Find Your Department's Files in Teams

Questions

  • My department's files moved to Microsoft Teams. Where are they now?
  • How do I find the Microsoft Teams channel that replaced my old J: drive folder?
  • How do I open my department's Teams files in File Explorer on Windows 11?
  • How do I get my department's Teams files into Finder on a Mac?
  • Why do my desktop shortcuts and Office recent files still point at a J: drive folder that will not open?
  • What is different about working in Microsoft Teams instead of the Microwave department drive?
  • I cannot see my department's Team in the Microsoft Teams sidebar. How do I get added?
  • A folder that used to be on the J: drive is not in any channel. Where did it go?
  • As a new staff member, how do I find the shared files my office uses every day?

Environment

This article applies to Bowdoin College faculty and staff whose department has finished moving files from the Microwave department drive (J:) to Microsoft Teams. Membership in the department's Team is required, and a Team owner can add anyone who is missing.

  • People: Bowdoin faculty and staff who used a departmental (J:) folder on microwave.bowdoin.edu.
  • Systems: Microsoft Teams and the SharePoint document library behind each Teams channel, reached after signing in at https://office365.bowdoin.edu.
  • Computers: Bowdoin-issued Windows 11 computers and Bowdoin-issued Macs running macOS Sequoia (15.x), Tahoe (26.x), or newer. Personal computers are supported on a best-effort basis only.
  • Tablets: iPad running the current version of iPadOS, using the Microsoft Teams app.
  • Labels: in some versions of Microsoft Teams a channel's Shared tab is labeled Files. Both labels open the same place.
  • Not in scope: your personal (H:) drive files and files kept only in an individual OneDrive.
  • Not in scope: the steps for adding a shortcut or setting up sync, which are covered in Add a Shortcut to a Teams Channel or Shared Folder in OneDrive and Sync Teams Channels and Shared Folders to Your Computer in the Related Articles section.

Resolution

Open and pin your department's Team

  1. Open Microsoft Teams and select Teams in the left sidebar.
  2. Look through the list for your department's name.
  3. Select More options ("...") next to your department's name and choose Pin so the Team stays at the top of the list.

If your department's Team is not in the list, ask a Team owner to add you as a member. Every Team should have at least two owners, so more than one person can usually add you.

Find the channel that replaced your old J: drive folder

Top-level folders from the Microwave department drive (J:) usually became channels in the department's Team, and the folders inside them stayed folders. Select a channel, then select the Shared tab, and you are looking at the same files your department used on the J: drive. Pin the channels you open every day by selecting More options ("...") next to the channel name and choosing Pin.

Reach the files from File Explorer or Finder

Working in a web browser is not required. To compare a shortcut with sync before you choose, see Choose How Teams and Shared Files Appear on Your Computer in the Related Articles section. For the steps to add a shortcut, see Add a Shortcut to a Teams Channel or Shared Folder in OneDrive in the Related Articles section. Once a shortcut is added, the channel appears inside the Bowdoin College OneDrive entry in File Explorer on Windows 11 and in the Bowdoin College OneDrive entry in the Finder sidebar on a Mac.

Note: A shortcut is the recommended default for getting files onto a computer, because a shortcut follows you to every computer you sign in to. Sync is for specific cases, such as needing a folder while you have no network connection.

Four things that work differently from the J: drive

  • There is no drive letter. Files in Microsoft Teams are not on J:. If a program your office depends on needs a drive letter or a fixed path, contact the Bowdoin College Service Desk before moving that work into Microsoft Teams.
  • Version history replaces copies named "final_v2". Every save is kept. Select More options ("...") next to a file in a channel and choose Version history to view or put back an earlier version, and stop making dated copies. For the full steps, see See and Restore an Earlier Version of a File in the Related Articles section.
  • Deleting affects everyone immediately. A file you delete from a channel disappears from your colleagues' view right away. Deleted items are recoverable for 93 days, and the steps are in How to Recover Documents in OneDrive, Teams, or SharePoint in the Related Articles section.
  • Reorganize in Microsoft Teams, not on your computer. Renaming and moving folders in File Explorer or Finder can break other people's links and your own sync. Rename and move folders in Microsoft Teams or in SharePoint on the web instead.

Rebuild shortcuts, pinned documents, and recent files

Desktop shortcuts, Finder aliases, pinned documents, and the recent-file lists in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint all still point at the Microwave department drive (J:), and they stop working once access to the old folder is removed. Open each file once from its new home in a Teams channel, and the file returns to your recent list pointing at the new location. To send a colleague a file, select the file in Microsoft Teams and choose Copy link rather than pasting a J: drive path such as J:\Department\Budget.

Keep using the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint desktop apps

Files stored in a Teams channel still open in the installed Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps. To make the installed app the default, open Microsoft Teams, go to Settings > Files, and choose Desktop app.

Small settings that make Microsoft Teams easier

None of these are required, but they are the changes people tend to make once and then stop thinking about.

  • Pin the files your office opens every day. Pinning a file is separate from pinning a Team or a channel. In a channel's Shared tab, select More options ("...") next to a file and choose Pin to top. The file moves above the folder list for everyone in the channel, which is a good way to surface the forms and templates your department uses constantly.
  • Ask questions inside the document. In Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, add a comment and type @ followed by a colleague's name. They get an email that opens the file at that comment, so the question and the document stay together instead of the question living in your Sent folder.
  • Choose which channels notify you. Microsoft Teams is quiet by default, so a channel you rarely open will not tell you when something has changed. To set this per channel, see Manage and Mute Microsoft Teams Notifications in the Related Articles section.

If a folder or file is missing after the move

Folders reviewed during the move may have gone to the College Archives, moved into an individual's OneDrive, or been deleted by agreement. Your department's migration lead holds the File Review record that says what happened to each folder, so start there. 

Additional Help

If you need further assistance, you have several options:

  • Bowdoin Bot: Chat with Bowdoin Bot directly from any KB page for instant answers.
  • Phone: Call the Bowdoin College Service Desk at (207) 725-3030.
  • In person: Visit the Tech Hub in Smith Union during business hours.
  • Submit a ticket: Request assistance through the Service Catalog.
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