Allow users to search for private teams

• Applies to:

  Microsoft Teams

By default, users can't search for and find private teams. You can allow users to find private teams by turning on Private team discovery in a Teams policy. Users for whom the policy is turned on can search for and find private teams and request to join them. Team owners can approve or deny the request.

Manage private team discovery

You can allow or prevent private team discovery for users or groups in your organization by using a Teams policy.

To manage if users can search for private teams

1. In the Teams admin center, expand Teams and select Teams policies.
2. Select the policy that you want to update or create a new one.
3. On the Teams policy pane, set Private teams discovery to On or Off.

Policy changes may take several hours to take effect.

Restrict private team discovery by using sensitivity labels

If you want to enable private team discovery but restrict the discovery of certain teams, such as those containing sensitive information, you can prevent private team discovery by using a sensitivity label. For more information, see Use sensitivity labels to protect content in Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 groups, and SharePoint sites.

Related topics

Find and join a team in Microsoft Teams