Using Teams

LinkedIn Learning Training

To help you make the most of Microsoft Teams, we offer free, on-demand courses through LinkedIn Learning. Whether you're new to Microsoft Teams or looking to improve your skills, these courses are designed for students.

Recommended Courses:

• Microsoft Teams Essentials Training
  Learn how to set up Teams, manage conversations, schedule meetings, share files, and collaborate effectively across devices..

• Microsoft Teams Tips and Tricks
  Boost your productivity in Microsoft Teams with time-saving tips, advanced features, and customisation options for chats, meetings, and notifications.

How to Access:

1. Visit LinkedIn Learning via the University portal.

2. Log in with your University credentials.

3. Search for the Outlook courses and start learning at your own pace.

These courses are a great way to boost your productivity and stay organised throughout your studies.

Teams Interface

When you open Microsoft Teams, you’ll see the main navigation bar down the left-hand side of the screen. This is your quick access point to everything in Microsoft Teams. from chats and meetings to files and notifications.

Here’s what each section does:

1. Activity: See all your recent notifications in one place, so you can quickly catch up on messages, mentions, and updates.
2. Chat: Send messages to one person or a small group. This is where your ongoing and recent conversations appear.
3. Teams: View all the Teams you’re part of, such as class groups, project spaces, or student societies.
4. Calendar: Check your schedule, create meetings, and join online sessions. Note: Your Teams calendar is the same as your Outlook calendar, so anything you add or update will appear in both.
5. Calls: Make quick audio or video calls to classmates or lecturers without needing a meeting link.
6. OneDrive: Open your University OneDrive to access, store, and manage your files and folders.

Accessing Microsoft Teams on the Web

You can access Microsoft Teams using any internet browser by going to office.com.

• On Windows 10, Outlook and other Microsoft 365 apps are only available via the browser.

• On Windows 11, Outlook and other Microsoft 365 apps can be accessed either through the desktop application or via the browser. Microsoft Edge, the default browser in Windows 11, is designed to work seamlessly with Microsoft 365

To open Outlook on the web:

1. Open your internet browser (Edge, Chrome etc).

2. Go to www.office.com.

3. Sign in with your University credentials.

4. Select Apps from the left-hand menu.

5. Click Teams from the list of available Microsoft 365 apps. This will open in a new browser tab.

Accessing Microsoft Teams on Mobile

You can access Microsoft Teams anywhere by downloading the Teams mobile app from the App Store or Google Play Store.

1. Download the Teams app

• Android: Open the Google Play Store, search for Microsoft Teams (purple icon with a “T”), then tap Install.
• iOS: Open the App Store, search for Microsoft Teams (purple icon with a “T”), then tap Get.

2. Sign in to your account

1. Open the Teams app.
2. Enter your full University email address (e.g. student.name@myport.ac.uk) and tap Sign in.
3. When prompted, enter your University password.
4. Complete multi-factor authentication using the Microsoft Authenticator app.
5. Once signed in, your Teams dashboard will appear. Use the bottom menu to access Activity, Chat, Teams, Assignments, and Calendar.

Setting Your Status in Teams

Keeping your Microsoft Teams status up to date lets your classmates, lecturers, and group members know when you’re available, busy, or away. It’s a quick way to help everyone communicate better and plan around each other’s time.

Your status is linked to your Outlook calendar and updates automatically. For example, it will show as Busy if you’ve accepted a meeting or Available (green) if your calendar is free.

Manually setting your status

1. Click on your profile picture (top-right corner of the Teams window).
2. Choose the status that best matches your availability:
   • Available: You’re online and ready to chat or collaborate.
   • Busy: You’re working and don’t want interruptions.
   • Do Not Disturb: All notifications are muted.
   • Be Right Back: You’re away for a short time.
   • Appear Away: You’re not actively using Teams right now.
   • Offline: You’re signed out or appearing offline.
3. To set a time limit for your status, click Duration and choose how long it should last.
4. Click Done to save your changes.

Adding a status message

1. Click on your profile picture (top-right corner of the Teams window).
2. Select Set status message and type your note (e.g. “In the library until 4 PM” or “Group project meeting in progress”).
3. Tick Show when people message me if you want them to see your note when they start a chat with you.
4. Choose when you want the message to disappear under Clear status message after.
5. Click Done to apply it.

Managing Your Notifications in Teams

Customising your notifications in Microsoft Teams helps you keep up with important updates from lecturers and classmates without getting overloaded with alerts.

Changing your notification settings

1. Click on Settings and more (...) next to the search bar.
2. Select Settings, then choose Notifications and Activity from the menu.
3. Scroll through the options to adjust how and when you are notified (ex. for messages, mentions, and meetings).

Tip: To mute all notifications temporarily, set your Teams status to Do Not Disturb (see the Setting Your Status section).

