- Article
- 7 minutes to read
- Applies to:
- Microsoft Teams
Private channels in Microsoft Teams create focused spaces for collaboration within your teams. Only the users on the team who are owners or members of the private channel can access the channel. Anyone, including guests, can be added as a member of a private channel as long as they are already members of the team.
You might want to use a private channel if you want to limit collaboration to those who have a need to know or if you want to facilitate communication between a group of people assigned to a specific project, without having to create an additional team to manage.
For example, a private channel is useful in these scenarios:
- A group of people in a team want a focused space to collaborate without having to create a separate team.
- A subset of people in a team wants a private channel to discuss sensitive information, such as budgets, resourcing, strategic positioning, and so on.
A lock icon indicates a private channel. Only members of private channels can see and participate in private channels that they are added to.
When a private channel is created, it's linked to the parent team and can't be moved to a different team. Additionally, private channels can't be converted to standard channels and vice versa.
Compare private channels with other types of channels.
Private channel creation
By default, any team owner or team member can create a private channel. Guests can't create them. The ability to create private channels can be managed at the team level and at the organization level. Use policies to control which users in your organization are allowed to create private channels. Once you've set the policies, team owners can turn off or turn on the ability for members to create private channels in the Settings tab for a team.
The person who creates a private channel is the private channel owner and only the private channel owner can directly add or remove people from it. A private channel owner can add any team member to a private channel they created, including guests. Members of a private channel have a secure conversation space, and when newmembers are added, they can see all conversations (even old conversations) in that private channel.
Team owners can see the names of all private channels in their team and can also delete any private channel in the team. (A deleted private channel can be restored within 30 days after it's deleted). Team owners can't see the files in a private channel or the conversations and member list of a private channel unless they are members of that private channel.
Team members can only see private channels that they've been added to.
Adding and removing owners and members
A private channel owner can't be removed through the Teams client if they are the last owner of one or more private channels.
If a private channel owner leaves your organization or if they are removed from the Microsoft 365 group associated with the team, a member of the private channel is automatically promoted to be the private channel owner.
If a team member leaves or is removed from a team, that user will also leave or be removed from all private channels in the team. If the user is added back to the team, they must be added back to the private channels in the team.
Channel owner settings
Each private channel has its own settings that the channel owner can manage, including the ability to add and remove members, add tabs, and @mentioning for the entire channel. These settings are independent of the parent team settings. When a private channel is created, it inherits settings from the parent team, after which its settings can be changed independently of the parent team settings.
The private channel owner can click Manage channel, and then use the Members and Settings tabs to add or remove members and edit settings.
Private channel owner and member actions
The following table outlines what actions owners, members, and guests can do in private channels.
| Action | Team owner | Team member | Team guest | Private channel owner | Private channel member | Private channel guest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create private channel | Admin controlled | Admin and team owner controlled | No | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Delete private channel | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Leave private channel | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes unless they are the last owner | Yes | Yes |
| Edit private channel | No | N/A | N/A | Yes | No | No |
| Restore deleted private channel | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Add members | No | N/A | N/A | Yes | No | No |
| Edit settings | No | N/A | N/A | Yes | No | No |
| Manage tabs and apps | No | N/A | N/A | Yes, apps must be installed for the team | Channel owner controlled | No |
Each private channel has its own SharePoint site. The separate site is to ensure access to private channel files is restricted to only members of the private channel. These sites are created with a document library by default, and can be easily enhanced to a full-featured site through the site management interface. Each site is created in the same geographic region as the site for the parent team. These lightweight sites have a custom template ID, "TEAMCHANNEL#0" or "TEAMCHANNEL#1", for easier management through PowerShell and Graph API.
Note
Only people with owner or member permissions in the channel will have access to content in the shared channel site. People in the parent team and admins won't have access unless they are also channel members.
A private channel site syncs data classification and inherits guest access permissions from the site of the parent team. Membership to the site owner and member groups are kept in sync with the membership of the private channel within Teams. Site permissions for a private channel site can't be managed independently through SharePoint.
Teams manages the lifecycle of the private channel site. If the site is deleted outside of Teams, a background job restores the site within four hours as long as the private channel is still active.
