Teams and SharePoint integration - SharePoint in Microsoft 365 (2024)

In this article, learn about how Teams and SharePoint work together.

Here are the basic parts of Teams and SharePoint and how they relate to each other:

• Teams - Teams is a collaboration tool where you can chat with other people about a particular subject or task. Each team is connected to other tools that you can use to collaborate with others.

• SharePoint - SharePoint is a tool for creating web sites, publishing content, and storing files.

• SharePoint site - A SharePoint site is a web site in SharePoint where you can create web pages and store and collaborate on files. SharePoint sites can be used independently and are also used by Teams for file storage (called Teams-connected sites). A Teams-connected site is created automatically whenever you create a team.

• Team - A team is a place in Teams where you can invite others to collaborate. Each team is connected to one or more SharePoint sites. These sites are where the team's files are stored.

  See Also

  File storage in Microsoft TeamsSharePoint and OneDrive data resiliency in Microsoft 365 - Microsoft Service Assurance5 Reasons To Migrate Your File Server to SharePoint | IncWorx

• Public team - A public team is a team that anyone in the organization can join. Public teams don't require a team owner to invite someone to the team.

• Private team - A private team is a team that a person can only join when invited by a team owner. Both public teams and private teams offer the same channel types - standard, private, and shared.

• Parent site - The SharePoint site that is created when you create the team. This site is used for file storage for all standard channels. All team owners and members have access to this site.

• Channel - A channel is a location in a team where you can collaborate with others on a specific thing. A team can have multiple channels for different purposes. For example, you might have a team for marketing with different channels for different products or events. There are three types of channels in Teams: standard, private, and shared.

• Standard channel - A standard channel is a channel that all members of a team have access to. Each team comes with a standard channel called "General." Team owners and members can add additional standard channels. It always shows up first in a team's list of channels, and it can't be deleted (every team must have at least one channel).

• Private channel - A private channel is a channel that only some of the team's members have access to. It's used for private conversations and collaboration. Each private channel has its own SharePoint site for file storage. Only members of the private channel can access this site.

• Shared channels - A shared channel is a channel that you can add anyone to, even if they're not a member of the team. It's used for broader collaboration with people outside the team. Each shared channel has its own SharePoint site for file storage. Only members of the shared channel can access this site.

• Channel site - The SharePoint site that is created when you create a private or shared channel in a team. Only owners and members of the private or shared channel have access to this site.

• Microsoft 365 group - A Microsoft 365 group is a membership group that gives people access to multiple Microsoft 365 services at the same time. The membership for each team is stored in a Microsoft 365 group and that group also gives those people access to the team's parent SharePoint site.

• Microsoft Entra ID - Microsoft Entra ID is the directory service where Microsoft 365 user accounts are stored. (You can manage these accounts from Microsoft 365 as well.) Microsoft 365 groups are also stored in Microsoft Entra ID. Microsoft Entra ID allows administrators to manage users and groups and to apply business rules to user accounts, such as requiring multi-factor authentication.

Each team is connected to a Microsoft 365 group in Microsoft Entra ID where the team membership is stored. The files you see on the Files tab in a team are stored in a SharePoint site. All standard channels in a team share the same SharePoint site, but each private channel has its own site.

Teams and SharePoint are connected in the following scenarios:

• When you create a new team from scratch, a new SharePoint site is created and connected to the team.
• When you create a new team from an existing Microsoft 365 group, the team is connected to the SharePoint site associated with the group.
• When you add Teams to an existing SharePoint site, that site is connected to the new team.
• When you create a new private or shared channel, a new SharePoint site is created and connected to that channel.

In Teams, the Files tab on each standard channel is connected to a folder in the parent site's default document library. The Files tab on each private and shared channel is connected to the default document library in the corresponding channel site. Whenever you add or update a file on the Files tab, you're accessing the SharePoint site.

Example of a team with multiple channel types

Contoso has a team called Mark 8 Project Team. This team has several standard channels, and one private channel called Compete Analysis.

The standard channels display as folders in the parent site. The private channel has its own channel site that is separate from the parent site.

Teams-connected sites and channel types

Teams-connected sites are a specialized type of SharePoint site that's been optimized for a Teams connection. This includes the parent site that is created when you create the team, and any channel sites that are created when you create a private or shared channel.

This table describes how site, file, and folder sharing work for each type of channel in Teams.

Teams-connected sites are managed differently than the typical SharePoint site. Certain site settings can only be managed from Teams. For channel sites, some settings are inherited from the parent site and can't be changed. This table describes where SharePoint settings are managed for Teams-connected sites.

Create a Microsoft Team from SharePoint

Teams can have standard or private channels

Overview of security and compliance

Manage teams policies in Teams

Manage team settings and permissions in Teams