- Create a Team by submitting a Microsoft Teams request form
- Join an existing Team by invitation through email or direct link
See the Get Started with Microsoft Teams help article for more information on where to start.
Customize Your Workspace
In Microsoft Teams, you have the control to decide what notifications you receive, where you receive them, and how often you get them.
See the Manage Notification Settings help article.
Too much clutter in your Microsoft Teams activity feed? Use the filter tool to sort and view only the updates that matter to you.
See the Filter Your Activity Feed help article and video for more information.
Show or hide channels in Microsoft Teams to stay focused on what matters and minimize distractions.
See the Show or Hide Teams and Channels help article or watch the Show and Hide Channels video for more information.
Start a one-on-one group chat in the Microsoft Teams mobile app to talk privately or collaborate with a smaller group.
Manage a Team
Teams are made up of channels, which serve as conversation spaces for you and your teammates. Each channel is dedicated to a specific topic, department, or project.
By default, all team members can create channels.
- Standard channels are visible to the entire team, and all content is searchable.
- Private channels are limited to a select group within the team—ideal for specific projects with a smaller audience.
Add Members to Your Teams
As a team owner, you can add new members and guests, promote members to owners, manage channels and team settings, and archive teams that are no longer in use.
File Management
Got a file to share? Upload and share files in Microsoft Teams to collaborate with others in real time. You can also filter files to quickly find recent documents, files shared in channels, or those you've downloaded to your computer.
Consult the following resources for more help:
Files uploaded to a Team are accessible to all team members. You and your team members can co-edit Word, PowerPoint, or Excel documents at the same time. Edits will be seamlessly merged as you work.
See the Collaborate on Files in Microsoft Teams help article for more information.
If your team needs quick access to a file, turn it into a tab at the top of your channel. You can create a tab from any file that’s already been uploaded or shared in that chat or channel.
See the Use an App in a Tab in a Channel or Chat help article.
Files deleted from a Teams channel, chat, or OneDrive can typically be restored within 30 days of their initial deletion. Restored files will return to their original location.
See the Delete and Recover Files help article.
Chat Features
If you want to talk privately with one person or a small group of people, you can utilize the Chat or the Call functions in Microsoft Teams. These private conversations can easily be expanded to include all members of a Teams channel for an ad-hoc meeting.
See the Meet Instantly help article for more information.
Manage Messages
Team members can manage their chats by
- Pinning chats to the top of their list.
- Hiding chats from their chat list.
- Deleting chats permanently.
Within individual chats, team members may also Pin and Delete individual messages. If you have authored a message, you can both Pin and Delete it. If you have received a message, you may only Pin it.
Meeting Features
Microsoft Teams offers a variety of tools to help you manage and participate in meetings effectively.
Join a Microsoft Teams meeting from your calendar or sign in as a guest on the web.
See the Join a Teams Meeting help article.
With Microsoft Teams, you can view, manage, and schedule meetings and appointments to keep your team organized and on track.
See the Meet in a Teams Channel help article.
Any Teams meeting or call can be recorded to capture audio, video, and screen sharing activity. Recordings are saved to the cloud and can be securely shared with others across your organization.
Meeting recordings will automatically be deleted by Microsoft after one year. The owner will be notified, and recordings can be recovered for 90 days after deletion
See the Record a Meeting in Teams help article.
If you want to change your background in a video or call, you can either blur your background or replace it with a custom image.
See the Change your Background for a Teams Meeting help article.