How to add a guest user to Microsoft Teams
How to add a guest user to Microsoft Teams
To add a guest user to Microsoft Teams:
- Click the “…” button next to any team in the Teams sidebar.
- Click “Add member” and type the guest’s email address.
- Assign the guest a name and add them to the team.
Applies to All Windows 10 Versions
Microsoft Teams is a great way to keep members of your organisation connected, especially when working remotely. Sometimes, you may need to work with people outside your organisation, such as external contractors, clients or suppliers. Using Teams’ guest capabilities, you can add these users in a secure way which restricts their access to your data.
Adding guests is straightforward. Find the team the guest should be added to in the Teams sidebar. Click the “…” button to the right of the team’s name and select “Add member”.
Type the email address of the person who you’d like to add. Once you’ve completed the email address, you’ll be prompted to add a name for the guest. Then, click the “Add” button to complete the process. (If you get a “We can’t find any matches” message, guest access is disabled for your Office 365 account – you’ll need to talk to an administrator first).
Your guest will receive an email inviting them to join the team. Once they’ve accepted, they’ll show up like any other member.
Guest permissions
Guest permissions are limited to help protect your organisation’s data. Guests can send messages to the team like any other user. They can also share files and create private chats.
Access to most other features is restricted, so guests can’t schedule meetings, change Teams settings, create new teams or manage apps. You can get the full list of what’s permitted over on Microsoft’s support site.
Some options are customisable and can be controlled on a per-team basis. Click the “Manage team” link from a team’s options menu and navigate to the “Settings” tab. In the “Guest permissions” section, toggle the checkboxes to enable guest access to certain features, such as channel creation and deletion.
Guests are always clearly labelled within the Teams interface to help avoid confusion. Any external user will have their name suffixed with the word “Guest.” You can view a complete list of guests – and remove them from the team – by clicking “Manage team” from a team’s option menu and reviewing the list of members which is displayed.
Finally, you don’t have to create guest accounts for users who need one-time access to a specific Teams meeting. You can follow our dedicated guide to managing guest access to voice and video calls when persistent access isn’t required.
