{"id":28123,"date":"2023-10-23T07:06:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T11:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/?p=28123"},"modified":"2025-05-23T11:00:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T15:00:51","slug":"a-broader-view-of-microsoft-teams-private-and-shared-channels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/blog\/a-broader-view-of-microsoft-teams-private-and-shared-channels\/","title":{"rendered":"A Broader View of Microsoft Teams Private and Shared Channels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microsoft<\/span> Teams continues to evolve<\/span> and mature<\/span>, and the <\/span>types <\/span>of channels <\/span>one can use <\/span>now include<\/span> both p<\/span>rivate and<\/span> shared channels.<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
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Technical experts first started posting details of private channels<\/a> as soon as it debuted during Microsoft Ignite 2019 and was followed two years later by the announcement of shared channels during Microsoft Ignite 2021. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Technical details matter, but I\u2019d like to give a different perspective focusing on the business and technical implications of both private channels and shared channels.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After a quick Q&A, I\u2019ll dive into a practical, high-level discussion about the pros and cons of private channels and shared channels, followed by advice about using these types of channels within one of the most exciting collaboration tools for business, Microsoft Teams.<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Quick<\/span> Private and Shared Channel<\/span> Q&A<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Q: What is the private channels feature?<\/h3>\n

A:<\/strong> The private channels feature allows special permissions at the channel level in <\/span><\/span>Microsoft Teams<\/span><\/span><\/a>, limiting who can see certain channel conversations and content. Members of a private channel must be members of the larger team that <\/span>contains<\/span> it.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Q: What is the shared channels feature?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

A:<\/strong> The s<\/span>hared<\/span> channels feature allows <\/span>for collaboration with <\/span>either 1) <\/span>people outside your organization<\/span>, or 2) people within your organization <\/span><\/span>without<\/span><\/span> giving access to the rest of the team channels. In other words, <\/span>m<\/span>embers of a s<\/span>hared<\/span> channel <\/span>don\u2019t<\/span> have to be members of <\/span>the larger team that <\/span>contains<\/span> it.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Q: How can I activate private <\/span>or shared channels <\/span>in my tenant?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

A:<\/strong> Microsoft enabled the power to activate private <\/span>and shared channels <\/span>by default when it released the<\/span>se<\/span> feature<\/span>s<\/span>. To adjust the settings, go to the Teams admin center (Teams admin center > Teams policies > <\/span>Select a policy<\/span>). You can also create a new Teams policy<\/span> (or policies)<\/span> to enable private channels <\/span>and shared channels <\/span>for select users<\/span> while restricting th<\/span>ese features for the rest of the organization<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Microsoft\"Microsoft<\/p>\n

Note the last two buttons on the Teams policy: \u201cInvite external users to shared channels\u201d and \u201cJoin external shared channels.\u201d This means that an organization can allow\/disallow external users to the shared channels or for the organization\u2019s users to access shared channels in other tenants that they were invited to.<\/strong> For both of these situations, there are some extra settings that must be configured in their Azure Entra ID \u201cexternal sharing policies\u201d (also known as B2B direct connect).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also note if someone shares the channel with an external member or team, and then later the \u201cexternal sharing policies\u201d are then turned off, the members will still have access to the channels shared with them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Q: How can I create a private channel or s<\/span>hared channel <\/span>within a team?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

A:<\/strong> Once you activate the private or s<\/span>hared c<\/span>hannels in your tenant, users authorized to create <\/span>these c<\/span>hannels can do so. <\/span><\/span>Note: <\/span>It\u2019s<\/span> currently not possible to change <\/span>existing<\/span> standard channels <\/span>into private <\/span>or<\/span> shared c<\/span>hannels<\/span> (or vice versa)<\/span>.<\/span> O<\/span>nce a channel is created, you <\/span>can\u2019t<\/span> convert <\/span>it <\/span>to another type<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Microsoft<\/p>\n

Q: What do I do after <\/span>I\u2019ve<\/span> created the p<\/span>rivate<\/span> channel?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Note that team owners may <\/span>see<\/span><\/i><\/b> the channel, but they are only able to <\/span>access<\/span><\/i><\/b> the channel if they are a channel owner or a channel member.<\/span><\/p>\n

Q: What are the use cases for the private channels feature?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

A:<\/strong> The private channels feature has two primary use cases:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. The first use case is to reduce the number of teams created to protect sensitive information \u2013 before private channels, users had to create a separate team entirely to protect this type of information.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The second use case is reducing information overload for those not interested in a particular private channel\u2019s content.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Q: Why is the private channels feature important?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

    A:<\/strong> More than 25,000 Microsoft Teams UserVoice<\/a> users demanded it. Many people converting to Teams (or wanting to convert to Teams) demanded the feature as a foundational requirement for their organizations. The private channels feature is also needed to support the use cases noted above.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Q: What do I do after <\/span>I\u2019ve<\/span> created the shared channel?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

    A:<\/strong> Once you create the shared channel, you can automatically add existing team members to it, or leave these members off. In other words, a shared channel in a team doesn\u2019t even have to allow any of the existing team members to be a member of the shared channel (or you can select a subset of those team members).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    From here, the shared channel owner can share with:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> Once you create the private channel has been created, you should add channel owners and channel members. These must be members of the team that they are contained in, but note that the team owner does <\/span>not<\/span><\/i><\/b> have to be the channel owner. As a best practice<\/a>, we recommend at least two people are assigned the channel owner role. All channel owners, channel members, and the team owners will see the channel. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Your organization may want to limit the ability<\/span><\/a> for most of the <\/span>organization<\/span> to create these types of <\/span>channels<\/span> so they are not misused <\/span>or<\/span> over-used<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n