Create an Account

A) For desktop

Step 1: Go to the Microsoft Teams webpage and click on the profile icon at the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 2: In the “Sign in” page that appears, click on the “Create one!” link to set up a new account.

Step 3: On the “Create account” window, enter your email address (preferably a work email address) and click on the “Next” button.

Step 4: Follow the on-screen instructions to create a password and enter your details on the pages that follow.

Once you’ve entered all your details and verified your email, visit the Microsoft Teams homepage to begin using the Teams web app.

B) For mobile

To create a Microsoft account on your mobile, download the app and follow the same instructions mentioned above.

2. Download Microsoft Teams App

A) For desktop

Step 1: To download the Microsoft Teams desktop app, return to the Microsoft Teams web page and click on “Download Teams” at the top of your screen.

Step 2: Click on the “Download for desktop” button to page jump to the download link for either Mac OS or Windows, depending upon your system.

This link will show up as “Download Teams.”

Click on this to proceed with your download.

Step 3: Open the downloaded file and follow the instructions provided to install Microsoft Teams.

B) For mobile

Step 1: Download the Microsoft Teams app from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store for Android.

Step 2: Once installed, open the app and log in to your Microsoft account to start using Microsoft Teams.

Tips for experienced users

So far we've covered the basics for Microsoft Teams, but there's much more to the service than meets the eye. You'll certainly pick up on some of the more advanced features as you use Teams, but to get you started, here are some tips for experienced users.

• Review the settings. You can control and tweak certain features in Teams via the Settings panel. To get there, click your profile icon in the upper right, and select Settings. Here, you can choose how and when the Teams app launches, control the Do Not Disturb option and other privacy settings, manage your notifications, test your audio and video, and control incoming calls and voice mail.
• Manage members. The free version of Teams doesn't offer a dedicated management tool, but you can still manage permissions and other features for those on your team. Click the More Options button for your team, and select the option to Manage Team. At the Team Management screen, go to Settings. Select Member Permissions to control what members can do. Select Fun Stuff to restrict the ability of members to add emoji, GIFs, and stickers.
• Tag team members. You can assign tags to individual members of a team, and communicate to them all at once by including the tag in your mention. Click the More Options button for your team, and select the option to Manage Tags. Create your tag name, and assign members to it. In the chat window, type @ followed by the tag name to reach out to all people assigned that tag.
• Use the command line. The command line at the top of the screen offers a handy way to access key features and functions. Simply type a forward slash followed by the command you want, such as /activity to see someone's activity, /call to call someone, or /dnd to set your status to Do Not Disturb. To see a list of all commands, just type the forward slash by itself.
• Blur your video background. If you're working from home and don't want other people to see your messy room during a video call, you can blur your background. To do this during a call, click the More Actions button, and select the option for Blur Background. To turn it off, click the same button, and select the option for Don't Blur Background.
• Take meeting notes. During a conference call, you can easily take notes about the meeting. During the call, click the More Actions button, and select the option to Show Meeting Notes. Give a name to your notes, and type them as the meeting progresses. You can format your notes, divide them into different sections, and copy a link to the finished notes to share them with others.
• Listen to a message. If you have trouble reading the screen or just like to hear messages read aloud, you can enable the Immersive Reader for team and individual messages. Click the More Options button next to the message, and select the option for Immersive Reader. The Reader screen displays the message in a large clear font. Click the Play button to hear it read aloud.
• Add a subject to a chat. Randomly chatting with other team members can be confusing, especially if the conversations are out of context. To remedy this, you can add a subject to a message. Click the Format icon on the toolbar below the chat window. In the formatting window, type a subject in the field that says Add A Subject. Type your message and send it, and the subject will appear in a larger font above the message.
• Create a private channel. Sometimes you may want a channel that's private for which you invite only certain people. Such a channel is only visible to those people. To set this up, click the More Options button for your team, and select the option to Add Channel. Name the channel. Under Privacy, change the setting to Private, and invite the members.
• Link to a channel. Some team members may work only with a specific channel or two. In that case, they may want to go directly to that channel each time they use Teams. To help, you can create and share a link to a channel. Click the More Options button next to a channel, and select the option to Get Link To Channel. Copy and share the link with the people who use that channel.
• Add tabs. Keeping track of all the apps and files for your team can be difficult. One way to make them easier to access is by adding them as tabs. In the Activity, Chat, or Teams window, click the + icon. At the next window, select a specific app that you frequently use. You may also need to select a specific file for that app. Go through the rest of the steps. At the end, a tab for that app or file appears next to the other tabs for quick access.
• Pin apps. The more apps you add to your team, the more challenging it can be for people to access them, and some team members may use only certain apps. In this case, they can pin a favorite app for quick access. Click the Extensions button on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Right-click an app you want to pin, and select the Pin command. That app then appears on the toolbar.
• Create and manage files. Teams provides a few different ways to work with files. Here's one handy option. In a particular channel, click the Files tab at the top. From here, you can create a new Office file, upload a file from your computer, sync a file via OneDrive, create a link to a file, and download a file to your computer. By selecting a file, you can also delete it, rename it, pin it, move it, and check it out so no one else can modify it.
• Add cloud storage. Beyond using OneDrive or SharePoint, you can access other online storage sites to share and sync files. Click the Files icon on the left sidebar, and click the button to Add Cloud Storage. Choose the service you want to add, such as Dropbox, Box, ShareFile, or Google Drive. Sign into the site, and you can access any stored files.
• Add the How-To app. Learning how to use all the features in Teams can be tricky and time-consuming. You can give yourself and your team members a helping hand through the right app. CoreView's How-To app offers a range of instructional videos with helpful information on using Teams. To add this, click the Apps button on the left sidebar. Look for and add the How-to app from the Productivity section.

