How to Archive or Unarchive a Discussion

In this article:

• Overview
• How to archive a discussion
• How to unarchive a discussion
• What archiving does
• Things to keep in mind
• FAQs
• Who can do this

Overview

Archiving a Discussion makes it read-only — the thread stays visible and searchable, but nobody can add comments, reply, react, vote, or edit it. It's the right choice for winding down a conversation that has run its course without losing its content. Archiving is fully reversible: unarchiving returns the Discussion to Active so people can take part again.

How to archive a discussion

1. Go to Settings → Features.
2. Scroll to the Discussions section and click Manage Discussions.
3. On the Manage Discussions page, find the Discussion in the table (use the Search by title box if needed).
4. In that row's actions, click the archive icon.
5. In the Archive Discussion dialog, confirm the title and click Archive.

You'll see a "Discussion archived" confirmation, and the row's Status changes to Archived.

How to unarchive a discussion

1. On the Manage Discussions page, find the archived Discussion (its Status shows Archived).
2. In that row's actions, click the unarchive icon (the open-padlock).
3. In the Unarchive Discussion dialog, click Unarchive.

The Status returns to Active and people can comment again. You'll see a "Discussion unarchived" confirmation.

What archiving does

• The whole thread becomes read-only: commenting, replying, reacting, voting, following/muting, editing and moderating are all disabled while it's archived.
• The Discussion is automatically removed from the featured area and the Hub banner — an archived thread can't be featured.
• No content is lost. Everything comes back exactly as it was when you unarchive.

Things to keep in mind

• Archiving is not deletion. The Discussion and all its comments are preserved and can be reactivated at any time. To remove a Discussion permanently, see How to delete a discussion.
• If a Discussion was featured, archiving it clears its featured/pinned status. If you unarchive it later, you'll need to feature it again.
• Discussions can also be archived automatically after a period of inactivity if your tenant has auto-archive switched on in Settings → Features.

FAQs

Can people still read an archived discussion?
Yes. Archived Discussions stay visible and searchable — they're just read-only. Nobody can add to or change them until they're unarchived.

What's the difference between archiving and deleting?
Archiving locks a Discussion as read-only but keeps everything and is reversible. Deleting removes the Discussion permanently and can't be undone.

Will archiving remove a featured discussion from the Hub?
Yes. Archiving clears the featured status automatically, so it drops off the Hub's featured area.

Who can do this

Owners and Admins can archive and unarchive Discussions from the Manage Discussions page. This page sits under Settings and is available only to Owners and Admins — Managers, Content Managers, People Managers, Instructors, Employees and Restricted users can't reach it.

Updated on: 16/07/2026