Set a space history option for users

As an administrator, you control the default history setting in in-line threaded Google Chat spaces.

Choose a history setting for in-line threaded spaces

Sign in with a super administrator account to the Google Admin console.
If you aren’t using a super administrator account, you can’t complete these steps.
Go to Menu Apps > Google Workspace > Google Chat.
Requires having the Service Settings administrator privilege.
Click History for spaces.
Choose a space history option:
- History is ON by default (but users can change it)
- History is OFF by default (but users can change it)
- History if ALWAYS ON (ON by default and users can’t change it)
- History is ALWAYS OFF (OFF by default and users can’t change it)
Click Save.

Interaction with the chat history setting

The interaction between chat and space history depends on the Chat service setting for your top-level organizational unit:

My top-level History for chats setting does not override my Space history setting

My top-level History for chats setting overrides my Space history setting

In this instance, the setting Let History for chats setting override Space history setting is checked under Chat service settings in your admin console.

Chat history can override space history

The Admin console has a chat history setting that includes an Allow users to change their history setting option. This can force chat history on or off, which may override the default in-line threaded space history:

If Allow users to change their history setting is on, the default space history setting is used for newly created in-line threaded spaces, and users can change the history setting in in-line threaded spaces.
If Allow users to change their history setting is off, history is forced on or off. The chat history setting therefore overrides the default space history setting for newly created in-line threaded spaces, and users can't change the history setting.

Space history	Chat history	Allow users to change their history setting	Result (for in-line threaded spaces*)
ON	ON	ON	New spaces have history ON
ON	ON	OFF	New spaces have history ON
ON	OFF	ON	New spaces have history ON
ON	OFF	OFF	New spaces have history OFF (Chat history is forced OFF, which overrides the Space history default ON setting)
OFF	ON	ON	New spaces have history OFF
OFF	ON	OFF	New spaces have history ON (Chat history is forced ON, overriding Space history default OFF setting)
OFF	OFF	ON	New spaces have history OFF
OFF	OFF	OFF	New spaces have history OFF

Note: Spaces with over 8000 users have history turned on by default, and can’t have history turned off.

When a guest user joins or participates in a Space or group DM and the guest has a chat history setting of forced on or off, the history of the space or group DM may inherit the guest user’s chat history setting. If this occurs, the space or group DM can be reverted back to its original state by removing the guests with a chat history setting of forced on or off.

Users can be excluded from spaces

Conflicts may occur when spaces include external users and their respective chat history settings are inconsistent with the domain’s forced setting. Conflicts are most likely to occur when a space includes external people. They can also happen if you have different forced chat history settings for different sub-organizational units.

If you force chat history on or off by not checking Allow users to change their history setting, there might be times your users can’t join or stay in a space. When someone with a forced chat history setting creates or joins a space, the space's history policy is locked to match that history setting. This means:

Users with a conflicting forced chat history setting won’t be allowed to join the space.
If you change the forced chat history policy, users could be evicted from spaces with a conflicting policy the next time they try to post a message.

Conflicts are more likely to occur when a space includes external people. They can also happen if you have different forced chat history settings for different sub-organizational units.

Space history and in-line threading

For spaces with in-line threading, the history of the replies depends on the history setting when the thread was created.

If the thread was started with history off, all replies will also have history turned off.
If the thread was started with history on, all replies will respect the current history setting. (For example, if you turn history off later, future replies will be deleted after 24 hours.)

About history details

If history is off, messages are deleted after 24 hours.
If you change the space history setting to “Always On” or “Always Off,” this applies to existing spaces as well as new spaces. The history setting for existing spaces might therefore change.
History changes apply to new messages. For example, if a user turns space history on, only new messages are saved. If a user turns space history off, old messages that were previously saved are still saved.
Vault can't hold, retain, or search messages that are sent with history turned off. Check with a Vault admin to confirm that these history settings comply with your organization's data retention obligations. Learn more about how Vault works with in-line threading.

Even if history is turned off, it’s possible that a separate copy of the conversation can be saved. For example, messages might be forwarded to Gmail or saved using a 3rd-party client.

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