Microsoft Teams: Quick Start User Guide

Banner featuring the new Microsoft Teams logo with the letter T and two person silhouettes in purple, alongside a 'NEW' label in teal, against a background of interconnected network nodes in grey.

Introduction

Welcome to the new Microsoft Teams app, your central hub for teamwork in Microsoft 365, now optimized for macOS and other platforms. The new Teams app is faster, simpler, and more adaptable, enabling seamless communication and collaboration with your colleagues. Whether you're using a Mac or Windows machine, Teams makes it easy to chat, call, meet, or share files.

This knowledge base article provides a guide to using the new Microsoft Teams app and its enhanced features, including Activity, Chat, Teams, Calendar, Calls, OneDrive, Meet, Settings, Profile, and Help sections. You'll also find links to additional resources and support to help you make the most of Teams on macOS and beyond.

Teams interface header with (9) ellipses for settings, and (10) user profile picture and status indicator.

Teams interface showing icons labeled: (1) Activity, (2) Chat, (3) Teams, (4) Calendar, (5) Calls, (6) OneDrive, (7) Meet, and (8) Apps.

QUICK START GUIDE

  1. ACTIVITY: The Activity tab consolidates and displays all your notifications, including mentions, replies, and other important updates, in one place.
  2. CHAT: The Chat tab enables direct messaging and group conversations, facilitating private and collaborative communication among team members.
  3. TEAMS: Create teams and channels to gather people together in focused spaces with conversations and files. This tab brings up a list of all the teams you are a part of. 
  4. CALENDAR: The Calendar tab organizes and displays your meetings and appointments, integrating seamlessly with your Outlook calendar.
  5. CALLS: The Calls tab allows you to make and receive audio and video calls, offering features like voicemail and call history.
  6. ONEDRIVE: Files shared in chats, meetings, or channels are consolidated under this tab. OneDrive files will appear in a list view and can be sorted by type, name,  date, or location. 
  7. MEET: The Meet tab in facilitates the scheduling and joining of virtual meetings directly from the platform.
  8. APPS: The Apps tab in Microsoft Teams allows you to browse, add, and manage third-party apps and services to enhance your team's productivity and collaboration.
  9. SETTINGS: The Settings tab in Microsoft Teams allows you to customize your experience by adjusting preferences, notifications, and account information. It provides control over various aspects of the application to suit your needs. Essentially, it allows you to tailor Teams to better fit your workflow and personal preferences.
  10. PROFILE: Selecting your profile picture shows you a menu where you can customize your profile, find saved messages, or set your status and a message people can see when they try to reach you. 

 

 

 

Quick Links to Additional Teams KB Articles 

 

Activity

  1. Filtering Activity
  2. Notification Settings
  3. Responding to a Chat

 

Chat

  1. Managing Chats
  2. Pin Important Chats
  3. Add People to an Existing Chat
  4. Open Chat in New Window

 

Teams and Channels

  1. View and Join Teams
  2. Organize and Collaborate in Teams
  3. Manage Channel Settings and Notifications

 

Calendar

  1. Calendar Filters
  2. Create an Event or Meeting
  3. Join Meetings
  4. Respond to Meeting Invitation
  5. Scheduling Assistant

 

Calls

  1. View Call History
  2. Manage Voicemail
  3. Access and Manage Contacts
  4. Make Calls

 

OneDrive

  1. Access OneDrive
  2. Upload Files
  3. Share Files
  4. Collaborate
  5. Search for Files

 

Meet

  1. Schedule Meetings
  2. Join Meetings
  3. Meeting Details
  4. Invite Participants
  5. Instant Meetings

 

Settings

  1. General Settings
  2. Privacy Settings
  3. Appearance and Accessibility
  4. Files and Links Settings
  5. Calls Settings
  6. Captions and Transcripts
  7. Device Settings

 

Profile

  1. Set Your Status, Work Location, and Status Messages
  2. Profile Settings and Details

 

Help

  1. Navigate the Help Section

 

Additional Links

What's new in the new Teams app

                  What has changed throughout each version update

Switch to the new Microsoft Teams

                  High level step by step for chat, teams, etc

Live and on demand user training

                  More in depth training videos hosted by Microsoft Employees

Get started with Microsoft Teams

                  Get started micro videos for chat, teams, etc

 

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Related Articles (11)

This is a training guide that covers the Activity section in Teams. The Activity section is a feed that shows you a summary of everything that has happened in the channels you follow, including new messages, replies, and reactions. You can filter your activity feed to show specific types of notifications and even set your status to "Do not disturb" to temporarily pause notifications. To access the Activity section, click on the Activity icon in the left-hand navigation menu.
This is a training guide that covers the Calendar section in Microsoft Teams. The Calendar section allows you to view and manage your schedule, schedule and join meetings directly within the Teams interface. You can view your calendar by day, work week, or week, see all your scheduled events and meetings, create new events and meetings, invite attendees, and set reminders. To access the Calendar section, click on the Calendar icon in the left-hand navigation menu.
This is a training guide that covers the Calls section in Microsoft Teams. The Calls section allows you to make and receive audio and video calls directly within the Teams interface. You can view your call history, manage your voicemail, and access your contacts and speed dial. You can also make calls to other Teams users, as well as to external phone numbers if your organization has enabled this feature. To access the Calls section, click on the Calls icon in the left-hand navigation menu.
This is a training guide that covers the Chat section in Teams. The Chat section allows you to send and receive instant messages with other members of your organization. You can view your recent conversations, start new chats, search for specific messages, send messages to individuals or groups, and share files. To access the Chat section, click on the Chat icon in the left-hand navigation menu.
This is a training guide that explores the Help section in Teams. It teaches you how to access support, find answers, and utilize troubleshooting tools. You'll learn to use the search feature to find help articles, contact support for personalized assistance, and navigate through various resources for self-help. The course also highlights how to provide feedback on Teams features and participate in user communities to share insights and learn from others.
This is a training guide that covers the Meet section in Teams. It allows you to schedule, join, and manage meetings. You can schedule a new meeting, view upcoming meetings, and join a meeting directly from the Meet section. You can also view the details of a meeting, invite participants, and start an instant meeting.
This is a training guide that covers OneDrive in Microsoft Teams. It allows you to access and manage your OneDrive files within Teams. You can view, upload, share, and collaborate on files with colleagues in real-time. You can organize files into folders, search for files, manage file versions, and sync files to your local device for offline access.
is a training guide focusing on the Profile section in Teams. It shows you how to customize your profile, manage your status, and adjust settings. This article also covers how to access and personalize notifications and language settings, ensuring your Teams experience is tailored to your preferences.
This article will cover scheduling messages in Microsoft Teams.
This is a training guide that covers the Settings section in Teams that guides Windows users through customizing their Teams experience. It covers notification management, privacy settings, account personalization, and Office integration. This article aims to enhance productivity and collaboration by teaching users to tailor Teams settings to their needs.
This is a training guide that covers the Teams section in Microsoft Teams. The Teams section allows you to access and manage your teams and channels. You can view and join teams, create new teams, and manage team settings. Within each team, you can access and organize channels, which are dedicated spaces for conversations, files, and apps related to specific topics or projects. To access the Teams section, click on the Teams icon in the left-hand navigation menu.