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Collaboration and Communication

How to Share MS Teams Channels Between Organizations

Grace

• 5 min read
how to share microsoft teams channels between organizations

Sharing Microsoft Teams channels between teams and organizations is possible through a feature called Shared Channels. There are two ways to share channels with external organizations, each with pros and cons depending on the needs of the teams or the organization. Before diving into the instructions, let’s review the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.

Invite them as “External Collaborators”.

  • Pros

    • They will only have access to the Channel they are in, not the whole Team/Group.
    • It is more secure because access to all channel-related information is limited to the channel only.

  • Cons

    • You and the collaborating external company will need to use and subscribe to Microsoft Entra B2B direct connect for this.

  • The members will be tagged as (External)

Invite them as “guests” into your Teams.

  • Pros

    • No need to install Microsoft Entra B2B direct connect.
    • Invite them directly to be part of the Team using their company’s email address.

  • Cons

    • They will have access to the whole Team (group) information, including all unrelated-to-the-project channels, shared files, and conversations within the Team.
    • You can only invite them into a channel if they’re members of the Team/group

  • The members will be tagged as (guest)

Image from Microsoft
Image from Microsoft

Requirements:

  • Permission to create a channel in the Team
  • Microsoft Entra B2B direct connect (for external collaborators)

Invite Them as “External Collaborators”

Instructions:

  1. Install Microsoft Entra ID and follow the prompts until fully set-up.

  2. Configure Microsoft Entra ID Settings

    • Go to Dashboard > External Identities > Cross-tenant access settings
      • Go to the Default Settings tab, under Inbound access settings
      • Allow Access to External Users and Applications
        • B2B direct connect > External users and groups > Allow access. Allow access also to Applications as per requirement.
          1
      • Go to the Trust Settings tab and apply the options as necessary to your organization and click Save.
      • Go to Outbound access settings, and apply the same settings as the Inbound.
    • Go to Dashboard > External Identities > External Collaboration Settings and check the settings for security purposes.
      Important Notes:
      • Your partner organization should also have this setting in their Microsoft Entra ID
      • Under Lifecycle management
        • Setup the Terms of Use and let the external collaborators accept your Terms
        • Go Access Reviews and check what access your external collaborators have.
    • Add external collaborators from other organizations to your Microsoft Entra ID to connect with them
      • Get the Username and Microsoft email address of the external collaborators (e.g. [email protected])
      • Go to Dashboard > Groups > Click the “Group Name” where you want to add the External Collaborator > Click Members
      • Select Add Members, add the username to the search bar, and click Invite.
      • Once the external collaborator accepted the invitation, you are now connected.

  3. Set up your Team

    • Go to your Microsoft 365 Admin account (admin.microsoft.com) > Teams & Groups > Active teams & groups
    • Select the target group (or team) where you want to share the channel. The right side panel will appear with the information.
    • On the right side panel, go to Settings and copy settings below and hit Save.
      2

  4. Configure Teams Settings

    • Go to Teams Admin Center (https://admin.teams.microsoft.com/dashboard)
    • Click Teams > Teams Update Policies > Click the Global (Org-wide default). A pop-up panel on the right will appear.
    • At the Show Teams preview features, toggle the buttons to On (enabled)
    • Go to Teams Policies > Select the Global (Org-wide default) and use the settings below. You may restrict it as needed.
      3

  5. Create a shared channel

    • Go to your teams.microsoft.com account
    • Go to Teams, look for the group (team) name where you want to create a channel, and select the three dots for more options
    • Select Add Channel and fill up the information on the pop-up window
    • Change the privacy options to Shared
      4

  6. Invite people to the Shared Channel

    • Go to teams.microsoft.com > Teams > “Channel name” > click the three dots, hover to Share Channel and click Share with people.
    • Get the Username of the person you want to add (e.g. [email protected]). It will appear with the “External” tag like in the image below.
      5

Invite Them as “Guest”

Instructions:

  1. Sign in to our Teams account (https://teams.microsoft.com/v2/)
  2. Create a shared channel
    • Go to your teams.microsoft.com account
    • Go to Teams, look for the group (team) name where you want to create a channel, and select the three dots for more options
    • Select Add Channel and fill up the information on the pop-up window
    • Change the privacy options to Shared
  3. Invite people to the Shared Channel
    • Go to Teams and hover to the Group/Team you want the external user to add.
    • Click the 3 dots and select Add member.
    • It will appear with a “Guest” tag like in the image below.
      6

More Information:

  • A shared channel in Microsoft Teams is a way to collaborate with other people who aren’t in your team, mostly used for a project.
  • Types of Channels
    • Standard
    • Everyone on the team has access
    • Default Option
  • Private
    • Specific teammates have access
    • Useful when discussing confidential information
    • Requirements
      • You must be a member of the Team
      • You must be specifically invited to the channel
      • Team Owners are not automatically invited to the channel
  • Shared
    • People you choose from your org or other org has access
    • Useful for project based work
    • You can invite other people from other Teams

Resources:

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