Teams: chat and meetings

Part A: Open Teams and sign in

1. Click the Start button and type Teams

   Click the Windows logo at the bottom of the screen, then type Teams. Look for Microsoft Teams with a purple icon showing a white T and two people.

   Tip If you see Microsoft Teams (work or school) and Microsoft Teams (personal), pick work or school. The personal one will not show your coworkers.

2. Click to open it

   Click Microsoft Teams once. The first time, it may take a minute to load.

3. Sign in with your work account

   If your work email is already listed, click it. Otherwise type your work email, click Next, type your password and click Sign in. Approve on your phone in Microsoft Authenticator if asked.

4. Get to know the left side

   Down the left edge you will see icons: Activity (a bell, for notifications), Chat (a speech bubble, for messages), Teams (groups of coworkers and their channels), and Calendar (your meetings).

Part B: Send a chat message

1. Click Chat

   Click the Chat icon (speech bubble) on the left.

2. Start a new chat

   Click the New chat button (a square with a pencil) at the top. In the To box, start typing a coworker's name and click their name when it appears.

3. Type and send

   Click in the Type a message box at the bottom, type your message and press Enter (or click the paper-airplane Send button).

   Tip To go to a new line without sending, hold Shift and press Enter.

4. Read replies

   Your recent chats are listed on the left side of the Chat screen. New messages are shown in bold. Click a chat to read it.

Part C: Teams and channels

1. Click Teams on the left

   Click the Teams icon. You will see the teams you belong to (for example your department).

2. Open a channel

   Click a team name to expand it, then click a channel underneath it (every team has a General channel). A channel is a shared conversation that everyone in the team can read.

3. Post in a channel

   Click Start a post at the bottom, type your message and click Post. To reply to someone else's post, click Reply under it.

4. Find shared files

   At the top of a channel, click the Files tab to see documents the team has shared.

Part D: Join a meeting

1. Click Calendar

   Click the Calendar icon on the left. Your meetings for the week are shown.

2. Click Join

   Find the meeting and click its Join button. It appears a few minutes before the start time. You can also click Join in the meeting invitation email in Outlook.

3. Check your camera and microphone

   A preview screen appears. Use the switches to turn your camera and microphone on or off. Then click Join now.

4. During the meeting

   The buttons across the top let you Mute or unmute, turn your camera on or off, Raise your hand, open the meeting Chat, and Share your screen.

   Tip Stay muted when you are not talking. It keeps background noise out of the meeting.

5. Leave the meeting

   Click the red Leave button in the top-right corner.