Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is the primary collaboration platform in Microsoft 365. It allows University of Wyoming faculty, staff, and students to communicate, collaborate, meet, and share files in a single location using their UWYO Microsoft 365 account.

Overview

What is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is a collaboration platform that combines:

  • Chat and instant messaging
  • Audio and video meetings
  • File sharing and document collaboration
  • Team workspaces
  • Integration with Microsoft 365 applications and other third-party apps

Teams makes it easy to communicate with coworkers, collaborate on documents in real time, organize projects, and meet virtually from almost any device.

Microsoft Teams is a cloud-based service that is regularly updated with new features and improvements.

How do I access Microsoft Teams?

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

Web browser

  1. Sign in to the UWYO Outlook 365 portal using your UWYO account by going to your e-mail at: https://outlook.cloud.microsoft/mail.
  2. FOR BRAND NEW SETUPS AND LOGINS:  If signing in with a new setup (new workstation or with a fresh browser) you'll follow substeps a and b in the box below, otherwise skip the steps in the box below and proceed to step 3. 
    1. Enter your 8-character uwyo account name followed by '@uwyo.edu'.  If you have an account alias, for your e-mail, do not enter that.  (Ex: jcowboy1@uwyo.edu instead of joe.cowboy@uwyo.edu)
    2. When prompted for your account type, choose Work or school account.  
  3. Open the App Launcher (the grid icon in the upper-left corner).
  4. Select Teams. 
    If Teams is not listed, select All apps to locate it.

Screenshot of the Microsoft 365 app launcher opened from Outlook on the web. A red circle highlights the App Launcher (nine-dot grid) in the upper-left corner, and a red arrow points to the Microsoft Teams app icon, which is also circled. The image demonstrates how to open Microsoft Teams by selecting the App Launcher and then choosing Teams from the list of Microsoft 365 applications.
 

Desktop application

For the best experience, Microsoft recommends using the Teams desktop application.

If Teams is not already installed on your University-managed computer, you can download it from the official Microsoft Teams download page.

Many UW-managed computers already include Microsoft Teams as part of their standard software installation.

Mobile devices

Microsoft Teams is available for:

Click the links corresponding to your device to be taken directly to a link in the store to download MS Teams.  Alternatively, you may search for the application from your mobile device's digital marketplace (Apple App Store or Google Play Store). Search for Microsoft Teams published to the store by Microsoft Corporation.   
Once you've located the application, install it on your mobile device. 

Teams will prompt for your uwyo login or ask for an account.  If you do not have any saved login for your UWYO account, you may click here for 2 quick steps to set up a brand new device or account to sign in with your UWYO credentials.

Where can I learn how to use Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft provides extensive online documentation, tutorials, and training for Microsoft Teams from the Microsot Corporation.

Additional training opportunities may also be listed on UWIT's Training Webpage.

What is a Team?

A Team is a workspace where members can collaborate as members of a department, project, committee, class, or other for another shared purpose.

Within a Team, members can:

  • Communicate through conversations
  • Share files
  • Schedule meetings
  • Collaborate on Microsoft 365 documents
  • Integrate additional Microsoft and third-party applications

Screenshot of the Microsoft Teams desktop application in dark mode with the Teams view open. The left navigation bar includes icons for Activity, Chat, Teams, Assignments, Calendar, Calls, OneDrive, and Apps. The left pane displays a fictional team named IT Services Team with generic channels, including General, Announcements, and Resources, with General selected. The main pane shows a channel conversation containing generic posts about a scheduled meeting, a cancelled team check-in, and a monthly update with a sample PDF attachment. A Post in channel button appears at the bottom of the conversation. All names, channel titles, messages, dates, and attachments have been replaced with fictional, non-identifying content.

What is a Channel?

Channels organize conversations and content within a Team.

Each channel typically focuses on a specific topic, project, or work area, helping keep discussions and files organized.

