Introduction

Microsoft Teams has released a new way to collaborate with users by creating Shared Channels. Shared channels in Microsoft Teams create collaboration spaces where you can invite people who are not in the team.

You might want to use a shared channel if you want to collaborate with a group of people who are all members of different teams. For example, people from multiple agencies who all work on different aspects of the same project or product could use a shared channel to collaborate without the need to create a new team.

General Information about Shared Channels

When creating a new shared channel, the other This allows for the other channels inside the team to remain hidden from the shared users.
Only members of shared channels can see and participate in shared channels that they are added to.
Other members of the team to which the shared channel is connected won't see the channel.
Only team owners can create a shared channel. Team members and guests can't create them.
Team owners can see the names of all shared channels in their team and can also delete any shared channel in the team. Team owners can't see the files in a shared channel or the conversations and member list of a shared channel unless they are members of that shared channel.
Team members can only see shared channels that they've been added to.
A shared channel owner can't be removed through the Teams client if they are the last owner of one or more shared channels.
When a shared channel is created, it's linked to the parent team and can't be moved to a different team.

Shared channels can't be converted to standard channels and vice versa.

Differences between Types of Channels

Below is a chart that explains the different features available for the various channel types. Use this to consider if a shared channel or perhaps a private channel would better suit your needs.

Additionally, there are certain limitations to channels. Below is a chart that explains these:

How to Create and Invite users to a Shared Channel

Creating a Shared Channel

Go to the team you want to create the shared channel for
1. Select More options > Add channel.
Enter a name and description for your channel.
Under Privacy, select the down arrow on the right
1. Then choose Shared - People you choose from your org or other orgs have access.
2. Then select Create.

The default setting is Share this channel with everyone on the team.

Type the names of the people in your org you want to add to the channel and select from the list. To add people outside your org, type their email addresses and select from the list. Then select Share.
To change a Member to an Owner, select the down arrow to the right of Member
1. Choose Owner
2. Select Done
The new channel will show up in Teams with the below icon next to it.

Sharing a Channel with a Team

One benefit of using a Shared Channel is that you can invite an entire Team. When the members of that team changes, so do the members of the shared channel.

There are 2 ways to share a channel with a team:

Share a team that you are an owner of
Share to a team that you do not have owner rights

Share to a team that you are an owner of:

Go to the channel you want to share
1. Select More options > Share channel > With a team you own.
Type the name of the team, and select it from the list. Then, select Done.

When you share a channel with a team, they get a notification and can access the channel right away.

Share a team you do not own:

It is possible to invite a team for which you were not assigned as an owner via a 3 step process. This process requires the shared team owner to send a request via Teams to the owner. The owner will receive the request and approve. Once approved, the owner will select the team they want to have access to the shared channel.

Part 1: Send the invite

Go to the channel you want to share
1. Select More options > Share channel > With a team.
To share with a team inside your org, type the name of the team owner, (To share with a team outside your org, type the email of the team owner)
1. Select from the list.
2. Select Send invite.

Part 2: Owner Approves Invitation

The owner of the team will need to accept the invitation to the shared channel.

Go to your Activity Feed
Select the shared channel invite.
Select Accept or Decline.
If you accept it, then type the name of the team you’d like to add to the channel
1. Select it from the list.
2. Select Done.

The invitation will expire in 14 days.

Part 3: Shared Channel Owner approves team

If you're a shared channel owner, you can approve or deny teams for shared channels.

Go to your activity feed
1. Select the accepted invite notification.
Select Approve or Deny.

You'll have 14 days to approve a team.

Once this is complete, it will the team will show up under the Members tab > Teams

Managing Shared Channel

Go to the shared channel you own, and select More options > Manage channel.
- From Manage Channel, you can:
  - Select a Role for each person. You can only change a Member to an Owner if they’re in your org.
  - View the number of Members in a team. Select the number to the right of the team to view the members.
  - Remove members or remove teams.

Page Contents

1 Introduction
2 General Information about Shared Channels
3 Differences between Types of Channels
4 How to Create and Invite users to a Shared Channel
5 Managing Shared Channel

FCDC User KB

Microsoft Teams | Shared Channels