diff --git a/backend/danswer/configs/chat_configs.py b/backend/danswer/configs/chat_configs.py
index 6939ce9bd..289c50862 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/configs/chat_configs.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/configs/chat_configs.py
@@ -83,8 +83,10 @@ DISABLE_LLM_DOC_RELEVANCE = (
 # Stops streaming answers back to the UI if this pattern is seen:
 STOP_STREAM_PAT = os.environ.get("STOP_STREAM_PAT") or None
 
-# The backend logic for this being True isn't fully supported yet
-HARD_DELETE_CHATS = False
+# Set this to "true" to hard delete chats
+# This will make chats unviewable by admins after a user deletes them
+# As opposed to soft deleting them, which just hides them from non-admin users
+HARD_DELETE_CHATS = os.environ.get("HARD_DELETE_CHATS", "").lower() == "true"
 
 # Internet Search
 BING_API_KEY = os.environ.get("BING_API_KEY") or None
diff --git a/deployment/docker_compose/docker-compose.dev.yml b/deployment/docker_compose/docker-compose.dev.yml
index eb5ba5efc..06bb3fe6e 100644
--- a/deployment/docker_compose/docker-compose.dev.yml
+++ b/deployment/docker_compose/docker-compose.dev.yml
@@ -85,6 +85,9 @@ services:
       - LOG_ENDPOINT_LATENCY=${LOG_ENDPOINT_LATENCY:-}
       - LOG_POSTGRES_LATENCY=${LOG_POSTGRES_LATENCY:-}
       - LOG_POSTGRES_CONN_COUNTS=${LOG_POSTGRES_CONN_COUNTS:-}
+
+      # Chat Configs
+      - HARD_DELETE_CHATS=${HARD_DELETE_CHATS:-}
       
       # Enterprise Edition only
       - ENABLE_PAID_ENTERPRISE_EDITION_FEATURES=${ENABLE_PAID_ENTERPRISE_EDITION_FEATURES:-false}
diff --git a/deployment/docker_compose/docker-compose.gpu-dev.yml b/deployment/docker_compose/docker-compose.gpu-dev.yml
index 74da11973..d46cc6ff0 100644
--- a/deployment/docker_compose/docker-compose.gpu-dev.yml
+++ b/deployment/docker_compose/docker-compose.gpu-dev.yml
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ services:
       # (time spent on finding the right docs + time spent fetching summaries from disk)
       - LOG_VESPA_TIMING_INFORMATION=${LOG_VESPA_TIMING_INFORMATION:-}
 
+      # Chat Configs
+      - HARD_DELETE_CHATS=${HARD_DELETE_CHATS:-}
+
       # Enterprise Edition only
       - API_KEY_HASH_ROUNDS=${API_KEY_HASH_ROUNDS:-}
       - ENABLE_PAID_ENTERPRISE_EDITION_FEATURES=${ENABLE_PAID_ENTERPRISE_EDITION_FEATURES:-false}
diff --git a/deployment/helm/charts/danswer/values.yaml b/deployment/helm/charts/danswer/values.yaml
index 6924ae89a..9d869f126 100644
--- a/deployment/helm/charts/danswer/values.yaml
+++ b/deployment/helm/charts/danswer/values.yaml
@@ -448,3 +448,5 @@ configMap:
   # Shared or Non-backend Related
   WEB_DOMAIN: "http://localhost:3000"  # for web server and api server
   DOMAIN: "localhost"  # for nginx
+  # Chat Configs
+  HARD_DELETE_CHATS: ""
diff --git a/deployment/kubernetes/env-configmap.yaml b/deployment/kubernetes/env-configmap.yaml
index cfba42a84..95c663ad5 100644
--- a/deployment/kubernetes/env-configmap.yaml
+++ b/deployment/kubernetes/env-configmap.yaml
@@ -76,3 +76,5 @@ data:
   INTERNAL_URL: "http://api-server-service:80"  # for web server
   WEB_DOMAIN: "http://localhost:3000"  # for web server and api server
   DOMAIN: "localhost"  # for nginx
+  # Chat Configs
+  HARD_DELETE_CHATS: ""