How to setup a team with certain channels only being private

Question

Trying to setup a team template. Where certain channels are private and rest are open for all team members to view. How can I set this up as a template.

Answer 1

Hi @Question,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Regarding to your question about Teams template, mixing open and private channels is a great way to keep your team organized while protecting sensitive discussions. Unfortunately, Microsoft Teams templates do not support private or shared channels. When you create a team from a template, all channels included will be standard channels only. Private channels must be created manually after the team is set up.

You can see: team templates in the Teams admin center

Here is what you can do:

1/ Create the team using a template (you will need admin privileges for this):

• Go to Teams Admin Center > Teams > Team templates.
• Choose an existing template or create a custom one with standard channels and apps.
• Save and deploy the template.

2/ Add private channels manually:

• In the Teams app, open the team you just created.
• Select More options (…) > Add channel.
• Enter a name and description.
• Under Privacy, choose Private – Specific people on the team have access.
• Add the members who should have access.

3/ Submit feedback to Microsoft:

Since this has a big impact on productivity, I strongly recommend submitting feedback directly to the product team.

You can do this in Teams by selecting Help > Feedback, or through the Microsoft 365 Feedback Hub > Send Feedback > Describe your proposal in detail so the team can consider it for future improvements.

Once you’ve submitted your feedback, feel free to share the link here. I’ll be happy to upvote it to help bring more visibility.

As community moderators, our role is to help guide users to the right resources and support channels. While we don’t have direct influence over product design or access to internal development roadmaps, we’re here to ensure your feedback is heard and to assist you in any way we can.

Additionally, if my response has helped clarify the situation and guided you toward the next step, please mark it as the "Accepted Answer". This will help others in the community who face the same issue find your feedback and support it. Thank you for your kindness and contributions to the forum.

---

As other users will also be looking for information in this community, please click on "Accept Answer" and feel free to vote for this answer. Your valuable vote will definitely help other users with similar questions to find the right channel and useful information more easily. 

Thank you for your kind words. 

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable email notifications if you want to receive notifications related to this thread.

Answer 2

To set up a team in Microsoft Teams with certain channels being private while others are open to all team members, you can follow these steps:

1. Create the Team: Start by creating a new team using a team template or from scratch.
2. Add Channels: After creating the team, you can add channels. For channels that you want to be private, you will need to set them as private during the creation process.
3. Set Channel Privacy: When you create a channel, you will have the option to choose its privacy level:
   • Private: Only specific members you choose can access this channel.
   • Standard (Public): All team members can access this channel.
4. Customize as Needed: You can continue to add channels and set their privacy levels according to your requirements.

Note that team templates do not currently support creating private channels as part of the template definitions. Therefore, you will need to create the private channels manually after the team is set up.

For more detailed guidance on creating teams and channels, you can refer to the Microsoft documentation on team templates and their capabilities.

---

References:

• Get started with team templates using Microsoft Graph
• Team templates built in Microsoft Graph for small and medium businesses