Microsoft Teams
Quick Start Guide
New to Microsoft Teams? Use this guide to learn the basics.
Sign in
In Windows, click Start > Microsoft Teams.
On Mac, go to the Applications folder and click Microsoft Teams.
On mobile, tap the Teams icon. Then sign in with your Microsoft 365 username and password. (If you’re using Teams free, sign in with that username and password.)
Pick a team and channel
A team is a collection of people, conversations, files, and tools—all in one place.
A channel is a discussion in a team, dedicated to a department, project, or topic.
Select Teams and choose a team. Pick a channel to explore Posts, Files, and
other tabs.
Start a conversation
With the whole team... Select Teams , pick a team and channel, write your message, and click Send
.
With a person or group... Click New chat , type the name of the person or group in the To field, write your message, and click Send
.
Start an impromptu meeting
Click Meet now under the area where you type a message to start a meeting in a channel. (If you click Reply, then Meet now
, the meeting is based on that conversation.) Enter a name for the meeting, then start inviting people.
Make video and audio calls
Click Video call or Audio call
to call someone from a chat. To dial a number, click Calls
on the left and enter a phone number. View your call history and voicemail in the same area.
@mention someone
To get someone’s attention, type @, then their name (or pick them from the list that appears). Type @team to message everyone in a team or @channel to notify everyone who favorited that channel.
Reply to a post
Channel posts are organized by date and then threaded. Find the thread you want to reply to, then click Reply. Add your thoughts and click Send .
Add an emoji, meme, or GIF
Click Sticker under the box where you type your message, then pick a meme or sticker from one of the categories. There are also buttons for adding an emoji or GIF.
Stay on top of things
Click Activity on the left. The Feed shows you all your notifications and everything that's happened lately in the channels you follow. To set up notifications for a channel, choose ... next to the channel name, then Channel notifications.
Share a file
Click Attach under the box where you type messages, select the file location and then the file you want. Depending on the location of the file, you’ll get options for uploading a copy, sharing a link, or other ways to share.
Add a tab in a channel
Click by the tabs at the top of the channel, click the app you want, and then follow the prompts. Use Search if you don’t see the app you want.
Work with files
Click Files on the left to see all files shared across all of your teams.
Click Files at the top of a channel to see all files shared in that channel.
Click More options ... next to a file to see what you can do with it. In a channel, you can instantly turn a file into a tab at the top!
Search for stuff
Type a phrase in the command box at the top of the app and press Enter. Then select the Messages, People, or Files tab. Select an item or use the filters to refine your results.
Add apps
Click Apps on the left. Here, you can select apps you want to use in Teams,
choose the appropriate settings, and Add.
Get help in Teams
Click Help on the left, then choose Topics, Training, or What’s new. In help, browse the tabs or search for a topic you’re interested in.
Next steps with Microsoft Teams
See what’s new in Office
Explore the new and improved features in Microsoft Teams and the other Office
apps. Visit https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=871117 for more
information.
Get free training, tutorials, and videos for Microsoft Teams
Ready to dig deeper into the capabilities that Microsoft Teams has to offer?
Visit https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2008318 to explore our free
training options.
Send us your feedback
Love Microsoft Teams? Got an idea for improvement to share with us? On the left side of the app, click Help > Give feedback. Thank you!