New team vs New channel in TEAMS

Question

What is the difference between creating a new team or a new channel in TEAMS

Answer 1

Hello @Simon Taylor,   

Good day! Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.  

Thank you for asking such a great question. Here’s the difference between creating a new team and a new channel in Microsoft Teams: 

1. What is a Team? 

A Team is the top-level workspace for collaboration in Microsoft Teams. 

When you create a team:  

• It sets up a Microsoft 365 Group with its own membership and permissions. 
• A SharePoint site for file storage and Shared resources like OneNote, Planner, and Outlook calendar will automatically be created. 
• A default channel called General is created.

You can add multiple channels inside the team. 

Team is used when you need a separate collaboration space for a new project, department, or group that requires its own files and permissions. 

2. What is a Channel? 

A Channel is a section within an existing team, used to organize conversations and files by topic. 

Channels share the team’s membership and resources. 

Types of channels:  

• Standard: Visible to all team members. 
• Private: Restricted to selected members within the team. 
• Shared: Allows collaboration with people outside the team. 

Channel is used when you want to organize discussions within the same team (e.g., separate channels for “Design,” “Budget,” and “Marketing” under one project team). 

In Conclusion:  

• Create a new team when you need separate permissions, resources, or a distinct collaboration space. 
• Create a channel when you want to organize discussions within an existing team.  

For your reference:  

• Overview of teams and channels - Microsoft Support 
• Create a team from scratch in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support 
• Create a standard, private, or shared channel in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support 

Please let me know if you need any further assistance or clarification. Thank you for reaching out!

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