Why it’s important to add descriptions to Microsoft Teams channels

Create a great welcome that helps coworkers quickly get up-to-speed

Reading time: 2 minutes

How often are you a good citizen and add descriptions to all your channels in a Team? We’re all busy and want to get straight on with a job, but there’s now an important reason not to skip this step! And, if you’re a Team Owner you get some extra responsibility too...

The onboarding process that is followed when you add a new member to a Microsoft Team is changing. (Roadmap ID 381734).

Now rather than being added to a team, with a selection of shown and hidden channels, you’ll be sent a welcome screen in your activity feed. You will be in control of which channels to show, and which ones to hide.

But don’t worry it’s not all guesswork, you can review the channel description and Team Owners can add a recommendation tag to the most important channels.

How it looks when you create a new channel 

Creating a channel hasn’t changed, but if you’re an Owner you can straight off add a recommended tab. (Members cannot recommend).

Reviewing channels 

As an Owner you can also review channels created by Members in the Manage Team > Channels panel and add a recommendation here. 

What does it look like when I’m added to a Team? 

You’ll get a notification in your Activity feed that will open a Channel overview. You can select to show any recommended or useful channels – now you see why the description is useful! 

What if I miss adding one? 

Don’t worry, selecting See all channels in any Team brings you back to the Channel overview to make updates. 

Some questions you might have 

Is the General channel always recommended? - Yes, it seems to be. 

Can I force channels to appear for Members? - There does not appear to be a way, no 

What if I’m tagged in a channel I’ve hidden? - You’ll be notified, the channel will also temporarily be shown until you’ve read the message. Note: this will only happen if you’re tagged by name, tagging a channel name will not notify members who have hidden a channel.

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