Getting email alerts for missed activity

1. In the same Notifications and Activity settings, scroll to the Missed activity emails section.
2. Choose how often you want to receive these emails from the dropdown menu (e.g. every 10 minutes, hourly, daily).

Teams Site Interface

Opening a team

You can only access a Microsoft Team's team if you’ve been added as a member. Once you’re part of it, it’s easy to open and start collaborating.

1. Open Microsoft Teams in your web browser or desktop app.
2. Select Teams from the navigation bar.
3. On the Teams screen, click the team you want to open.

Posting in a Teams channel

You need to be a member of a team before you can post in its channels. Each channel is usually focused on a key topic or workstream, so make sure you’re posting in the right place.

As Microsoft Teams is rolled out, you’ll gain access to the MWP Launch Community team, which includes a dedicated Q&A channel for asking questions and sharing ideas.

1. Open the team you want to post in.
2. Select the channel where you want to share your post.
3. Click Start a post (blue button at the bottom).
4. Add a short, clear subject to help others quickly understand the topic.
5. Type your message in the box provided.
6. Use the icons at the bottom to add more to your post:
   • Emojis, GIFs & Stickers – add expression and personality to your post.
   • Loop components – create live, collaborative checklists, tables or task lists that everyone can edit in real time.
   • Actions & Apps – access extra tools like Schedule message or Attach a file.
7. Select Post to publish your message.

Tips:

• Only start a new post for a brand-new topic. If you’re adding to an existing discussion, reply to the original post instead to keep the conversation organised.
• Use @ followed by someone’s name to tag them. This will highlight their name and send them a notification.

Replying to an existing post in a Teams channel

To keep conversations organised and easy to follow, always use Reply when you’re responding to something that’s already been posted. This keeps all related messages together in one thread.

1. Open the team you want to work in.
2. Select the channel where the post is located.
3. Scroll to find the post you want to reply to (you can quickly search the channel by pressing Ctrl + F and typing a keyword).
4. Click Reply underneath the post.
5. Type your message. If you want to format your text, click Show formatting options (A with a pencil icon).
6. Select Send (arrow icon) to post your reply.

Tip: Use @ followed by someone’s name to tag them in your reply. Their name will be highlighted and they’ll get a notification.

Scheduling a post

In Microsoft Teams, you can schedule a post to go live at a specific date and time. This is handy if you want to plan messages in advance – for example, reminders about deadlines or sharing updates at the right moment.

1. Open the team where you want to post.
2. Select the channel you want to post in.
3. Write your post in the message box.
4. Click Actions and apps (+) next to the Send button and select Schedule message.
5. Choose the date and time for your post in the pop-up window, then click Continue.
6. Your scheduled date and time will appear on the post.
7. To cancel, click the dropdown arrow next to the scheduled time and select Cancel scheduled time.

List view and pinning channels

In Microsoft Teams, you can choose between two layouts for viewing your teams: Grid view or List view.

List view is great if you’re part of multiple teams or projects. It shows your teams and their channels in a vertical, collapsible list, making it quicker to navigate. You can also pin your most-used channels to the top for easy access.

Note: Pinning channels only works in List view.

Switching to list view

1. Open Teams.
2. Select Settings and more (...) next to the search bar.
3. Select Settings.
4. Click Appearance from the menu on the left.
5. Scroll to the Layout section and tick the box for List.

Pinning and unpinning a channel

1. Find the channel you want to pin.
2. Select More options (...) next to the channel name and choose Pin.
3. The channel will now stay at the top of your list for quick access.
4. To unpin, repeat the steps above and select Unpin.

Turning on dark mode

Prefer a darker background to reduce glare? You can switch to Dark mode in Teams.

1. Open Teams.
2. Select Settings and more (...).
3. Select Appearance.
4. Under Theme, choose Dark from the dropdown.
5. The change will apply instantly.

Pinning apps to the navigation bar

You can add your most-used apps (like Assignments or OneNote) to the left-hand navigation bar for quick access.

1. Click More apps (...) in the navigation bar.
2. Browse or search for the app you want.
3. Click the app to open it.
4. Right-click the app icon in the sidebar and select Pin.
5. To rearrange, right-click the pinned app and choose Move up or Move down.

Hiding channels

If there’s a channel in Microsoft Teams that you don’t use often, you can hide it to keep your workspace tidy. You can still access hidden channels at any time, and make them visible again whenever you need them.

Hiding a channel

1. Open Teams and select Teams from the navigation bar.
2. Click on the team site where the channel is located.
3. Select More options (...) next to the channel name and choose Hide.
4. The channel will move to the Hidden channels section, which appears below your list of channels.

Showing a hidden channel

1. Go to the Hidden channels section in the relevant team.
2. Select More options (...) next to the channel name and choose Show.
3. The channel will return to your main list.

