MS Teams Guide

Created by Rob Lorica, Modified on Tue, 3 Jun at 9:11 AM by Rob Lorica

Sign In:

Open Microsoft Teams.
Enter your email address (the same one used for Skype).
Enter your password and click Sign In. (if you don’t remember your password you may click “send a code to your email”)
If there is a prompt for Work/School or Personal, select Personal
After you signed in successfully, there will be a prompt on which profile you want to use. Kindly Select Skype profile.

After Sign In:

Look for MS Teams Settings (it should be the three … on the upper right)
From the left side panel, scroll down to look for Teams Insider Program then click it.
Click Join Program.
Restart Microsoft Teams will prompt, click Restart.
After the restart, you should be able to login and all of your Skype chats should be migrated to Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams Navigation Overview

1. Contacts

People You've Messaged: View people you've chatted with before.
Filter: Find specific chats using filters.
Meet Now: Start a quick video or audio call.
New Chat: Start a conversation with someone new.

2. Chat List

Pinned: Keep important chats at the top for easy access.
Recent: View your most recent conversations.

3. Search

Use the search bar at the top to quickly find messages, files, or people.

4. Chat Menu Options

Chat: View and send messages in your conversation.
Files: Access shared documents and files within the chat.
Photos: View images shared in the conversation.

5. Calls

Audio or Video Call: Make voice or video calls directly from the chat.
Add Users to Chat: Include more participants in an ongoing conversation.

6. Messaging Features

Messages: Exchange written content with others.
Chat Box: Type and send messages, attach files, photos, or voice messages.

7. Invite to Teams

Easily invite new contacts to join Teams for collaboration and communication.

Basic Functions in Microsoft Teams

Sending a Chat Message

Select New Chat (pencil icon).
Enter the name, email, or group.
Type your message and press Enter to send.

Call from a Chat

Go to the Chat tab.

Select the conversation with the person you want to call.
Click the Phone icon for a voice call or the Video icon for a video call.

Sharing Files

Go to Chat or Teams.
Select the conversation or channel.
Click the Attach icon (paperclip).
Select your file and click Send.

Note: You may also attach photos, send emojis or GIF by clicking these icons on your Chat Menu Options.

Creating Polls (Creating Polls is possible if you are selected as Group Chat Admin)

From the left side panel, select the group chat you want to create a poll.
Right click > select Open new window (or you may hover your mouse cursor and you will see an arrow icon that indicates Open new window).
Click + icon that is the Action and Apps.
Select Polls from the selection.

Self Chat

Note: For this feature Self Chat is not available on current Personal Teams. But there is an alternative way to send chats to yourself.

From the left side Panel, select Meet or Calendar
Select Meet Now
Provide the Name for the meeting. It should be Your Name or you can name it My Self Chat.
Click on Start Meeting.
Wait for the Pre-join screen setup. (You may ignore the meeting setup, as you will not use the meeting to start conversations with somebody else).
Click on Join Now. (Once you’ve joined the meeting. Please ignore the pop-up that is asking to invite others to join your meeting. Just simply close it).
While in a Meeting with Yourself. Select Chat then write a message to yourself. This will make the chat for the meeting to appear in the Chat tab.
Once you’ve sent a message to yourself. You may now click Leave to end the meeting.
You will now see your Self Chat under the Chat tab.

Note: You may also Pin your Self Chat right click your Self Chat then select Pin icon from the Chat Settings Menu. And Yes you can also attach files, images, and shared documents.