Manage Membership of a Team or Channel

This article is intended for Team owners who need to manage access to a Team or a specific channel. You must be an owner of the Team to add or remove members. Private channels and Shared channels have separate membership lists and must be managed individually.

Questions

• How do I add or remove members from a Team?
• How do I manage membership for a private or shared channel?
• What is the difference between an owner and a member (and a guest)?
• Why can’t I change membership in a Team or channel?

Environment

This article is for Team owners who need to manage access to a Team or a specific channel in Microsoft Teams. You must be an owner of the Team to add or remove Team members. Private channels and shared channels have their own membership lists and are managed separately.

Resolution

Manage members of a Team (owners only):

1. Open Microsoft Teams.
2. Select Teams from the left menu.
3. Find the Team you want to manage.
4. Select the three dots (…) next to the Team name.
5. Choose Manage team.
6. On the Members tab, you can:
   • Add member to invite someone new (type a name or email; guests will be labeled “Guest”).
   • Use the role dropdown next to a person to change them between Member and Owner.
   • Select Remove (X) to remove someone from the Team.
7. Changes take effect immediately. Note: Teams requires at least one owner; you cannot remove the last owner.

Manage members of a private channel (channel owners only):

1. Go to the Team that contains the private channel (lock icon).
2. Select the three dots (…) next to the private channel name.
3. Choose Manage channel.
4. Use Add members to include specific people from the parent Team.
5. Change roles (owner/member) or remove members as needed.

Notes:

• Only owners of that private channel can manage its membership.
• Private channel members must already be members (or guests) of the parent Team.

Manage members of a shared channel (channel owners only):

1. Go to the Team that contains the shared channel (link icon).
2. Select the three dots (…) next to the shared channel name.
3. Choose Manage channel.
4. Use the options provided to:
   • Share with people in your organization,
   • Share with a team in your organization, and/or
   • Share with a team you own.
5. Change roles (owner/member) or remove people as needed.

Notes:

• Only owners of that shared channel can manage its membership.
• Shared channel members do not need to be members of the parent Team.

Important: Standard channels automatically include all Team members. You cannot manage membership separately for standard channels. Only private and shared channels have separate membership control.

Roles and permissions

• Owner: Manages Team settings, add/remove members, change roles, create/delete channels, manage apps/tabs. For private/shared channels, the channel owner manages that channel’s membership.  Every team should have at least two owners.
• Member: Participates in conversations, files, meetings; may create standard channels if allowed by the owner.
• Guest: External participant with limited capabilities; permissions are set by the Team owner and organization policy.

Troubleshooting: Why can’t I change membership?

• You are not an owner of the Team or the specific private/shared channel.
• You’re trying to manage a standard channel (its membership is the full Team).
• The Team is archived (ask an owner to unarchive first).

If you don’t see Manage team or Manage channel, ask a current owner to make you an owner, or contact the Service Desk.

Additional Help

If you need further assistance, please contact the Bowdoin College Service Desk.