# Archiving Conversations

Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/chat/archiving-conversations

> Archive a direct message or channel to tidy your chat list without deleting messages, and restore it later.

> **Enabling Chat**
>
> Chat is an optional feature. The Account Owner can turn it on from the [Optional Features](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/optional-features#chat) page.

Archiving lets you remove a conversation from your chat list to keep it tidy, without deleting any messages. You can archive both direct messages and group channels, and bring them back at any time.

> **Archiving only affects you**
>
> Archiving is personal to your account. When you archive a conversation, it is only hidden from **your** chat list - other members can still see the conversation and continue messaging in it. Nothing is deleted, and all messages are kept.

## Archiving a Conversation

To archive a conversation:

1. Open the direct message or group channel you would like to archive
2. Click the **Actions** menu in the conversation header
3. Select **Archive Conversation**

![A direct message with Sierra Runolfsson in Chat, with the Actions button in the conversation header highlighted and its menu open, and an arrow pointing to Archive Conversation between Mute Channel and Pin for me.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/chat-archive-conversation-action-guide.png)

4. A confirmation will appear explaining that the conversation will be hidden from your chat list. Click **Archive** to confirm

![The Archive conversation dialog explaining that it hides the conversation from your chat list, other members are unaffected and no messages are deleted, with Cancel and Archive buttons.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/chat-archive-conversation-warning.png)

The conversation will close and be removed from your chat list.

## What Happens When You Archive

- The conversation is hidden from **your** chat list only
- Other members are unaffected and continue to see the conversation as normal
- No messages are deleted - the full history is kept
- Archived conversations no longer count towards your unread message badge

## Viewing Archived Conversations

Archived conversations are moved out of your main chat list, but you can still find them:

1. Navigate to [Chat](https://app.astalty.com.au/chat)
2. Click the **Archived chats** icon at the top of the chat list

Your archived conversations will be displayed. You can open one to read the full history and unarchive it if needed. The **All**, **Direct** and **Groups** tabs apply here too, so you can narrow the archive to just archived group channels or just archived direct messages - see [Filtering Conversations](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/chat/filtering-conversations).

## Unarchiving a Conversation

To bring an archived conversation back into your chat list:

1. Open the **Archived chats** view
2. Open the archived conversation
3. Click the **Actions** menu in the conversation header
4. Select **Unarchive Conversation**

![Chat showing the archived direct message with Sierra Runolfsson, with arrows to the Archived chats icon above the conversation list and to Unarchive Conversation in the highlighted Actions menu at the top right.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/chat-unarchive-conversation-guide.png)

The conversation will return to your main chat list.

## Automatic Unarchiving

You don't have to manually unarchive a conversation to keep receiving messages. If a new message is sent to an archived conversation, it will automatically reappear in your chat list. Sending a new message to a person you previously archived a direct message with will also bring that conversation back.

> **Want to keep a chat handy instead?**
>
> Archiving hides a conversation. If instead you want to keep an important chat at the top of your list, see [Pinning Conversations](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/chat/pinning-conversations). If you want to keep a conversation in your chat list but stop it notifying you, see [Muting Conversations](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/chat/muting-conversations).