- You have a 1:1 direct message with someone who uses Google Chat for school or work.
- The person who started the 1:1 direct message belongs to an organization that has a rule to delete messages after a certain time period.
This change applies to previous and newly created 1:1 direct messages.
Learn how to determine retention policies
If you have a work or school account, your organization sets the retention policies for all users in direct messages, group messages, and spaces you create.
After May 1, 2025, if you’re in a conversation started by someone from a different organization (for example, someone messaging from an external work or school account), their admin sets the retention policy which determines how long message history is available for all users in the conversation.
All conversations will show text that indicates who started the conversation. If the person that started the conversation is messaging from an external work or school account, their account’s policy applies to the conversation.
To download old messages, export your data from Google Chat.
If you’re a Google Workspace administrator, learn more about retention policies.
Automatic deletion of inactive spaces
Google Chat automatically deletes inactive spaces to declutter your chat list. This feature is active for spaces in Google Chat, including those in continuous meeting chats. You can’t recover deleted spaces.
Spaces are permanently deleted if:
- No user messages: The space contains no user-sent messages. System messages, such as 'User X joined,' don’t count as user activity.
- No recent activity: There has been no other activity, such as membership or setting changes, in the space for 30 consecutive days.
- No pinned resources or tasks: The space contains no resources, like documents or media, that have been pinned in the space.
Tip: To prevent your space from being deleted, send a message in the space.