It has been announced quite some time ago, Microsoft Teams Private Channel is now available.
First thing, you need to ensure your administrator is allowing Private Channel (which should be on by default).
To check the policy, logon to your Teams administration portal (https://admin.teams.microsoft.com/) and check the Teams policy/policies to ensure at least Create private channels is turn on.
Then on your Teams client, access the Teams you want to create a private channel. When creating the channel, change the Privacy option from Standard (default) to Private
A Private channel will be displayed with a small lock icon
NOTE you can not change the Privacy settings of a channel.
You can add anybody as member of the channel, including guest.
How to decide if a Private Channel is needed?
| am that has these people as team members? | Does this work need to be kept private from others? | Are there multiple distinct topics to discuss? | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Create a private channel in the existing team or consider creating dedicated private channels for each topic. |
| Yes | Yes | No | Create a private channel in the existing team. |
| Yes | No | No | Create a channel in the existing team. |
| No | No | No | Consider creating a new team. |
| No | No | Yes | Consider creating a new team and then, depending on the confidentiality of each topic, consider creating separate standard or private channels for each topic. |
| No | Yes | No | Create a new team or create a new private channel in an existing team. |