compliance license.

If you have access to the license, we’ll show you how to run an eDiscovery search in the next section.

Run an eDiscovery search for edited Teams messages

In this section, you will learn how to run an eDiscovery search, view the results, and export them. To start this guide, please head over to your Compliance portal.

Step 1 – Create an eDiscovery manager or administrator

Click on ‘Permissions‘ on the left menu in your compliance portal.
Click on ‘Roles.’
Then check the box next to ‘eDiscovery Manager.’

Click ‘Edit‘ next to ‘manager‘ or ‘administrator‘ to add or remove admins and managers.
You can also click the ‘Edit role group‘ button and then ‘Choose eDiscovery manager.’

Note:

Administrators have access to all cases, whereas managers only have access to cases they created or are members of.

Click ‘Choose eDiscovery manager‘ in the small blue text.
Then click the ‘+ Add‘ button.

Select your name from the list.
Click ‘Add‘ and then ‘Done.’

Finally, click the ‘Save‘ button.

Here are some messages from a Teams meeting that we’re going to search for:

Step 2 – Run a content search or eDiscovery search

Once you’re set up as an eDiscovery manager or administrator, head back to the left menu of your compliance portal and click on ‘Content search‘ or eDiscovery > User data search. We’ll show you how to use both methods. First, we’ll look at Content search.

Run a content search

First, click on ‘New search.’

Enter a name for your search.
Add an optional description.
Click the ‘Next‘ button.

Toggle on the location, ‘Exchange mailboxes.’
Then click the ‘Next‘ button.

Next, click ‘+ Add condition.’
Add the conditions ‘Date’ and ‘Type.’

Select ‘Between‘ and choose the same date to search within a particular day.
Check the box next to ‘Instant messages.’
Then click the ‘Next‘ button.

Click the ‘Submit‘ button.

When you see ‘New search created,’ go down and click the ‘Done‘ button.

Now we can view the search results.
Click the name of your search.

Then click the ‘Review sample‘ button at the bottom of the page.

Note: It may take a few moments for the search to run before you can review the sample.

You will be able to view the messages once the results have finished loading.

While you can view the messages here, you must export the results to determine which messages have been edited. Please click the blue ‘X‘ to close the window and continue with the guide.

Click on the name of your search again and this time click the ‘Actions‘ button.
Select ‘Export results‘ from the pop-up menu.

Leave the default options and click the ‘Export‘ button.

A box will pop-up explaining that ‘A job has been created.’
Click ‘OK.’

Click on ‘Export‘ at the top.

Click the name of your search again.
Then click the ‘Download results‘ button.

Note:

It may take several minutes for the download button to appear. You can click the ‘Refresh‘ button to see if the results are ready for download.

Please head down to the download section to continue with the guide. Or continue reading for a guide on how to run an eDiscovery search. Both methods will produce the same results.

Run an eDiscovery search

On the next page, click ‘Create a case.’

Create a name for the case and add an optional description.
Click the ‘Next‘ button.
Click the input box under ‘User who filed the request‘ and select your name.
Click the ‘Next‘ button.
Finally, click the ‘Save‘ button.

Click ‘Finish.’
If you click ‘Show me search results,’ cancel the search and continue below.

Select your case, then click ‘Open case.‘

Click ‘Searches‘ at the top when the next window opens.
Then click on ‘Guided search.’

Click ‘Cancel‘ and ‘Yes.’
You will now have a blank canvas to work with.

The best practice for searching for Teams data is to narrow your search parameters. That means looking for specific time frames and content types or messages from specific people.

To narrow your search, click ‘Add conditions.’
Select ‘Date‘ and ‘Type,’ then click the ‘Add‘ button.

Next, select your time frame.
Select ‘Between‘ and choose the same date to search for a particular day.
Then check the box next to ‘Instant messages.’

Now go down to ‘Specific locations‘ and click ‘Modify…‘

Toggle on the top section that includes ‘Teams messages.’
Then click the ‘Save‘ button.

Click ‘Save & run.’

Enter a new name for this search.
Finally, click ‘Save.’

You can now view the results, but let’s first export the results to check for edited messages.
Click on the name of your new search and then click the ‘Export results‘ button.

Leave the default options and click the ‘Export‘ button.

Click the ‘Close‘ button.
Then click the ‘Exports‘ tab at the top.

Click on the name of your export.

Step 3 – Download and view the export

After you’ve exported the results, it’s time to download the export. It’s best to use Excel or Google sheets to view the download, as you’ll be opening a CSV file.

Click on ‘Download results.’

A pop-up box will ask you if you want to ‘Open this file?’
Click ‘Open.’

The first time you open an export file, you’ll be asked to install the eDiscovery export tool.
Install the tool and then click ‘Copy to clipboard‘ to copy the ‘Export key.’

Paste the export key into the first input box.
Then click ‘Browse‘ to choose a save location.
Finally, click the ‘Start‘ button.

Click the link next to ‘Export location‘ when the download is complete.

Open your results in Excel or Google sheets.
You can open the file with any text editor, but the readability may be poor.

There are two things to notice in the results. Firstly, the ‘ExportItem Id‘ and ‘Sent‘ times will be identical for messages that have been edited. And secondly, the ‘Item identity‘ will indicate that the edited message has been stored in a different location, namely Recoverable Items\SubstrateHolds.

TeamsMessagesData\Item (2).msg	This is the location of the original message.
SubstrateHolds\Item.msg	This is the location of the new message after editing.

Now we know the name of the files we need to look for, we can go back to our results folder. This time, go to Exchange > your email address (Primary) >Recoverable Items > SubstrateHolds to find the original message. And Exchange > your email address (Primary) > TeamsMessagesDate to find the new message after editing.

You can see from the image above that we changed ‘Message 5‘ to say ‘Message 4.’

Conclusion

In short, other team members or participants of a Teams meeting can see when you’ve edited a message. And edited messages can be recovered by administrators using eDiscovery. However, if someone quotes your message before you edit it, the quote will preserve the original message in the chat.

Thanks for reading.