17 Nov Microsoft Teams New Chat & Channels Experience: A Comprehensive User Guide

Microsoft Teams New Chat & Channels Experience: A Comprehensive User Guide

The new chat and channels experience in Microsoft Teams offers a streamlined interface that merges chats, teams, and channels into a cohesive workspace under the Chat app. This approach aims to simplify interactions and enhance productivity, enabling users to stay on top of conversations without frequent context-switching. Here’s a detailed guide on how to navigate and optimize this updated experience.

1. Getting Started with the New Experience

Upon launching the new experience, a welcome message will prompt users to get started or postpone for up to three days. By selecting “Get started,” users are directed to a consolidated view of chats, teams, and channels under the Chat app. Refer below image for Get started option.

However, users can still choose to separate teams and channels from chats if they prefer the original layout.

Highlights:

• Quick Guides: A series of prompts introduces users to new menus for creating custom groups of chats or channels, called sections, and a “Customize view” option to adjust settings.
• Customization: Access the “Customize view” option from the “More list options” (…), which allows for: Refer below image for chats and channels customize settings.
  • Separate views for chat and channels in the Chat and Teams apps.
  • Enabling message previews for enhanced browsing.
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2. Combined View of Chats, Teams, and Channels

The combined view in the Chat app offers a centralized location for collaboration. Here’s how the layout works: Refer below image for combined view.

• Favorites Section: Automatically imports pinned items from the previous interface.
• Chats Section: Displays up to 25 recent chats, with an option to load more.
• Teams and Channels Section: Lists all visible channels organized by team.

This streamlined interface minimizes scrolling and supports quicker access to frequently used chats and channels, making it easier to focus on key discussions.

3. Organizing Conversations with Custom Sections

Custom sections allow users to organize chats and channels around projects, departments, or any preferred structure. Here’s how to use this feature: refer below image for new sections.

• Creating Sections: Select “New items” at the top of the list and choose “New section” to add a group dedicated to specific conversations.
• Adding Conversations: Drag and drop items into sections, or select “Move to” from the contextual menu. Up to 50 sections with 50 items each are supported.
• Managing Sections: Sections can be renamed, reordered, or collapsed for a cleaner layout. Collapsed sections will still show bold text and @mention notifications when there are new messages.

This feature offers robust organization, allowing users to segment workflows and prioritize essential communications.

4. Filtering and Sorting Conversations

Filters and sorting options enhance focus and streamline the user experience:

• Filters: The Unread, Chats, and Channels filters appear at the top of the list by default, with Meetings, Muted, and search filters accessible through the More filters arrow.
• Sort Options: Favorites and custom sections allow a custom sort order for drag-and-drop organization. Chats and Channels, by default, sort by recency, with an option to filter unread messages only.

These tools make it easier to triage and respond to high-priority conversations without wading through extensive lists.

5. @Mention and Tag Views

The new @mention view consolidates all @mentions across chats, channels, and meetings into one interactive list, ensuring users don’t miss critical notifications. Additionally, there’s a Tag view that aggregates tag mentions from channels, enabling quick responses to tagged messages. Refer below image for @mentiono option.

Note: When chats and channels are viewed separately, @mention results appear in their respective sections.

6. New Keyboard Shortcuts for Efficiency

Microsoft Teams introduces time-saving keyboard shortcuts to simplify navigation:

• Start a New Message: Use Ctrl+N (Windows) or CMD+N (Mac) to initiate a new chat or channel message.
• Goto Mode: Ctrl+G (Windows) or CMD+G (Mac) enables quick search to find a specific chat or channel.

These shortcuts help frequent users streamline workflows by reducing the time needed to initiate conversations and locate ongoing chats.

7. Additional Features: Flat Channel List and Hierarchical Sorting

For users who prefer a simplified channel view, Teams now offers a “Channels only” option. This flat list displays channels alphabetically, with recent activity appearing at the top across all channels. Selecting this view offers a more linear approach to channels, removing the team hierarchy.

How to Access: Open the “More options” (…) in the Teams and channels section and select List options > Channels only.

End.