Microsoft Teams is built around the concept of Teams — dedicated workspaces that bring together the right people, the right conversations, and the right files in one place. If you have been relying solely on one-to-one chats or informal group messages, you are missing out on one of the most powerful features the platform has to offer. Creating a proper Team gives your group a persistent, organised home where work actually happens, rather than getting buried in a scrolling chat history. This guide walks you through everything you need to know, from the initial setup to the settings that make the difference.
\n\n\n\nWhat Is the Difference Between a Team and a Channel?
\n\n\n\nA Team is the top-level container — think of it as a department, project, or group of people who regularly collaborate together. A channel lives inside a Team and represents a specific topic, workstream, or sub-group within that broader workspace. Every Team comes with a General channel by default, and you can add as many additional channels as you need. For a deeper look at how conversations inside channels compare to private chats, take a read of Microsoft Teams Chat vs Channels: What’s the Difference?
How to Create a Team in Microsoft Teams
\n\n\n\nThe process is straightforward whether you are using the desktop app or the browser-based web app. Both routes arrive at the same result.
\n\n\n\nDesktop App (Windows and Mac)
\n\n\n\n- \n
- Open Microsoft Teams and look at the left-hand sidebar. Click on the Teams icon, which looks like two overlapping people. \n\n\n\n
- At the top of the Teams panel, click Join or create a team. This appears at the bottom of your existing teams list, or as a button near the top of the panel depending on your version. \n\n\n\n
- Select Create team from the options presented. \n\n\n\n
- Choose whether to build from scratch or create from an existing Microsoft 365 Group or Team. For most new setups, select From scratch. \n\n\n\n
- Choose your privacy type — Private, Public, or Org-wide (see the next section for guidance on which to pick). \n\n\n\n
- Give your Team a clear, descriptive name. Add an optional description so members understand what the Team is for. \n\n\n\n
- Click Create. Teams will generate the workspace and take you straight to the member-adding screen. \n
Web App (teams.microsoft.com)
\n\n\n\n- \n
- Navigate to teams.microsoft.com and sign in with your Microsoft 365 account. \n\n\n\n
- Click Teams in the left navigation bar. \n\n\n\n
- Select the + icon or the Create and join teams and channels option. \n\n\n\n
- Click Create team and follow the same steps as the desktop app from step 4 onwards. \n
The web app and desktop app are functionally identical for Team creation. If you run into permission issues — such as the Create button being greyed out — your organisation’s IT administrator may have restricted who can create Teams. In that case, you will need to raise a request with your admin.
\n\n\n\nChoosing the Right Team Type
\n\n\n\nWhen you create a Team from scratch, Microsoft asks you to choose a privacy setting. This decision affects who can find and join your Team, so it is worth getting right from the start.
\n\n\n\nPrivate
\n\n\n\nOnly people you explicitly invite can see or join the Team. It will not appear in search results for other users in your organisation. This is the right choice for project teams, sensitive business units, leadership groups, HR discussions, or any workspace where you want controlled membership. The majority of Teams in most organisations are Private.
Public
\n\n\n\nAnyone in your organisation can search for and join the Team without needing an invitation. This suits community groups, knowledge-sharing hubs, company-wide interest channels, or open initiatives where broad participation is encouraged. Members of a Public Team can still be removed by owners if needed.
\n\n\n\nOrg-wide
\n\n\n\nThis option automatically includes every person in your Microsoft 365 tenant. It is reserved for company-wide announcements and general information. Only global administrators can create Org-wide Teams, and Microsoft limits each tenant to a small number of them. This is not available to standard users and should be used sparingly — it is easy to create noise when every employee is a member.
\n\n\n\nHow to Add Members to Your Team
\n\n\n\nImmediately after creating a Team, Microsoft prompts you to add members. You can also do this at any point afterwards by clicking the three dots next to the Team name and selecting Add member.
\n\n\n\nStart typing a colleague’s name or email address and Teams will suggest matches from your organisation’s directory. Once you have added someone, you can assign them one of two roles:
\n\n\n\n- \n
- Owner — can add and remove members, manage channels, change Team settings, and delete the Team. You should have at least two owners to avoid the Team becoming unmanaged if one person leaves. \n\n\n\n
- Member — can participate in channels, post messages, and access files, but cannot change Team settings or add new members unless the owner grants that permission. \n
You can also invite people from outside your organisation as guests. Guest access in Microsoft Teams is a powerful feature for working with contractors, clients, and partners without giving them a full Microsoft 365 licence. For a step-by-step walkthrough of that process, see How to Add an External Guest to Microsoft Teams.
