Microsoft 365 Teams Frequently Asked Questions

What is Microsoft Teams and why would I use it?

Microsoft Teams is a messaging app for teams where all conversations, meetings, files, and notes can be accessed by everyone, all in one place. It’s a place for collaboration and work to happen in the open. Microsoft Team’s interface is reminiscent of social media chat clients, like Facebook or Google Hangouts.

How do I start a new chat in Teams?

To start a one-on-one chat (or a group chat) select the Chat icon on the left column of Teams, right under the Activity icon. Then, select New chat at the top of your chat list: Starting a chat in Teams.

Where can I get information on how to use Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft provides extensive on-demand training videos on their website: Microsoft Teams video training.

What is a team?

Teams are collections of people, content, and tools that center around different projects and jobs within an organization. In Microsoft Teams, team members can have conversations and share files, notes, and more.  You can read more about teams in Microsoft's documentation found at Overview of teams and channels in Microsoft Teams.

What is a channel?

Channels are dedicated sections within a team to keep conversations organized by specific topics, projects, disciplines--whatever works for your team!  You can read more about teams in Microsoft's documentation found at Overview of teams and channels in Microsoft Teams.

What’s the difference between team channels and private chats?

Team channels are places where everyone on the team can have open conversations. Private chats are only visible to those people in the chat.

What’s the difference between public and private teams?

You can choose to set the privacy setting for your team as either "public" or "private". In public teams, any user in the organization can join. With private teams, only team owners can add people to the teams.

How do I know which conversations include me?

If you’re worried about knowing when someone in a conversation needs your attention, just keep an eye on your Activity feed. There, you’ll get a notification whenever someone:

• @mentions you (you’ll also see your @mentions in the conversation, where you can spot them easily).
• @mentions teams and channels you belong to.
• Replies to conversations you’re part of.
• Replies to your replies

Where do files get stored in Teams?

Files shared in private chats are stored in the OneDrive belonging to the user who shared the file. Files uploaded to the Teams channels are stored in the corresponding Group’s SharePoint instance. When a Team is deleted, users will have access to the content they shared in private chat (via OneDrive), but not the channel content.

How can I manage and share files with my team?

You can use teams to upload files, edit them collaboratively and share them with each other internally at UNM. This document show you how to: Sharing files in Microsoft Teams.