If a private channel or a team containing a private channel is restored, the sites are restored with it. If a private channel site is restored and it's beyond the 30-day soft delete window for the private channel, the site operates as a standalone site.
Note
When you create a new team, private channel, or shared channel in Microsoft Teams, a team site in SharePoint gets automatically created. To edit the site description or classification for this team site, go to the corresponding channel’s settings in Microsoft Teams.
Learn more about managing Microsoft Teams connected teams sites.
Compliance copies of private channel messages
Compliance copies of messages sent in a private channel are delivered to the mailbox of all private channel members, rather than to a group mailbox. The titles of the compliance copies are formatted to indicate which private channel they were sent from.
For more information about performing an eDiscovery search for private channel messages, see eDiscovery of private channels.
Considerations around file access in private channels
When a new OneNote notebook is created in a private channel, additional users can still get access to the notebook because the behavior is the same as sharing access to any other item in a private channel SharePoint site with a user.
If a user is granted access to a notebook in a private channel through SharePoint, removing the user from the team or private channel won't remove the user's access to the notebook.
If an existing notebook is added as a tab to a private channel, access to the private channel isn't changed and the notebook retains its existing permissions.
Private channel limitations
Currently, private channels support connectors and tabs (except Stream, Planner, and Forms). We're working on full apps support for private channels, including messaging extensions and bots.
Each team can have a maximum of 30 private channels and each private channel can have a maximum of 250 members. The 30 private channel limit is in addition to the 200 standard channel limit per team.
When you create a team from an existing team, any private channels in the existing team won't be copied over.
It is not possible to convert a private channel to another channel type.
Notifications from private channels are not included in missed activity emails.
Channel meetings can't be scheduled.
Shared channels in Microsoft Teams
Overview of teams and channels in Teams
Teams PowerShell overview
Use the Microsoft Graph API to work with Teams
Channel resource type
FAQs
What happens when you create a private channel in Teams? ›
Private channels in Microsoft Teams create focused spaces for collaboration within your teams. Only the users on the team who are owners or members of the private channel can access the channel. Anyone, including guests, can be added as a member of a private channel as long as they are already members of the team.
Can you make a channel private in Microsoft Teams? ›Enter a name and description for your channel. Under Privacy, select the down arrow on the right, and then choose Private – Specific teammates have access. Select Create to add the private channel to the team.
What is the difference between a public and private channel in Teams? ›Private teams can only be joined if the team owner adds someone to them. Public teams are visible to everyone from the teams gallery and you can join them without getting approval from the team owner.
Can guests access private channels in Teams? ›Guest users can be added to private channels as long as they are already members of the team.
What's the difference between team channels and private chats? ›Team channels are places where everyone in the team can see messages, activity and have open conversations. Private chats are only visible to the people in that specific chat. Wherever possible, team members should be “working out loud” in the main team channels, rather than having conversations in private chats.
Does hiding a teams Channel hide it for everyone? ›Depends on what you mean by "hide". You can remove a channel from the view, by going to Manage team > Channels > toggle the checkbox under the Show for members column. This however only hides the channel from the nav pane, users can still access it by hitting the "X hidden channels" entry.
How do I restrict access to my teams Channel? ›...
To set guest permissions:
- Select Teams on the left side of the app.
- Go to the team name, and select More options. > Manage team.
- Select Settings > Guest permissions. Check or uncheck the permissions you want to allow.
You can set the permissions on folders by clicking the 3 dots next to the folder and selecting Manage Access. In the next screen select Grant Access and enter the email address of the person, or enter the Office 365 Group, who should have access.
Can I give someone access to just one channel in teams? ›Go to the channel you want to share, and tap the channel name at the top of your screen. Tap Manage members. Tap Add members. Type names of the people in your org you want to share the channel with and select them from the list.
What does private mean in teams? ›Marking a meeting or appointment private can hide some of the meeting details from others in your organization. Important: Even if you share and grant Read permissions to your calendar to another user, they will not be able to see the details of your private appointments.
How do you tell if a team is private or public? ›
Under the 'type' column, you can see a 'Padlock' icon symbolising that the team is private, or if it has a little 'globe' icon, it means that team is public*
What is a private channel? ›Private channels are for conversations that should not be open to all members. People must be added to a private channel by someone who's already a member of the channel. Messages or files posted in a private channel can only be searched by members of that channel.