Examples include:

  • General
  • Announcements
  • Projects
  • Budget
  • Training

Channels may be either standard (visible to all Team members) or private (accessible only to invited members)

Screenshot of the Microsoft Teams desktop application in dark mode with the Teams view open. The left navigation bar includes icons for Activity, Chat, Teams, Assignments, Calendar, Calls, OneDrive, and Apps. The left pane displays a fictional team named Project Operations with several example channels, including General, Announcements, Project Updates, Planning, Resources, Risk Management, and Team Wins, plus a hidden Archive channel. The General channel is selected. The main pane shows a generic channel conversation with a scheduled meeting notification, a cancelled project meeting, and a weekly update post containing a sample document attachment. A Post in channel button appears at the bottom of the conversation. All names, channel names, messages, dates, and attachments are fictional and included only to demonstrate the Teams interface and channel organization.

Supported web browsers

Microsoft Teams supports current versions of:

  • Microsoft Edge
  • Google Chrome
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Apple Safari

For the best performance and access to the latest features, Microsoft recommends using the Teams desktop application whenever possible.

Team roles

Owners

Owners manage the Team and have full administrative control.

Owners can:

  • Add or remove members
  • Add or remove owners
  • Manage Team settings
  • Create or delete channels
  • Control permissions

UWIT recommends assigning at least two owners to every Team to ensure continuity if one owner becomes unavailable.

Members

Members are UWYO users who have been added to a Team.

Depending on Team settings, members may:

  • Participate in conversations
  • Upload and edit files
  • Create channels
  • Schedule meetings
  • Add applications and tabs

Guests

Guests are external collaborators who are invited to participate in a Team.

Guest access is subject to UW Microsoft 365 policies and may provide limited functionality compared to UWYO users.

Screenshot of the Microsoft Teams desktop application in dark mode showing the Teams management interface. The left navigation bar includes icons for Activity, Chat, Teams, Assignments, Calendar, Calls, OneDrive, and Apps. A fictional team named Customer Success Team is selected, with several example channels listed beneath it, including General, Updates, Customer Feedback, Training & Resources, and a hidden Internal Only channel. The team More options (three-dot) menu is open, and a red circle highlights the three-dot button while a red rectangle outlines the Manage team option, indicating where to select it. The main pane displays the team's channel management page with a list of channels, recent activity information, and controls to show or hide channels. All names, channel titles, and content are fictional and are included only to demonstrate how to access the Manage team option in Microsoft Teams.

Team channels vs. private chats

Team channels

Team channels are collaborative spaces where conversations are visible to everyone with access to that channel.

Use channels when information should be available to the broader team.

Private chats

Private chats are conversations between specific individuals or small groups.

Use private chats for discussions that are not intended for the entire Team.

Screenshot of the Microsoft Teams desktop application in dark mode with the Chat view selected. A red circle highlights the Chat icon in the left navigation bar, and red arrows point to a selected conversation in the chat list and the corresponding conversation displayed in the main pane. A red rectangle outlines the selected chat in the left panel, emphasizing how selecting a conversation opens it in the main chat window. The chat contains generic work-related messages about checking in on a project, providing a brief update, and acknowledging a response. The interface also includes a list of recent chats, message timestamps, and a message composition box at the bottom. All names, profile images, and conversation content are fictional and are included only to demonstrate how to access and use the Microsoft Teams chat feature.

Public vs. Private Teams

When creating a Team, you may be able to choose a privacy setting.

Private Team

Only Team owners can invite members.

This is the recommended option for most departments and project teams.

Public Team

Any UWYO user may discover and join the Team.

Availability of Public Teams depends on University Microsoft 365 policies.

Getting someone's attention

Simply posting a message in a channel may not notify everyone.

To notify specific people:

  • Type @ followed by the person's name (example: @Jane Smith).

To notify an entire channel:

  • Type @channel.

To notify everyone in the Team (if enabled):

  • Type @team.

Availability of these notifications may depend on Team settings established by the Team owner.

