Get started with Microsoft Teams for chat, video meetings and shared files. This guide covers installing Teams, the difference between chats, teams and channels, holding and joining meetings (including with people outside your business), and the admin settings a small business usually needs.
Before you start
- Check your plan includes Teams. Microsoft now also sells Business plans without Teams (shown as "no Teams" on the licence), with Teams available as a separate add-on. If Teams says you don't have a licence, ask us to check your subscription.
- Your Microsoft 365 email address and password.
Install Teams
- Windows and Mac: download Teams from Microsoft's Teams download page and sign in with your work address. On Business Standard and Premium it's also installed with the other Microsoft 365 apps.
- iPhone and Android: install Microsoft Teams from the App Store or Google Play.
- Browser: go to teams.microsoft.com. Handy on a shared computer, though calls work best in the app.
Chats, teams and channels
| What it's for | Who sees it | |
|---|---|---|
| Chat | Quick one-to-one or small group conversations, like instant messaging | Only the people in the chat |
| Team | A group of people working together, such as "Office" or "Sales". Each team gets a shared calendar, file storage (SharePoint) and a shared mailbox | Team members |
| Channel | A topic inside a team, such as "General", "Clients" or "Marketing". Each channel has posts, files and optional tabs | Team members (or a subset, for private and shared channels) |
Create a team
- Select Teams on the left, then + (or Join or create a team) → Create team.
- Give it a name and description, and choose Private (only people you add) or Public (anyone in your business can join).
- Add members by name. Team owners can add and remove people and channels later.
Creating a team also creates a Microsoft 365 group. See Groups vs distribution lists vs shared mailboxes for how these fit together.
Meetings
- Schedule a meeting: in Teams, select Calendar → New meeting; or in Outlook, create an event and turn on Teams meeting. Everyone invited gets a join link.
- Meet now: select Calendar → Meet now (or Meet) to start an instant meeting and share the link.
- People outside your business can join from the link in their invitation using the Teams app or a web browser, without a Microsoft 365 account. Depending on your settings they may wait in the lobby until someone admits them.
- During the meeting: use Share to present your screen or a window, More for background effects and live captions, and Record if your organisation allows recording. Recordings are saved to the organiser's OneDrive (or the channel's SharePoint for channel meetings).
Files in Teams
Files shared in a channel are stored in that team's SharePoint site, and files shared in a chat are stored in the sender's OneDrive. Open the Files tab in a channel to see, upload and co-edit documents, and select Open in SharePoint or Sync for more options. See OneDrive and SharePoint basics.
Admins: settings worth checking
Open the Teams admin centre at admin.teams.microsoft.com (Global Administrator or Teams Administrator role needed).
- External access (Users → External access): whether your staff can chat and call with people at other organisations that use Teams, and whether to allow or block specific domains.
- Guest access (Users → Guest access): whether people outside your business can be added to your teams as guests with access to channels and files.
- Meeting policies (Meetings → Meeting policies): recording, transcription, who can bypass the lobby and who can present.
- Who can create teams: by default, everyone can. Smaller businesses often leave this as it is; larger ones restrict creation to keep things tidy.
Troubleshooting
"You're missing out! Ask your admin to enable Microsoft Teams"
Your account doesn't have a Teams licence. An administrator can check under Users → Active users → your name → Licenses and apps, making sure a plan that includes Teams is assigned and Microsoft Teams is ticked in the apps list. Licence changes can take a few hours to reach Teams.
No sound, or the camera doesn't work
Select your profile picture or ... → Settings → Devices (or Devices in the meeting's More menu) and choose the right speaker, microphone and camera. On a Mac, also allow Teams under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera, Microphone and Screen Recording.
Teams is slow, stuck signing in or shows old information
Fully quit Teams (right-click its icon by the clock → Quit), then reopen it. If that doesn't help, sign out and back in. As a last resort on Windows, reset the app under Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Microsoft Teams → Advanced options → Reset.
I can't message someone at another company
External access may be turned off or limited to certain domains on your side or theirs. Ask both administrators to check the external access settings above.
Last reviewed: October 2026