How to integrate other apps

You can increase the functionality of Teams by integrating other Microsoft apps and a variety of third-party apps. These include productivity apps, project management apps, news apps, educational and informational apps, communication apps, and more. 

1. Click the Apps icon on the left sidebar. You can now browse or search for specific apps. 
2. Select an app, and add it. Depending on the app you chose, you can now access information or content from that app directly in Teams. For example, you can connect to Salesforce to access your CRM data, to SurveyMonkey to create polls, and to YouTube to share videos (Figure J).

Figure J

How to work with files

You can also work with files another way. Click the Files icon on the left sidebar, and you'll see all attached files. Here, you can also upload files to your team's OneDrive storage space for access. You can then work with those files through the file attachment location for OneDrive.

How to share files

You may want to share files with team members, either with the entire group or a specific person. 

1. At the bottom chat field, click the paper clip icon. You can attach a file from your computer or your shared OneDrive storage.
2. Select the file you want to share, such as an Excel spreadsheet.
3. Send it to the recipients. All of you can now click the file to open it in Excel's web app. You and the other members can edit the file in real-time with any edits pointing to the name of the person who made the change (Figure I). 
4. Close the file when done. Any files attached this way are saved in Teams and are accessible through the file attachment location for Teams and Channels.

Figure I

How to create channels

At this point, you may decide you want to divide your team's work into individual sections or channels. This may be helpful if you're working on multi-layered or staged projects and you want to keep track of each stage separately. 

1. Click the More Options icon next to the name of your team, and select the option to Add Channel. 
2. Create a name and other details for the channel, and add it. 
3. Repeat these steps for each channel you want to add.
4. If you want to chat, speak, or share content specific to a certain channel, click the name of the channel and use the Teams interface as you normally would (Figure H).

Figure H

How to call other people

You may want to set up a video or audio conference call with your team members. To do this, follow these steps.

1. Click the Meet Now icon at the bottom. 
2. Type a subject for the meeting, if necessary. 
3. Click the Off switch to make it an audio-only call. Otherwise, leave the switch alone, and click the Camera icon to activate your own camera. 
4. Click the Meet Now button. 
5. At the meeting window, right-click the name of each person you want to participate, and ask each one to join (Figure F).

Figure F

After all the participants have joined, you can chat with the entire group or individual participants and share your screen--either the entire screen or specific windows. Just make sure you're using the desktop app to take full advantage of screen sharing. You can also see a list of all participants in the right pane where you can mute their audio or remove them from the meeting.

You can easily and quickly contact individual members. 

1. Click the icon for Calls on the left sidebar, and select the option for Contacts. 
2. Click the button to Add Contact, and start typing the name of one of your team members. After that person has been added, you can now chat, email, place a video call, or place an audio call to that person (Figure G).

Figure G