Create a team and channels in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a handy way to organize your working group, chat with colleagues, and, most importantly, make audio and video calls. We will explain to you the basics of creating a team and channels in Microsoft Teams.

Create a team in Microsoft Teams on desktop

1. Choose Teams on the left side of the app, then select Join or create a team at the bottom of your teams list.
2. Hover over the Create a team card and select Create team.
3. Choose From scratch.
4. Decide what kind of team you want this to be:
   1. If you want to limit content and conversation to a specific set of people, then choose Private.
   2. For a community or topic that anyone in the organization can join, then choose Public.
5. Pick a name for your team and add an optional description.
6. Select Create.

Create a team in Microsoft Teams on mobile

1. Tap Teams at the bottom of the app, then the add icon in the top right corner. The Manage teams page will open.
2. Tap + to create a new team
3. Pick a name for your team, add a description, and choose its privacy level and data classification:
   1. If you want to limit content and conversation to a specific set of people, then choose Private.
   2. For a community or topic that anyone in the organization can join, then choose Public.
4. Finally, invite people or entire contact groups to join your new team.

Add members to a team in Microsoft Teams

Once you created your team, you can invite other members to join.

1. Go to the team in your lists of teams and click on General > ... (More options) > Add member.

2. Type the name of the collaborator you’d like to invite, or his/her email address.

3. When you have the list of your future team members, click on Add.

4. After you have finished, click on Done to save the changes. People you have just added will receive an email that they have been added to your team.

Create a channel in Microsoft Teams

Channels are a useful part of Microsoft Teams since they let you divide your conversations by topics, departments, workgroups, or projects. In channels, you can discuss specific matters, exchange opinions, and do not distract other teammates.

1. Find the team in which you want to create a channel and click on …(More options) > Add channel. Or, go to Manage team and click on Add channel in the Channels tab.

2. Give the channel a name describing its purpose so everyone in the channel understands what the channel is about. And you are done! This channel will be public and accessible to every team member. Otherwise, you can make it private and accessible via invitation.

Create a private channel in Microsoft Teams

1. Go to the team you want to create the private channel for and select More options   > Add channel.
2. Enter a name and description for your channel.
3. Under Privacy, select the down arrow on the right, and then choose Private – Specific teammates have access.
4. Select Create to add the private channel to the team.

This channel will have a little lock next to its icon meaning that this channel is reserved only for allowed team members.

Add members to a private channel in Microsoft Teams

1. Next to the channel click on ... (More options) > Add members.
2. Choose people you’d like to add (up to 250 people) and select Add.
3. Click on Done.