\n\n\n\nSetting Up Channels Inside Your New Team
\n\n\n\nEvery Team is created with a General channel automatically. This channel cannot be deleted or renamed, and it is where new members land by default when they join the Team. It works well as a catch-all space for team-wide announcements.
\n\n\n\nTo add more channels, click the three dots next to the Team name and select Add channel. Give the channel a name, an optional description, and choose whether it is Standard (visible to all Team members), Private (restricted to specific members within the Team), or Shared (available across multiple Teams). For a detailed guide on this step, take a look at How to Create a Channel in Microsoft Teams.
\n\n\n\nWhen naming your channels, a few conventions will save confusion as your Team grows:
\n\n\n\n- \n
- Use short, descriptive names — “Marketing Campaigns” beats “Marketing Stuff” \n\n\n\n
- Avoid duplicating the Team name in the channel name — if your Team is called “Sales”, a channel called “Sales Updates” is redundant; “Updates” is cleaner \n\n\n\n
- Use consistent casing — title case tends to look tidier in the sidebar \n\n\n\n
- Archive or delete channels that fall out of use to keep the sidebar manageable \n
Team Settings Worth Configuring
\n\n\n\nOnce your Team is live, click the three dots next to the Team name and choose Manage team, then navigate to the Settings tab. A handful of settings here make a meaningful difference to how the Team runs day to day.
\n\n\n\nMember Permissions
\n\n\n\nBy default, members can create, update, and delete channels, as well as add and remove apps. For structured Teams — particularly those with many members — it is worth restricting these permissions so that owners maintain control of the workspace layout. Uncheck the options you want to lock down under the Member permissions section.
\n\n\n\n@Mentions
\n\n\n\nThe @team and @channel mention options allow members to send a notification to everyone in the Team or channel at once. This can become disruptive in large Teams. You can choose to allow or disallow members from using these mentions — owners can always use them regardless of this setting.
\n\n\n\nTeam Picture
\n\n\n\nAdding a Team picture is a small touch that makes a big difference when you are a member of many Teams. A distinctive icon helps members identify the right Team at a glance in the sidebar. Upload a square image under Team picture in the Settings tab. Company logos, project graphics, or department icons all work well.
\n\n\n\nFrequently Asked Questions
\n\n\n\nHow many Teams can I be a member of?
\n\n\n\nMicrosoft allows users to be a member of up to 1,000 Teams. In practice, performance and usability start to suffer well before that ceiling — most people find that more than 20 to 30 active Teams becomes unwieldy. Teams you no longer actively use can be hidden from your sidebar without leaving them, which helps keep things manageable.
\n\n\n\nCan I archive a Team instead of deleting it?
\n\n\n\nYes. Archiving is the recommended approach when a Team’s work is complete but you want to preserve the history. Archived Teams become read-only — members can still search and browse the content but cannot post new messages. To archive, go to Manage team, then click Archive team. You can restore an archived Team at any time.
\n\n\n\nWhat happens if I delete a Team?
\n\n\n\nDeleting a Team permanently removes the Team, all its channels, conversations, files, and the underlying Microsoft 365 Group. Microsoft does retain deleted Teams in a soft-delete state for 30 days, during which a global administrator can restore them. After 30 days, the deletion is permanent and irreversible. Always consider archiving before deleting.
\n\n\n\nWhat is the difference between an Owner and a Member?
\n\n\n\nOwners have full administrative control over the Team — they can add or remove members, manage channels and settings, and delete the Team entirely. Members can collaborate within the Team but cannot change its structure or settings unless an owner grants them elevated permissions. Each Team must have at least one owner, and Microsoft strongly recommends having two or more to ensure continuity.
\n\n\n\nCan I create a Team from an existing Microsoft 365 Group?
\n\n\n\nYes. If your organisation already uses Microsoft 365 Groups — perhaps created through Outlook, SharePoint, or Planner — you can attach a Team to an existing Group rather than starting from scratch. This preserves the Group’s existing membership, shared mailbox, and SharePoint site, while adding the full Teams collaboration layer on top. Choose From a group or team during the creation process and select the Group you want to use.
\n\n
