How to Add a Microsoft Teams Channel (Subsite)

1.0 Audience

• Employees (Staff, Faculty)
   

2.0 Purpose 

The purpose of this knowledge base article is to provide instructions for creating a new Microsoft Teams subsite (called a Teams Channel) within an existing Microsoft Teams Team. A channel functions similarly to a subsite in SharePoint and allows for organized collaboration within a Team. These steps apply to the Microsoft Teams desktop and web applications.

3.0 Instructions

1. Open Microsoft Teams and navigate to the Team where you want to add a channel. Next to the Team name, click the ellipsis ( … ) and select Add Channel.
   
   
    
2. Enter a Channel Name, as an option, you can add a Description, and choose the Privacy setting:
   1. Standard: Accessible to all members of the Team.
   2. Private: Accessible only to specific members you select.
   3. Shared: People you choose from your organization or other organizations have access. This is the default setting. 

3. Click Add to create the channel.
4. To manage channel members later, click the ellipsis ( … ) next to the channel name and select Manage Channel.

5. You can open the channel in SharePoint by clicking the ellipsis ( … ) next to the channel name and selecting Open in SharePoint. This opens the channel’s associated SharePoint folder, which acts like a subsite.

4.0 Definitions 

1. Channel: A dedicated space within a Microsoft Teams Team for conversations, files, and collaboration on specific topics or projects.
2. Privacy: Determines who can access the channel. Options include Standard (open to all Team members) and Private (restricted to selected members).
3. SharePoint: A Microsoft platform for document management and collaboration. Each Teams channel has an associated SharePoint folder for file storage.