Screenshot of the Microsoft Teams desktop application in dark mode with the Teams view open. A fictional team named Project Hub is selected, and the General channel is open. Red annotations highlight the steps for mentioning a person in a channel conversation. A red circle surrounds the Teams icon in the left navigation bar, and a red rectangle outlines the selected team and channel in the left pane. A red arrow points to the message composition box, where the @ symbol is circled to indicate where to type a mention. Another red arrow points from the @ symbol to the suggestion list that appears, showing generic user names and apps available to mention. The main conversation area contains generic work-related content, and a Post button is visible in the lower-right corner. All names, team names, channel names, email addresses, and message content are fictional and included only to demonstrate how to use @mentions in a Microsoft Teams channel conversation.

What are Tabs?

Tabs provide quick access to commonly used resources within a channel.

Examples include:

  • Files
  • OneNote notebooks
  • Planner
  • SharePoint pages
  • Websites
  • Power BI dashboards
  • Forms
  • Other Microsoft or third-party applications

Each channel can have its own customized collection of tabs.

Screenshot of the Microsoft Teams desktop application in dark mode showing a fictional team and channel with the Files tab open. The left navigation bar includes icons for Activity, Chat, Teams, Calendar, Calls, OneDrive, and Apps. A fictional team named Customer Success Team is selected, with several example channels listed beneath it, including General, Announcements, Projects, Resources, and a hidden Private channel. At the top of the channel, the Posts and Files tabs are highlighted with colored callout boxes and arrows to demonstrate their different purposes. A green callout explains that the Posts tab is used to view and reply to conversations, announcements, updates, and shared information. A blue callout explains that the Files tab provides access to shared documents and files for the channel. The main pane displays a generic document library with folders and files, along with standard file management options such as New, Upload, Share, Copy link, Sync, and Download. The document list includes fictional folders and sample files with generic names and modification dates. All team names, channel names, file names, user names, and other content are fictional and are included only to demonstrate the difference between the Posts and Files tabs in a Microsoft Teams channel.

Are my files and conversations secure?

Microsoft Teams uses Microsoft 365 enterprise security and compliance features.

Files shared in Teams are generally stored in SharePoint Online, while files shared in private chats are stored in the sender's OneDrive.

Data is encrypted both while being transmitted and while stored.

Team owners should regularly review Team membership and remove users who no longer require access.

Microsoft Teams and SharePoint

Every Microsoft Team is connected to a SharePoint site.

SharePoint stores the files shared within Team channels and provides additional document management and collaboration features.

While Teams provides the communication interface, SharePoint serves as the underlying document storage platform.

Screenshot of the Microsoft Teams desktop application in dark mode with the Files tab open for a fictional team named Project Team. The left navigation bar includes icons for Activity, Chat, Teams, Calendar, Calls, OneDrive, and Apps. The selected channel, Files & Resources, displays a generic document library containing example folders and files. A red circle highlights the More options (three-dot) menu in the Files toolbar. A red arrow points from the menu to the Open in SharePoint option, which is outlined with a red rectangle to show where it can be selected. Another red rectangle highlights the Go to SharePoint button in the lower-right corner of the page. These annotations demonstrate two ways to open the channel's document library in SharePoint. The interface includes standard file management controls such as New, Upload, Share, and a list of generic folders and documents. A banner at the bottom indicates that the files are stored in SharePoint. All team names, channel names, file names, and other content are fictional and are included only to demonstrate how to access a Microsoft Teams channel's files in SharePoint.

Additional information

Visit the UWIT Training catalog, http://uwittraining.uwyo.edu, to see additional training sessions and to enroll. If you have questions about computer training, please email computer.training@uwyo.edu.

All benefited employees have complimentary access to LinkedIn Learning, courtesy of the University of Wyoming. This powerful online learning platform offers an extensive library of on-demand courses taught by industry experts, covering a broad range of topics to help you advance your professional and technical skills. For more, visit https://www.uwyo.edu/hr/training/linkedin.html.

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