Microsoft is unlocking the "Full Potential" of Private Channels in Microsoft Teams: What You Need to Know

It has been a while since I posted something just about a Microsoft Teams update, as a lot have been Copilot in Teams to be honest. But here is a real Microsoft Teams update I think is worth knowing about, and it involves Security and Compliance as well. Microsoft is rolling out a "major" update to private channels in Teams, starting in late September 2025 and continuing through mid-December. This biggest change in this update is a shift in how private channel data is stored from individual user mailboxes to a dedicated channel mailbox. Not only will this simplifie compliance management, it will also and align private channels with shared channels, making governance and experience more consistent across Teams. This update promises to increase the support up to 1000 channels per team and 5000 members per channel, removing previous limitations. Teams will also allow meetings to be scheduled directly within private channels, enhancing collaboration.  For organizations using Micr...

Team Templates in Teams:

If you haven't noticed, there are configurable Teams templates available for your tenants. With this feature, there are 10+ (13) prepared templates for every organization. But the admin center allows for customizations of existing templates and creation of your own templates.

In the Teams Admin center, expand the "Teams" menu to access the "Team templates". Edit the existing templates, or create a new template from scratch or based upon an existing template or an existing Team.

The template admin will let you pre-create channels and their shown or hidden status. As well as adding apps and tabs to the team and associate them with the desired channels.

This feature is going to simplify standardization and creation of functional teams throughout the organization.

According to the roadmap, the feature is being rolled out this month.  And you can read all about how to work with these templates in the documentation library.