What are private channels?

Private channels in Microsoft Teams create focused spaces for collaboration within your teams. Only the users on the team who are owners or members of the private channel can access the channel. Anyone, including guests, can be added as a member of a private channel as long as they are already members of the team.

When should I use private channels?

You might want to use a private channel if you want to limit collaboration to those who have a need to know or if you want to facilitate communication between a group of people assigned to a specific project, without having to create an additional team to manage.

For example, a private channel is useful in these scenarios:

• A group of people in a team wants a focused space to collaborate without having to create a separate team.
• A subset of people in a team wants a private channel to discuss sensitive information, such as budgets, resourcing, strategic positioning, and so on.

How do I know that my channel is private?

A lock icon indicates a private channel. Only members of private channels can see and participate in private channels that they are added to.

To learn more about private channels please click here to access the Microsoft support document on this topic.