If you have sensitive information that you cannot share with all the people in your organization, you can create a Private Team in Microsoft Teams. It will help you to share all the confidential data with the people you want to share. You do not need to install any app or opt for third-party service, and you can do it in the free version of Microsoft Teams as well.
Different types of Teams in Microsoft Teams
There are three privacy types in Microsoft Teams, and they are as follows-
- Private: Only team owners can add a new member. If you are the only owner of your team, you can add new members to the team. Other people won’t get the option to send an invitation to anybody. Also, people in your organization won’t get added automatically.
- Public: All your members can add new members, and anyone in your organization can join your team. There are almost no restrictions for the members of a “Public” team. However, you need to add all the new members one by one manually.
- Org-wide: This team is for them who want to add all the people in an organization to be added automatically. For example, you need to create five teams for different purposes, and you want to add all the people in your organization in all those teams. At such a moment, you can create an “Org-wide” team to add all the people at once.
By default, Microsoft Teams creates an Org-wide team unless you change the privacy settings manually. However, let’s assume that you have some data that you should not share with all the people in your organization, but you need to send that to all the admins. Also, you do not want to let others know about your team. At such a moment, you may need to follow these steps to get your job done.
How to create a Private Team in Microsoft Teams
To create a private team in Microsoft Teams, follow these steps-
- Open Microsoft Teams website or app
- Click the Join or create a team button
- Click on Create team option
- Select the source of your team
- Choose Private from the list
- Name your team and write a description
- Click the Create button.
Now, let’s check all these steps to know more about the guide.
As mentioned, you can create a private team from the web version as well as the app of Microsoft Teams. Either way, open Microsoft Teams site or app and make sure you are signed in to your account. After that, you should find an option called Join or create a team on your bottom-left corner. Click on it to start the process.
Then, you need to click the Create team button that you should see on your screen. After that, it shows two options, and they are-
- Build a team from scratch
- Create from an existing Office 365 group or team
As far as confidentiality is concerned, in this case, you should choose the first option that says, Build a team from scratch.
Then, you should see the privacy type of your team. You need to choose Private from the list.
Now, you must give your team a name and write down a small description so that you and team members can know the motto behind the team. At last, click the Create button.
As your team is already created, you can start sending invitations to your members.
How to change Team Privacy in Microsoft Teams
Let’s assume that you already have a team, and you do not want to create another team for the same purpose, and you only need to change the privacy settings. In that case, you need to follow these steps-
- Click the three-dotted button next to the team name
- Select Edit team option
- Expand the Privacy drop-down list and change it
To get started, you need to open the Microsoft Teams website or app and select a team first. Now, click the three-dotted button associated with the team and select the Edit team option.
On the popup window, you need to expand the Privacy drop-down menu and select a different privacy type.
At last, don’t forget to save your change.
That’s it! It is as simple as said.