Crimson Blog

Wiki Retirement in Microsoft Teams

Written by Mark Britton | Jan 31, 2023 9:42:28 AM

Microsoft Teams has become a workplace staple for millions of people for the past few years, with businesses, schools, and universities using it to communicate and access files remotely. Over time, Microsoft have introduced new features to Teams. But as new features are launched, others must be retired. 

The next feature of Teams to be retired will be Wikis – notebooks that are added to Teams channels to store information. While wikis may not be the most commonly used function in Teams, some users may store valuable information in there that cannot be restored once wikis are officially retired.

 

What does the retirement of wikis entail? 

Once wikis retire, users will not be able to create new wikis. However, there is a way to migrate wikis to OneNote notebook while they’re still available. Currently, wiki data is stored in a library called “Teams Wiki Data”. There hasn’t been any news on what will happen to this library, so its best to assume this content will become read-only at best. It’s also worth noting that the “Meeting Notes” option during Teams meetings currently create a wiki, so that is due to change too. 


How to migrate Teams wikis to OneNote

This link provided by Microsoft shows the expected migration process 

Now you’re using OneNote to store and share your team’s notes, here are a few things to be aware of:

  • Every Microsoft Team has a shared OneNote Notebook that everyone in that team has access to (including external guests).
  • Private Channels and Shared Channels do not have their own separate OneNote notebook.  If you add the OneNote notebook for the team to these channels – everyone in the team can still see it.   
  • When you view the OneNote notebook in Teams the other sections are collapsed. Click on the top left icon to expand the navigation and view other pages and sections in the notebook.
  • OneNote notebooks can be viewed directly from the OneNote app on mobile and desktop devices 


The date for this retirement is uncertain, with Microsoft initially stating mid-February 2023, and later changing the date to April 2023. For those using wikis in Teams, assume the changes will be sooner rather than later, as the changes are quick to implement, and the risk of data loss is high. 

 

 

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