Teach Yourself VISUALLY™ Microsoft Teams™

Communicating, collaborating, and meeting in Microsoft Teams represents a paradigm shift from having to bounce between multiple apps to get work done and attaching files that quickly become outdated to email threads that find themselves almost unreadably ugly and complex as they branch off into side conversations. Teams is a new way to do work. Getting started in Teams is easy. Just make sure to have your work or school account email address and password. Some actions in this chapter may require an IT admin to perform, so don’t sweat it if you can’t do it yourself.

Log into Teams

Install the Desktop App

Modify Your Personal Settings

Switch Between Dark Mode and Light Mode

Add or Update Your Profile Photo

Access and Manage Your Saved Messages

Access a List of Keyboard Shortcuts

Set Up and Manage Your Video and Audio Devices

View a Person’s Contact Card

View the Organization Chart

Switch Between Organizations as a Guest

Leave an Organization as a Guest

Log Out of Teams

Log into Teams

Almost anything you want to do in Teams you can do through the browser version of Teams (known as the web app). There are some upsides to using the web app: It’s quicker and uses less memory on your computer; you can have multiple Teams, files, and guest accounts open at once; and you can log into it from pretty much any computer, which is helpful when you’re on the go. That said, there are key features you will not get in the web app, especially during online meetings. The desktop app is generally a better, more full experience. However, when you need it, the web app is there for you.

The Teams desktop app provides the richest experience of all the options when it comes to using Teams. You’ll get all the features in your online meetings, native notifications in Windows and macOS, as well as some other key benefits. That said, and to be candid, the Teams desktop app can be a resource hog. If you find that your computer is overheating or slowing down, try closing the Teams app and using the web app instead. Otherwise, enjoy everything that comes with the desktop app. If you do not have the app installed, see the next section, “Install the Desktop App.”

One of the best aspects of Teams is the ability to hop between the desktop and mobile version with ease. Most of the features you use regularly on the desktop are available in some way on your favorite iOS, iPadOS, and Android devices. Bring chat, files, teams, meetings, and more on the go with the full-featured mobile app. In this section, we are using iOS as the example, but the setup should be similar on iPadOS and Android.

Install the Desktop App

You will get the most out of Teams by using the desktop app. If you do not already have Teams installed on your computer, you can download a native app for either Windows or macOS. Keep in mind that most work and school devices will likely already have Teams installed, so check the app listing on your computer before downloading and installing. Installing also may require an admin to approve, so be prepared to reach out to your IT team if necessary. There are a few ways to do this; this option will always work.

Modify Your Personal Settings

Teams offers a ton of ways to customize your experience, including dark mode, notification preferences, device settings, privacy settings, read receipts, who can contact you even when you are in do not disturb mode, quiet hours, and more.

Switch Between Dark Mode and Light Mode

With dark mode being as popular as it is, Teams naturally offers a more muted and less-offensive-to-the-eye-during-later-hours view of the app. You can also enable high-contrast mode if you require that for better visibility. Toggle between these modes as the need suits you.

Add or Update Your Profile Photo

Your profile photo is an opportunity to represent yourself to all your colleagues. Without it, you just show up as two letters, which doesn’t give anybody much information. And frankly, your colleagues have the right to know who they’re working with, so you should not go without a profile photo ever.

When uploading a photo, make sure it’s a clear headshot of you, cropped tightly, lit well, and where your face stands out from the background. Never use a photo of you with someone else (including a spouse or child), your pet, or a favorite character. Again, your colleagues deserve to know who they are working with; your profile photo is actually serious business.

Access and Manage Your Saved Messages

If you are a fan of flagging emails, then you will love saving messages in Teams. Saved messages—either in private chat or in a channel conversation—are kept in a central spot for you so that you can view and manage them later at your convenience.

Access a List of Keyboard Shortcuts

Plenty of people live on keyboard shortcuts, such as Ctrl + C and ⌘   + V. Teams has a slew of keyboard shortcuts, some of which align with the standard ones in Windows and macOS and others that are specific to Teams itself.

Set Up and Manage Your Video and Audio Devices

Before you start taking part in meetings for the first time—or any time you plan to use a new audio or video device—you should make sure your devices are set up properly. It is an easy step to avoid anxiety or embarrassment the first time you hop into a meeting and find something is not working properly. As with most things, a little time spent early on can save time and frustration later.

View a Person’s Contact Card

Every person in Teams has a list of contact information that is easily accessible to you so you can find their job title, office location, phone number, and more personal details.

View the Organization Chart

Teams offers one of the best visual organization charts in Microsoft 365, but it is not the most obvious feature to find. Presuming your system has been set up so that everyone has a manager listed in their contact card, the org chart should automatically populate who reports to whom so that you can get a clear overview of the hierarchy of your organization.

Switch Between Organizations as a Guest

A major feature benefit of Teams is the ability to be a guest in someone else’s Teams system. Guests can take part in private chats and Teams in that system. However, you do have to switch between your guest accounts to check in on those orgs from time to time.

You will not be a guest in another system unless you have explicitly been invited by someone to a Team and you have accepted that invitation. After that, you can be included in conversations with people who are in any Team you are in, and other Team owners can add you to their Team as a guest.

Leave an Organization as a Guest

Once you are done working as a guest in another organization’s Team, you will likely want to remove that organization from your accounts and orgs list. This is a complex process for a simple goal, and Microsoft is working on a simplified process in the future. If these steps do not work for you, you should reach out to your IT team or do some research online for the current steps.

Log Out of Teams

Once you are done with the Teams app on the desktop (either the desktop app or in the browser), you might want to log out to end your session and keep someone else from using it. This is especially useful when you are accessing Teams on a public computer (e.g., a hotel or library). Always make sure to log out when using public devices.

Once you have finished using Teams on your mobile device, you will want to log out of it. Logging out is also useful when you are getting a new phone or tablet or letting someone else use the device. In this section, we are using iOS as the example, but the experience should be similar on iPadOS and Android.