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How to Copy Microsoft Teams Chat with Timestamp: Detailed Solutions

By Sandeep Gautam
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Microsoft Teams has turned into an indispensable communication tool that businesses and organizations all around the world use. Nevertheless, one of the challenges users may encounter is the failure of copying messages along with the timestamp, especially after the most recent updates. This guide offers solutions to help users copy Microsoft Teams chats with timestamps the most efficient way. All the solutions proposed here have been tested on various platforms.

Why Is the Timestamp Missing in Copied Messages?

By the most recent updating of Microsoft Teams, switching on or off the fragment of copying messages with the timestamp has changed, which results in a situation where users can no longer copy the name of the sender and the time the message was sent. That can be quite a nuisance, for instance, when one has to refer to the previous chats accurately. But, several other ways have been figured out to work around the problem.

Fix 1: Use the Web Version of Microsoft Teams

The easiest way to copy chat messages with time stamps is through the web version of Microsoft Teams. Some details may be removed in the desktop app, but the web version usually keeps all the information.

You can see the inclusion of the timestamp where the text is pasted into a document or a note editor.

  1. Firstly, you have to select your beloved browser (Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge, etc.).
  2. Secondly, please, get into Microsoft Teams Web!
  3. Then, sign in with your account.
  4. Open the chat window you want to copy messages from.
  5. Take your mouse, hover over the chat messages, and select the text you wish to copy by dragging the cursor over the part you want to copy.

When the highlighted part is in pieces, the right-click couldn’t work correctly, and so you have to do it with the keyboard instead. To get to that, press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Cmd+C (Mac).

Fix 2: Using Shortcut Keys Efficiently

Using your computer’s built-in shortcut keys is another beneficial way of doing this. You can even utilize the desktop app for these steps if you shall follow:

  1. Under Microsoft Teams, select the chat text you want to copy with the left mouse button pressed down.
  2. Copy the selected text by pressing Ctrl+C (Windows) or Cmd+C (in Mac) while not releasing the mouse button.
  3. After copying the content, release the mouse button.
  4. Now, paste the copied text in the proper place by using Ctrl+V or Cmd+V.

The timestamp is sometimes hidden in the clipboard data, yet, it is also possible for it to remain in plain text editors like Notepad when pasted in certain cases.

Fix 3: Modify the MSTeams Cache Folder

There are some users who have been able to resolve the problem of missing timestamps by resetting Microsoft Teams’ cache files. Although not permanent, a quick fix is to clear the Teams cache.

  1. Shut down Microsoft Teams first of all.
  2. Then use the menu to go into File Explorer and find the following location:%localappdata%\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
  3. Erase the folder MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe and you will have solved the issue.
  4. Click on the window icon to start Microsoft Teams again. When this is done, the app will create a new folder and the problem of timestamp can be resolved.

Make sure you are aware that this folder will regenerate, so this is only a temporary fix and not a long-term solution.

Fix 4: Using Third-Party Tools or Extensions

What about the users who need to send the messages with exact timestamps often? They can also work with third-party tools or browser extensions, which could give a lasting solution. ClipClip and CopyQ are examples of the clipboard managers that can store the whole message and its past details including timestamps.

Example of a Clipboard Manager Workflow:

  1. Insert the generated content to the place of distribution.
  2. Download and install ClipClip or CopyQ.
  3. Open Microsoft Teams and copy the messages as you normally would.

Use your clipboard manager to verify if the copied message was successful. You will see precise data about the sender and the time when the transfer was made.

Fix 5: Use Developer Tools to Extract Timestamp

If you are tech-savvy and comfortable working with developer tools, you can inspect the chat’s HTML structure in Microsoft Teams to manually extract the timestamp. This method provides a more advanced study but can be a reliable way to unlock hidden details. Too open solutions all imply nonsensical semantically and syntactically.

  1. Open the Microsoft Teams web app in Chrome or Edge.
  2. Right-click on the message you want to copy.
  3. Select Inspect from the context menu. Doing this will open up the Developer Tools window.
  4. While the Develop Tools window is still open, go to code containing the time stamp.
  5. Grab the time stamp and the message content simply from the HTML structure.
  6. Paste it into your document or chat.

The third way is cumbersome, causing a need for the user to have some acquaintance with gadgets.

Conclusion

Microsoft Teams users looking to copy chats with timestamps may find the recent update frustrating, but several solutions are available to bypass this limitation. Putting the web version to use or taking advantage of keyboard shortcuts or apps is the way you can reclaim your message copying workflow. For the advanced themes, the change in the cache folder or the use of the developer tools might also give assistance. Along the lines of each method, a trial should be conducted, to test the best-fit for the specific condition you have to do.