Can my employer see my private chats on Teams? ›As a result, I decided to create a video answering the question: Can your employer view your Microsoft Teams chat history? Spoiler alert: the answer is Yes.
What are the two types of channels in Teams? ›In Microsoft Teams, teams are groups of people brought together for work, projects, or common interests. Teams are made up of two types of channels — standard (available and visible to everyone) and private (focused, private conversations with a specific audience).
What is the point of channels in Teams? ›In Teams, teamwork and communication happen in channels. A channel is a single place for a team to share messages, tools, and files. Channels can be organized by group, project, feature, or whatever else is relevant to you.
What happens when you delete a private channel in teams? ›By default, when you delete a private channel in the Microsoft Teams, it will delete both the channel and the site that is connected to it. You could go to SharePoint admin center -> Sites -> Active sites -> Find the site collection associated with the Teams -> Check whether this site collection has channel site.
How many private channels can you have in teams? ›| Feature | Maximum limit |
|---|---|
| Number of channels per team | 200 (includes deleted channels)4 |
| Number of Private channels per team | 30 (includes deleted channels)4 |
| Number of members in a Private channel | 250 |
| Maximum size of distribution list, security group or Microsoft 365 group that can be imported in to a team | 3,500 |
By default, all members of a team can create standard channels. Org owners can change this permission and limit channel creation and permissions to certain roles.
How do I disable private channels on my team? ›Disable Private Channel creation
Click on Settings Tab, expand Member permissions and uncheck the box next to Allow members to create private channels. The luxury of Private Channel Creation will now only be limited to Team Owners!
First you have to set your channel to be password protected: Please keep in mind that your password will allow or restrict access to your entire channel. In order to prevent viewers from being able to access a particular video even if they have the password, please set that video's privacy setting to 'published'.
Can admins read private channels? ›
Note: Owners and admins with permission to manage private channels will not be able to see any messages or files sent in private channels using the channel management tools.
Are private channels hidden? ›Private channels are not visible to individuals who are not part of the groups or servers that they have been created in. This means that if you are not part of the group that a private channel has been created in, you will not be able to see that channel.
Can server owners see private channels? ›Private channels on Discord are limited channels that can only be viewed by specific individuals or roles. On a server, these channels are hidden from other users. These channels are not shown in the Discord server's sidebar, unlike all other channels.
Can you search for private team in teams? ›Can we enable the discovery of private Teams in search in Teams Desktop App? Note: If a team owner hasn't enabled discoverability of their private team, you won't be able to find it by using search. You'll need to contact them directly to request to join.
How do I create a private team in Microsoft Teams? ›- Select Join or create a team. ...
- Select Create team to create a new team.
- Give the team a name and add a short description if you like.
- By default, your team is Private, meaning you'll have to add the people or groups you want on the team. ...
- Add members.
Before a new member can be added to the private channel, they have to be first added as a member to the team that is hosting the private channel. To add someone to a team if you are a designated team owner: Click on the three dots next to team's name and select Add Member.
Can I give someone access to just one channel in Teams? ›Go to the channel you want to share, and tap the channel name at the top of your screen. Tap Manage members. Tap Add members. Type names of the people in your org you want to share the channel with and select them from the list.
What does private mean in Teams? ›Marking a meeting or appointment private can hide some of the meeting details from others in your organization. Important: Even if you share and grant Read permissions to your calendar to another user, they will not be able to see the details of your private appointments.
How do I know who has access to my teams Channel? ›next to the team name and select View members. Everyone who's online right now has the green circle and a check mark next to their picture. You'll see a green circle with a check mark next to the profile picture of the people who are online. next to the team name and select View members.
How do I manage team channel permissions? ›- Select Teams on the left side of the app.
- Go to the team name, and select More options. > Manage team.
- Select Settings > Guest permissions. Check or uncheck the permissions you want to allow.
How do you request access to a private team channel? ›
You'll need to contact them directly to request to join. Another option is to go to the command box at the top of Teams, then type /join to view a list of all your suggested teams. Choose a team to request permission to join.