Earlier in this blog, we introduced you to Microsoft Teams. If you were already familiar with the tool (or if you use it for work), you already know that a channel in a Team is a place where all conversations and files about a certain subject or theme are collected. All members of the Team can view this information.
If you need to discuss confidential topics with just a few members, such as budgets or reorganisations, you can create a private channel to shield this information from all other Team members. Standard channels can be accessed by all members, which means they can see all messages and files in these channels.
A personal or private channel is only accessible to Team members who were invited to use it. Team owners and members can create a private channel and add members to it. The administrator can limit the ability to create private channels.
How do you create a private channel in Teams?
- Select the Team for which you want to create a private channel.
- Click the three-dot icon (…).
- In the menu, click Add Channel.
- Fill out your channel’s name and description.
- Under Privacy, click the arrow down and select ‘Private – Accessible only to a specific group of people within the team’.
After you’ve made your private channel, you can start adding members. Please note that if you want to add a member to your private channel, they have to be a member of the Team first.
Want to know more about Teams? Check out our course “Teams: a new way of collaborating“.