Spaces
Channels, threads, direct messages, calls, and files for a team, project, or topic.
- Get started in Spaces
Find your Account and Space, open a channel or direct message, send a message, and check replies and mentions.
- Send, edit, or delete a message
Check the conversation and its audience, send a message, then edit your text or delete the message if needed.
- Move your daily work from Teams to Spaces
Match everyday Teams tasks to Spaces, and check your institution's guidance for old messages, files, and meeting links.
- Use Spaces with a keyboard
Move through Spaces controls with Tab, search with Ctrl+K or Cmd+K, and use the message box without a mouse.
- What a Space is
A Space is a named group of channels and people inside one Account; channels hold the messages, and threads hold side-discussions.
- Explore and join a Space
Choose Explore Spaces in the left-hand navigation, search by name, and join a Space you can access.
- Send a direct message
Choose DMs in the left-hand navigation, then start a conversation with one person or a small group.
- Channels and sub-channels
A channel is one shared conversation inside a Space; a sub-channel sits under a channel and draws its members from it.
- Reply in a thread
Open the actions on the message you want to answer and choose Reply in thread; the replies open in a panel beside the channel.
- Find the threads in a channel
Threads appear under the channel row in the navigation column and in full on the channel's Threads tab.
- Mention someone or a role
Type @ in the composer and pick a name; a resolved mention notifies that person even when the conversation is muted.
- Unread and Mentions
Unread counts conversations that need you; Mentions counts the individual mentions inside them. Both are per destination.
- Pin a message
Open the actions on a message and choose Pin message; pinned messages collect on the channel's Pins tab.
- Share a file in a channel
Use the plus button in the composer to upload a file or pick one from Drive, or drag files onto the message pane.
- The Files tab
The Files tab lists files shared or uploaded in the channel, newest first, with downloads where available.
- Search in Spaces
Press Ctrl+K or Cmd+K to search everything you can read, or use the channel header's search box for one conversation.
- Start or join a call
Open a channel's call button, choose your camera and microphone, then join; others can join from the same channel.
- Notifications and mute
Set what a single conversation notifies you about from its row menu, and set the default for everything in Spaces settings.
- Link cards
A link pasted into a message expands into a card; GitHub, scholarly, media, and Evolve links get purpose-built cards.
- You cannot see a Space
A Space you expect is missing because you are not a member, it is invite only, your Account lost Spaces access, or a collaboration ended.
- You cannot post in a channel
The composer is locked because the channel is an announcement channel, it is archived, your access is read only, or a send failed.
- You cannot see the Files tab
Files is on every channel; on a narrow window its name is hidden or the tabs collapse into a menu, and an empty channel reads No files yet.
- Notifications are not arriving
Check the conversation's setting, its channel and parent channel if present, your account default, then browser permission.
- Create a Space
Choose New Space in the left-hand navigation, name the Space, add people if needed, and create it.
- Create a channel
Choose Create channel in the Space you want, name it, pick who can open it, then choose Create.
- Add people to a channel
Open the channel's members list, then add a person by name or email, or add an eligible workgroup.
- Space members and roles
Space administrators manage membership and settings; channel roles control some actions; named Space roles help group members for mentions.
- Cross-Account access
A Space can be shared with another Account through a collaboration; members of that Account then read, or read and post, in its channels.
- Agents and desks in a channel
A desk is an AI teammate you reach by mentioning it in its own Space; agent work can also be started from a single message.
- Leave or delete a Space
Open the Space menu from the rail, then choose Leave Space to remove yourself or Delete Space to remove it for everyone.