Keeping Your Teams List Tidy
I’m sure there are lots of us out there who have access to so many teams that scrolling up and down the list feels like it takes longer than it takes do achieve my tasks.
In the past, we have been able to effectively define Teams as “Favourites” and “Hidden” so that we can keep our most active teams at the top of our list, and then hide away the ones that we aren’t active in. This worked really well, especially with the automated cleanup that meant that if I wasn’t active in a Team for 30 days then it would automatically become “Hidden”.
As always, there are changes to the workings of Microsoft Teams, which means that the old ways of working no longer work.
Teams and Channels
What we now see when we browse to our Teams list, is Teams and Channels, and generally matches what we are used to from a Teams list perspective, as in I see the Teams and I can then expand them and see the associated Channels.
I can still drag and drop the Teams around to order them in the way that I want, but seemingly there is no categorisation as in I can’t clear down my list of Teams.
That’s not actually true, there is now just a different terminology and process around this.
Hiding All Channels
Recently the terminology in Microsoft Teams has changed, so now rather than hiding the Team, you now “Hide all channels”. This option is accessible from the context menu on your selected Team, and is visible at the top of the menu.
The language used here could be slightly misleading as we generally look for the reference to the overall Team, not the channel. But now we know what we’re looking for!
When you click on Hide all channels, it will then remove the Team from your normal list. It DOES NOT remove you from the Team; that only happens when you leave, or you are removed; you have simply hidden it from normal sight.
Where has your Team gone?
Now once you’ve done this, you might be a little concerned that your Team has now disappeared from your view. This is true, it has gone from your normal view, but it’s not difficult to bring it back again.
Look right at the bottom of your Teams list and you will see that there is a new linked called “See all your teams”, which will then change the main view in your Teams client to the “Your teams and channels” screen.
On this screen notice that there is a visibility icon on the right side of the screen, which will either have an eye with a strike through, which means that it is hidden, or it will have nothing which means that it is visible.
Don’t be fooled though, when you hover over the eye, it disappears! To make it visible again, you need to click on the Team, and then select “Show” against the channels that you want to make visible. As soon as you’ve done this you’ll then see your Team again.
Happy Teaming!