Getting started with Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams allows both staff and students to work with others on a project with a shared workspace. Create a team or use a template to get started.

Microsoft Teams is a software application that you can use to work with others on a shared project, or to create a shared workspace. It has many features that facilitate communication and collaboration.

Teams is particularly useful for students who are working together on group assignments, or on other learning activities that require a significant amount of communication and collaboration.

Teams Meetings can be created in Outlook or Teams and links can be shared with students as an alternative to Zoom for one-on-one or small consultations.

Access Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is available as a desktop app, a mobile app, and online through a web browser.

Log in using your University username and password.

Create a new Team

Anybody with a University Microsoft 365 account can create a new Team – no additional administrative privileges are required. This means that both staff and students can create Teams to suit their needs.

  1. Access Microsoft Teams on the platform of your choice (desktop, mobile or web) and log in with your University account details.
  2. Make sure Teams is selected in the global navigation menu. Then click the Join or create team button in the top right of the screen. A drop down menu will display.

Teams is displayed on the left hand side of the MS Teams window, with Join or Create team button located on the top right.

  1. You will now be presented with the option to either create a new team, or join an existing team. Click the Create team button.
  2. In the pop-up window that opens, choose Other from the available Team types.
    Refer to this comparison of features across Team types as well as the following:
    1. Using the Class type is not advisable, as this Team type includes the features "Assignments and Grades", which should not be used and may potentially confuse students.
    2. Teams created with student accounts will automatically default to the Other type; the option to choose another Team type is not available.
    3. Once a Team has been created, its type cannot be changed.
    4. After clicking a Template, a description of features will be provided. Click Use this template.

4 buttons in a grid layout, Class, Professional Learning, Staff and Other.

  1. You will now be asked to set the Sensitivity Label and privacy level. When ready, click Next.
    1. Sensitivity label: Depending on use, this setting can be:
    • Internal: Contains University information intended for all employees, and approved non-employees such as contractors, vendors or students, but not the general public.
    • Confidential: Contains information intended strictly for distribution to, or use by, a selected group of university employees and approved non-employees.
    • Restricted: Contains information that is extremely sensitive, of great value to the University, and intended for use only by specific roles or named individuals.
    • Public: Contains information available to the general public and intended for distribution outside of the University.
    • None.
    1. Privacy: Select whether a team is Private or Public. It is recommended that you set Teams to Private and invite members as described in Step 6, rather than setting Teams to Public and relying on members to self-enrol. Teams that are set to Public may not be visible to all intended members. After clicking one of these buttons, you will advance to the next item.
    2. Team name: If you or your students will be creating multiple Teams of a similar type, such as for student project groups, you may wish to adopt a consistent naming convention for easy identification of individual Teams. For example, you may wish to include the subject code, semester year and number, tutorial or workshop group number, and a unique identifier for each group. A sample Team name might look something like this: ABCD12345_2020_SM1_W01G03
    3. Description: This field is optional; the information entered here is not displayed to other team members.
    4. Click Create.

Pop-up Window with field for Team name, Description, and a purple Create button)

  1. After a short wait you may now invite members to your Team. You can invite individual students or staff members, or entire mailing lists. You can also invite users external to the University by entering their email address (see add guests to a Team for more).

Note that you can skip this step and invite Team members at a later time.

Window with field to enter name or email as well as Skip and Add buttons.

Create a Team using another Team as a Template

If you are creating multiple Teams for use in your subject, you may prefer to use the From another team option.

You can only create templates from Teams that you own. If you want to create a template from a Team that you don’t own, you can ask an owner of that Team to make you a co-owner. See make someone a team owner for more.

  1. From the Teams application, click Join or create team in the top-right, then click the Create team button.
  2. Select the From another team Tab.

List of available teams to copy after choosing the From another team tab.

  1. A list will display showing the Teams that you own. Select the team you want to use and click on the team’s tile.
  2. You will now be presented with the options to update the name, add a description, choose the privacy setting, and select which elements of the template Team you wish to copy over to the new Team.

Note that you cannot copy over messages, files or other user-generated content.

  1. When ready, click Create.

Settings box indicating which items will be copied from the template team.

This guide was last updated 04 May 2026.

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