Overview of Teams and Channels in Microsoft Teams

In Microsoft Teams, teams are groups of people brought together for work, projects, or common interests.

Teams are made up of two types of channels — standard (available and visible to everyone) and private (focused, private conversations with a specific audience). Each channel is built around a topic like "Team Events," a department name, or just for fun. Channels are where you hold meetings, have conversations, and work on files together.

The tabs at the top of each channel link to your favorite files, apps, and services.

Add a tab

  • Select the plus sign next to the tabs.

    For example: add Planner to create a project board for tracking team tasks.

Pin and unpin a channel

If you have a lot of channels, pin the most important ones to make them easy to find.

  • To pin a channel, choose one to pin and then select More options > Pin.

  • To unpin a channel, choose one to unpin and then select More options > Unpin. 

Note: You can also browse the More options menu to see what else you can do with a channel.