Your Google Chat history will be deleted after 30 days

To: All students

Starting November 12, 2025, Google Chat Direct messages older than 30 days will be automatically deleted from chat histories on TMU Google accounts. 

What will you need to do?

If you wish to keep messages or files shared in Google Chat, we encourage you to download your data before the November 12 change. 

Since histories will be limited to 30 days, any messages sent on or before October 13, 2025 will be automatically deleted on November 12.

Only “Direct messages” will be deleted

While all Google Chat “Direct messages” will be part of the 30-day retention period, any messages you’ve sent or received in Google Chat “Spaces” will not be affected.

To find both types of Google Chat messages:

1. Log in to your TMU Gmail account.
2. From the navigation menu on the left-hand side, click the Chat option. 
3. Here, you can click to expand both your Direct messages and Spaces.

Use Google Takeout to download your Chat content

If you’d like to keep Google Chat content, you can use Google Takeout to download your data and view it afterwards using the TMU-built Google Takeout Google Chat Reader. Find out how to export, save and read Google Chat messages.

Keeping a Chat intact

If you have a “Direct message” Chat and want to avoid the automatic 30-day deletion, you can convert the Chat into a “Space”. To do so:

1. Open the Direct message thread.
2. Next to the Chat title or the names of the Chat members, click the drop-down arrow and select turn this chat into a Space. 

Note: This option is only available for Google Chats that include more than two people. One-on-one Direct message chats cannot be turned into a Space.

Why are we deleting histories?

Automatic Chat deletions help the university manage cybersecurity and privacy risks by limiting the length of time that transitory records stay in TMU Google accounts. 

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact the Computing and Communications Services (CCS) Help Desk via the IT Help portal, help@torontomu.ca or 416-979-5000, ext. 556840.