Create a standard, private, or shared channel in Microsoft Teams

Channels are the conversations you have with your teammates around a specific topic, department, or project.Team owners and admins determine which members can create channels.

A standard channel is open to all members, and anything posted is searchable by others. Private channels are best for smaller audiences or a specific project. Shared channels are open to those outside of your team or organization. For more info, see Teams can have standard, private or shared channels.

: The new chat and channel experiences below are available as part of the public preview program and might undergo further changes before being released publicly. To get access to this and other upcoming features, switch to Teams public preview.

Desktop Mobile

Create a channel from Chat or Teams:

On the left side of the app, select Chats . If using the separate view, select Teams .
Select New items from the drop-down at top of your list of chats and channels.
Select New channel .
Select a team to choose a team to host your channel.
Fill in some quick details about your channel by choosing a name, entering an optional description, and a channel type. This is where you'll choose to make your channel standard, private, or shared.

: Don't see these options? You can also create a channel by going to Teams Teams (free) Communities three people icon and selecting Create and join teams and channels Plus sign icon > Create channel Add channel icon . Then, select the team that will host your channel.

Create a channel from a team name:

Select either See all of your teams or See all your teams and channels to see a list of the teams you belong to.
Locate the team you'd like to add a channel to.
To the right of the team name, select More options > Add channel .
Fill in some quick details about your channel by choosing a name, entering an optional description, and a channel type. This is where you'll choose to make your channel standard, private, or shared.

: You can also add a channel from the Team's page by selecting Go to Team > Channels > Add. Learn more about Team pages.

When you create a new team or private channel in Microsoft Teams, a team site in SharePoint is automatically created. To edit the site description or classification for this team site, go to the corresponding channel’s settings in Microsoft Teams. Learn more about managing Microsoft Teams connected teams sites.

: Some of the above features are part of the public preview program and might undergo further changes before being released publicly. To get access to this and other upcoming features, switch to Teams public preview.

Channel types

Standard channels

A standard channel is open to all members, and anything posted is searchable by others.

You can create up to 1,000 channels over the life of a team. That number includes channels you create and later delete.

Private channels

For a focused place to discuss projects and topics within a team, create a private channel. Only owners or members of the private channel can access it. You can create up to 30 private channels over the life of a team.

: Your admin can change this permission and limit private channel creation to certain roles.

Shared channels

With a shared channel, you can work with people outside the team or organization as well as people inside.

Only team owners can create shared channels. A shared channel inherits labels (such as its description) from its host team. They team owner who creates the shared channel becomes the channel owner.

: You can't change a shared channel into a standard or private channel and vice versa. Once you create a shared channel, you can't change its host team.

Add members to a channel

Everyone has access to a standard channel, so there's no need to add members. However, here's how you add members to a private or shared channel.

Add members to a private channel

As a private channel owner, you can add or remove members and edit private channel settings. Each person you add must first be a member of the team.

The simplest way to add members of your team to a private channel is to go to the private channel name and select More options More options button > Add members Add Members icon . This opens a menu that lets you search for and add new members, as well as set their roles. Members may now post messages in the private channel. You can also go to the private channel name and select More options > Manage channel. Then use the Members tab to add or remove members and assign roles. Your private channel can have multiple owners and up to 250 members. The Settings tab lets you choose what members are allowed to do.

Add members to a shared channel

When creating a shared channel, the default setting is Share this channel with everyone on the team.

After you've chosen Shared channel as the channel type in the selection box, type the names of the people in your org you want to add to the channel and choose them from the list. To add people outside your org, type their email addresses and choose them from the list. Then select Share.
To change a Member to an Owner, select the down arrow to the right of Member, and choose Owner. Then select Done.

People from outside your org can only be members of a shared channel.
If you're a team owner and don’t see an option to create a shared channel, check with your admin.
Admins must enable B2B direct connect before you can add people outside your org to a shared channel. To learn more, see Collaborate with external participants in a channel.

Manage private channel creation

As a team owner, you can turn on or turn off the ability for members to create channels.

Find the team you want to edit, and select More options .
Select Settings > Member Permissions.
Choose whether users can create, update, or delete channels.

Edit, delete, hide, or leave a channel

Once you delete a channel, you also lose its entire conversation history. Channels can be restored within 30 days, but no new channels can be created with the same name as the deleted channel within that 30-day window. The OneNote sections associated with a deleted channel will still show up on your team's SharePoint site.

Select More options More options button next to the channel name. Then use the menu to edit, delete, hide, or leave the channel.

: Team owners decide which team members can delete channels.

Create a standard channel

Locate the team you'd like to add a channel to.
On the right of the channel, tap More options > Manage channels.

Tap Add Add button and enter a name and description (optional). This adds a standard channel to the team.

Everyone has access to a standard channel, so there's no need to add members.

Create a private channel and add members

Locate the team you'd like to add a channel to.
On the right of the channel, tap More options > Manage channels.
Tap Add in the header and enter a name and description (optional).
Tap Privacy, and then Private, as shown.
Tap the back button <, and then Done. This adds a private channel to the team and opens the Add members screen. FYI, you can skip step 5 and add members later.
Under Add members, type a name in the Add field, and then tap Done.

You can create up to 30 private channels over the life of a team. Each private channel can have multiple owners and up to 250 members. Only owners or members of the private channel can access the channel.

Create a shared channel

The Teams mobile app doesn’t support creating shared channels. Create shared channels from Teams for desktop or web.

Edit, delete, hide, or leave a channel

Select More options More options button next to the channel name. Then, use the menu to edit, delete, hide, or leave the channel as desired.

Keep in mind that once you delete a channel, you also lose its entire conversation history. Channels can be restored within 30 days, but no new channels can be created with the same name as the deleted channel within that 30-day window. The OneNote sections associated with a deleted channel will still show up on your team's SharePoint site.

Create a standard, private, or shared channel in Microsoft Teams

Create a channel from Chat or Teams:

Create a channel from a team name: