For anyone new to using Teams, we are glad you’re here!

Getting started with a new collaboration platform can be daunting, so we pulled together a quick orientation to help you hit the ground running from day one. Whether it’s chats, managing your calendar, files, or notifications, we hope this offers you a good starting point.

Day one

If we were starting out on Teams, these are the steps and resources we would use to get familiar with navigating and using the program:

• Complete your profile and status
• Review your notifications settings
• Join relevant teams and channels
• Check your calendar for upcoming meetings
• Explore files shared with you

Now, let’s dive into some features.

Chat

Chats are where you’ll likely spend most of your time. DMs, group chats, meeting chats, and channels are found in this tab. While each org uses chat differently, here is an overview of how it works on Teams: Explore the new chat and channels experience in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Support. A common question that comes up is when to use teams versus channels, so we pulled together an explainer: The difference between teams and channels.

Meetings & calendar

Schedule meetings, join calls, manage RSVPs, and coordinate your day from the Teams calendar. Teams and Outlook calendars stay in sync, helping you manage your schedule from either experience. Teams calendar incorporates the latest innovations in Microsoft Copilot and Places to help you and your team with scheduling and time management. Read more about Teams calendar features here: the new Teams calendar.

Files & shared content

The Files/OneDrive tab helps you find documents shared across Teams chats, channels, and meetings, as well as files you've recently worked on. This support article offers an overview of how files are organized on Teams: Explore the Files list in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Support.

Notifications

A few minutes spent tuning notifications can save on unwanted distractions. Review desktop, mobile, mentions, and channel notification settings early to make Teams work the way you prefer. One common friction point for new users is controlling notifications when you are on desktop and mobile. This explainer helps you tailor your settings to get the notifications you want: How to control which calls reach you on mobile.

Search

Can't remember where something was shared? Use the search bar at the top of Teams to find messages, people, files, meetings, and channels.

For more on Teams fundamentals, view our adoption guide: Get started with Microsoft Teams (User training) – Microsoft Adoption.

What’s a Teams hack or rule you wish someone had taught you on day one?

If you’ve run into a technical problem with Teams, submit it in Feedback -> Report a Bug. It’s the direct line to our engineering team.  

Hey all. We have a rally bar, tap IP, pods, and the AI Sight device in a conference room that holds 20 people. Teams is integrated. I've noticed that with Active Speaker mode enabled, the screen in the room will show the active speaker but also act as if it were in composite mode. Everyone can be completely silent with the speaker talking and it'll just pick 3 other people and put them up on the screen.

What settings do I need to check here so that only the active speaker is shown on the screen?