Many teams work from home, and they must have a tool that helps them communicate, manage tasks, participate in video calls, and so on. Microsoft Teams is a viable solution that anyone can use; it is available without any extra cost. In this post, I am sharing 10 Microsoft Teams tips and tricks that will help you improve your experience with the product.
Best Microsoft Teams Tips and Tricks
These are some of the important Microsoft Tips and Tricks you should know and try. Some will need an IT or Office 365 admin to enable the feature.
- Bookmark specific content
- Search and Filter
- Connectors
- Navigation
- Tabs
- Translation
- Immersive Reader
- Microsoft Planner
- Background Blur
- Email to Teams.
Microsoft Teams offers tons of features, and if you use features that you think will be worth adding to the list, let us know.
1] Bookmark
Conversations could be lengthy, and they can be in large volumes. That’s where the bookmark feature in Microsoft Teams comes into the picture. Any message or attachment in a conversation can be bookmarked. Select the message, revealing emoji picker along with three dots. Click on it, and you can “Save this message.”
To access saved messages, click on your profile at the top right and then select “Saved.” This will reveal the list of all the saved messages. When you click on any of the bookmarked messages, it will open the whole conversation and temporarily highlight the saved message with a yellow background.
To remove a message from the list, select or hover over it, and then click on the “unsave this message” menu. You can also unsave any message by hovering over it on the list, and then clicking on the bookmark icon.
Read: How to integrate Zoom with Microsoft Teams.
2] Search and Filter
It is a powerful feature that you should master to find anything in the ocean of messages. Click on the search box, and you can type forward-slash(/) to see all the commands. Mention feature(@) to find a contact and all the conversations. The “@” feature can also be used to interface with installed apps.
3] Connectors
Not everyone uses the same service, and if you have just moved to Microsoft Teams or want to connect with other services, you can use the Microsoft Teams connectors. You can use them to receive notifications and messages from your web and RSS feeds and even push content from different Office 365 applications into Microsoft Teams.
Connectors are available in the Teams menu and similar to apps but work differently. If your company has built a custom connector, you can publish it into the store and access it or ask IT to deploy it.
4] Navigation Buttons (< >)
If you are using an app, the navigation buttons will be your savior. Available at the top left, these buttons act as the browsing buttons (back and forward) on a browser. So, if you opened the inbox and then want to return to your team conversation, use the nav buttons to move back and forth.
5] Tabs
Teams allow you to add multiple sections or tabs. You can add a wiki, a calendar, a website, or even a file. To add a table, click on the ‘+’ sign on the right -hand side of the channel and then search for what it is you want to add in the tab.
6] Translation
Microsoft has done an incredible job when it comes to translation, and it is powerful enough to translate messages in real-time. If you are conversing with people around the world, the translation feature will be handy. Once enabled by the administrator, you can click hover over any message, click on the three-dot menu, and then choose to translate in your default language.
7] Immersive reader
To read all the messages in a distraction less view, Microsoft has integrated immersive reader for all team message. It is useful, especially for those who need special assistance. In the immersive view, you can read the message with clarity, and also use the audio tool to read the message aloud. To have eth best experience, set the speed, and audio selection.
Click on the menu button of any message, and select Immersive Reader. It also offers extra features such as translation, line focus, change text size, bookmarks, and more.
8] Microsoft Planner integration for task management
If you have access to the Microsoft planner under Microsoft 365 subscription, then it is going to be the most straightforward task manager for you. It is recommended for those who do not use any third-party task manager and need one for the Team. Once integrated, you can create a task out of any message and assign it to any person. You can also “pin” the Planner app to any channel to make it more accessible in one click.
9] Background Blur
If you have used Skype meetings, I am sure you already know about this feature. It allows you to hide what is in your background to keep your privacy. Microsoft Teams offers video calling, and it uses Skype, which means you can use the same set of features. If you want to activate Background Blur during meetings, click on the more actions on the call menu and select ‘Blur My Background.’
TIP: You can also use Custom Backgrounds in Microsoft Teams.
10] Email into Teams
While Teams-Outlook integration has yet to happen, if you want to forward any email into your Team, you can enable the built-in feature, click on the Teams menu, and then select Get email address. This will then reveal a unique email ID to which you can forward an email to appear on the teams. The configuration allows you to let anyone send emails, or only members of the Team or only from a fixed set of domains.
That said, there can be many tips and tricks available for Microsoft Teams. These are some of the best, and they will ensure you learn something new and help you use Microsoft Teams even better.
Read: Microsoft Teams Keyboard shortcuts
What are the best messaging apps for Windows PC?
While there are many, the best apps for general consumers are WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram, and Discord. Now that WhatsApp works well on PCs as well, you can use it without the phone on up to four devices.
Does Windows have integrated instant messaging?
No, but Windows 11 offers Team Chat as part of the OS that you can use to organize meetings and chat with friends and family. You can also quickly launch it using Win + C keyboard shortcut.
