How to Create a Channel in Microsoft Teams

Channels in Microsoft Teams keep conversations, files, and meetings organised by topic or project. Instead of everything landing in one general chat, channels give each subject its own space — with its own chat history, shared files, and meeting recordings. Here is how to create them and when to use each type.

How to Create a Channel in Microsoft Teams

1. In the Teams sidebar, find the Team you want to add a channel to
2. Click the three dots (···) next to the Team name
3. Click Add channel
4. Give the channel a name and optional description
5. Choose the channel type (see below)
6. Click Create

Channel Types — Standard, Private, and Shared

Standard channel

Visible to everyone in the Team. All Team members can see and participate. Use for general project work, department-wide discussions, or any topic the whole team needs access to. Most channels should be standard.

Private channel

Only visible to members you specifically invite — even other members of the Team cannot see it. Use for sensitive discussions (HR matters, management conversations, confidential projects) or when only a subset of the team is involved. Private channels have their own separate SharePoint document library.

Shared channel

Can include members from outside your organisation without them needing to switch tenants. Use when you’re collaborating regularly with external partners, contractors, or clients who also use Microsoft Teams. Shared channels appear in both your Teams and the external user’s Teams.

Organising Channels Effectively

Teams work best when channels are purposeful rather than numerous. A few guidelines:

• One channel per ongoing project or topic — not one per meeting or conversation
• Use the General channel (which Teams creates automatically) for announcements and broad team communication
• Archive channels when projects finish rather than deleting them — the history and files are preserved
• Avoid too many channels — if nobody posts in a channel for a month, it probably shouldn’t exist

Pinning and Reordering Channels

Channels you use frequently can be pinned so they appear at the top of the list:

1. Right-click the channel name
2. Click Pin

Pinned channels appear in a separate section above the rest. You can also hide channels you rarely use: right-click → Hide. The channel still exists — it just moves to the hidden section and clears clutter from your sidebar.

Channel Notifications

Each channel has independent notification settings. For noisy channels you monitor but don’t need alerts for:

1. Right-click the channel → Channel notifications
2. Set All new posts to Off and Mentions to Banner and feed

This way you only get notified when someone specifically @mentions you, not for every message.

Deleting or Archiving a Channel

To archive (preserves everything, makes it read-only): click the three dots next to the channel → Archive channel. To delete permanently: three dots → Delete this channel. Deletion removes all messages and files in the channel — archive is almost always the better choice.

Related Guides

• How to Add an External Guest to Microsoft Teams
• How to Schedule a Meeting in Microsoft Teams
• OneDrive vs SharePoint — What’s the Difference?