Where do Teams files actually live?

In SharePoint. Each team has a SharePoint site, and the Files tab in a Teams channel is a view onto a document library inside that site. The files you upload to a channel sit on the team's SharePoint site, not in your OneDrive.

Can I take Teams chats with me?

No — not cleanly. Teams chats belong jointly to the participants, and Microsoft doesn't offer a per-user chat export for students. The eDiscovery tools that can extract chats need tenant admin access and are not intended for individual leaver workflows.

What about files I shared in a private chat?

Files attached to a one-to-one or group chat are uploaded to your personal OneDrive (in the Microsoft Teams Chat Files folder). When you export your OneDrive, you get them. The chat thread itself doesn't come with them.

Export · Teams files

Teams files live in SharePoint.

The Files tab in a Teams channel is a view onto a SharePoint document library. Once you know that, the export path becomes clear — and the boundary of what you can take with you becomes clearer too.

Two kinds of Teams file

Files in channel chats

When you click a Teams channel and look at the Files tab, you're looking at a folder inside the team's SharePoint site. You can usually open it directly in SharePoint: Files tab > ... > Open in SharePoint. From there, select the files you co-authored and download them.

Files you uploaded yourself usually have you as the author. Files the teacher uploaded belong to them, and you don't have a right to redistribute those.

Files shared in private chats

When you attach a file to a one-to-one or small-group chat, Teams uploads it to a folder in your personal OneDrive called Microsoft Teams Chat Files. These are yours. Exporting your OneDrive picks them up automatically.

Files shared with you in a chat live in the other person's OneDrive. You can usually download a copy, but you don't own it, and the link breaks when their account or yours closes.

What you can't cleanly take

Channel chat messages — Teams doesn't offer per-user chat export. The conversation belongs to the channel.
Meeting recordings — saved to the meeting organiser's OneDrive (1:1 / private meetings) or to the channel's SharePoint site (channel meetings). You can download a copy where you have access, but you don't own it.
Whiteboard sessions — stored against the organiser's account. Export via the Whiteboard app from the organiser's session.
Wiki / channel notes — increasingly being migrated to OneNote Class Notebooks, which we cover in /export/onenote-class-notebooks.

The realistic plan

Open each Teams channel that mattered to you. Files > ... > Open in SharePoint. Select the files you co-authored. Download.
Run a OneDrive export — it picks up the personal chat files automatically. mydocs.school will do this for you in one click; the manual path is OneDrive > Download.
Anything you can't download yourself but you'd like to have: ask the file owner (the teacher, the friend) for a copy before your account closes. Almost always granted.

Common questions

Where do Teams files actually live?: In SharePoint. Each team has a SharePoint site, and the Files tab in a Teams channel is a view onto a document library inside that site. The files you upload to a channel sit on the team's SharePoint site, not in your OneDrive.
Can I take Teams chats with me?: No — not cleanly. Teams chats belong jointly to the participants, and Microsoft doesn't offer a per-user chat export for students. The eDiscovery tools that can extract chats need tenant admin access and are not intended for individual leaver workflows.
What about files I shared in a private chat?: Files attached to a one-to-one or group chat are uploaded to your personal OneDrive (in the Microsoft Teams Chat Files folder). When you export your OneDrive, you get them. The chat thread itself doesn't come with them.