Checking and managing membership in a team or channel

Team sites in Microsoft Teams are shared spaces where members can collaborate, share files, and communicate in one place. You can easily check who is in a team or channel, and request for others to be added if needed.

Checking team membership

1. Open Teams and select Teams from the navigation bar.
2. Select the relevant team site.
3. Click More options (...) next to the team name and choose Manage team.
4. Open the Members tab at the top of the screen.
5. Use the search box on the right to find someone by name, or clear the box to view the full list.
6. You can also scroll through members by selecting Members and guests from the list.

Note: Standard channels (like General) include all members of the team site. Private and shared channels only include a subset of members from the team.

Checking channel membership

Follow the same steps above, but select the channel instead of the team.

Requesting to add someone to a team site

1. Open Teams and select Teams from the navigation bar.
2. Select the relevant team site.
3. Click More options (...) next to the team name and choose Add member.
4. Type the person’s university email address.
5. Select Send request.

The team owner will receive your request and decide whether to accept or decline. If you have questions about membership, contact the team owner directly.

Adding someone to a channel

If the person is not already a member of the team site, you’ll need to request for them to be added to the team first (see above). If they are already a team member:

1. Open Teams and select Teams from the navigation bar.
2. Select the relevant team site.
3. Open the channel you want to add them to.
4. Click More options (...) next to the channel name and choose Add member.
5. Type their university email address and select Send request.

Using /slash commands in Teams

/Slash commands are a quick way to get things done in Microsoft Teams without having to click through menus. Just type a forward slash (/) into the search bar at the top of Teams or into a chat box, then choose from the list or start typing a command you know.

They’re great for saving time and making everyday tasks faster. Here are some handy ones you might use as a student:

• /brb – Set your status to "Be right back".
• /call – Start an audio or video call with someone.
• /chat – Open a chat and send a quick message.
• /goto – Jump straight to a specific chat or channel.
• /meetnow – Start or join a quick meeting instantly.
• /loop – Add a collaborative Loop component, like a live paragraph everyone can edit.
• /offline – Set your status to appear offline.
• /settings – Open your Teams settings menu.

Tip: There are lots more commands to explore – type / into the search bar to see the full list.

Using @mentions

@mentions are an easy way to grab someone’s attention in a busy chat or channel. Without them, your message could get lost among other notifications.

What you can @mention

• Individual – Notifies one person directly (e.g. @Alex).
• Channel – Notifies everyone in a specific channel.
• Team – Notifies all members of a team.
• @all – Notifies everyone in the chat or channel.
• Tags – Custom groups set up in the Team settings (e.g. @ProjectLeads) so you can notify specific people without alerting the entire team.

How to use @mentions politely

• Be specific – Use @mentions to direct your message to the right person. For example: @Jordan, can you upload the latest draft?
• Don’t overuse – Avoid tagging everyone for non-urgent updates. Save group tags for important announcements.
• Be respectful – Think before tagging people outside of normal hours, as it will send them a notification.
• Follow up – If someone doesn’t reply, they may have missed the alert. Send a polite reminder if needed.

Tip: You can type @ anywhere in a message to see a list of people, channels, and tags you can mention.

Scheduling messages in Teams

You can schedule messages in Microsoft Teams so they’re sent at a specific date and time. This is handy if you want to plan announcements, send reminders, or make sure your message arrives at the best time for your classmates or lecturers.

Before you schedule

• Don’t overdo it – Keep scheduled posts balanced so you’re not flooding a chat or channel.
• Check back later – Make sure your scheduled message has been sent and that people have seen it.
• Final step matters – Remember to click Post (channels) or Send (chat) after scheduling, or your message won’t go out.

Scheduling a message in a channel

1. Open the team and channel where you want to post.
2. Type your message in the message box.
3. Click Actions and apps (+) on the left of the message box.
4. Select Schedule message.
5. Choose the date and time you want it posted.
6. Click Continue, then Post to confirm.

Scheduling a message in a chat

1. Open the 1:1 or group chat where you want to send your message.
2. Type your message in the message box.
3. Click Actions and apps (+) on the right of the message box.
4. Select Schedule message.
5. Choose the date and time you want it sent.
6. Click Continue, then Send to confirm.

Tip: Scheduled messages can be edited before they’re sent – just open the draft and make your changes.

Adding a hyperlink to a Teams message

Instead of pasting long and messy links into your message, you can turn them into neat, clickable text. This makes your messages easier to read and more professional.

To add a hyperlink

1. Copy the URL you want to share, highlight it, right-click, and select Copy.
2. In your Teams message, type the text you want to turn into a link (for example, “View the timetable”).
3. Highlight that text, right-click, and select Paste.

Tip: This also works in Outlook, so you can keep your emails looking tidy too.