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Working with Files in Teams

Summary

Teams makes it super easy to send files back and forth between coworkers. They have three places to send files in Teams: Chat, Files, and Teams.

Microsoft Teams makes sending and finding files super easy. To understand how this improves upon current systems let’s first take a quick look at how we currently work with files in the workplace.

If I wanted to send a file to a coworker I have a few options: I can send the file as an attachment in an e-mail or I can share a link to the file from OneDrive or Sharepoint. There are a few problems with this system:

  • If someone sends you a file through an e-mail, it can be difficult to find that file again. You have to search for the e-mail it was originally sent in or remember if you downloaded it somewhere to your computer.
  • If you send someone a link to access the file, they can lose the link and email you again to have you send it to them again.

The main issue with this system is that there are just too many places to have the file.

Microsoft Teams solves this by giving you one central place to find all your files. By having a centralized location for working with files, it eliminates all the friction that previously existed with the older systems.

No more searching through e-mails or text messages to find the link or attachment that someone sent you.

Just go to Teams.

Let’s look at the 3 places within teams that you can find and send files.

The first and most obvious place is on the sidebar in the section called “Files”.

files sidebar img

This will show you all the activity with files that relate to you in some way. These are files that either you interacted with or have been modified in shared folders that you are a part of including “All Perimeter Staff”.

You likely will see a lot of files here that you have never worked on.

This section has 4 different ways to view the files:

  • Recent
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Downloads
  • OneDrive

Recent​

Recent will show you the files that are the most relevant to you. These will likely be files that are the most directly related to you in some way. They don’t show you a lot of files that not directly related to you, so this section will be the easiest and most relevant.

Microsoft Teams​

This is a strange label for this section because...well you are already in Microsoft Teams. But this section shows files that are being modified by teams that you belong to like your department and All Perimeter Staff.

Downloads​

Downloads is a handy section that shows files that you have previously downloaded from Teams to your computer. This keeps a log of exactly which files you've downloaded to your computer and will easily open those files up no matter where they are on your computer. There's no need to go searching for your computer to find it.

OneDrive​

This is just another way to view your personal OneDrive storage. It's same as if you went to OneDrive on the web. Having it here makes it so that you rarely have to leave Teams to view any files at all.

Sending Files Through Chat​

Another place to work with files is in Chat.

When you are chatting with coworkers, each chat will allow you to send files back and forth with that person (or group of people if it's a group chat). To view all the files in a chat just click on the "Files" tab at the top of the page.

files chat img

This is by far the easiest and most direct way to send files to someone. Again, this works with a chat with just one person or a chat with a group of people even if they are not a part of your department.

Working With Files in Teams Section​

The last place to find and send files is in the Teams section. The teams section will show all the teams you are a part of including your department.

Each Team will have a "Files" section at the top as a unified place for you to store files that you want anyone in your team to be able to access.

files teams img

There are a few buttons at the top of this screen:

  • New - This allows you to create a new Office document (Word, Excel, etc.) right inside of Teams and it stores it in the Files section within your department.
  • Upload - It allows you to upload files.
  • Sync - This can sync OneDrive with your computer so you can see the files on your computer instead of just withing Teams. I've found that this doesn't work very well and doesn't provide any major advantage. It works better on Windows than on a Mac.
  • Download - Allows you to download the file to your computer.
  • Add Cloud Storage - You can also have it display storage from another provider like Dropbox or Box.
  • Open in SharePoint - This opens the file on the Sharepoint website.
  • All Documents - This allows you to view the files in different views: List, Compact List, Tiles.

If you wanted to share a file with your entire department and have it be easily accessible, this is the best place to store it. It's super easy for anyone in the department to view from their phone or computer in the Teams app. There's no need to go to Office.com or OneDrive.com or SharePoint and then constantly having to log-in. Just go to the Teams app and your Teams channel and you have all your files.

Recap​

It's easy to see how having one central place that can have all your files can make life a lot easier when working with coworkers. Let's recap the three places to work with files in Teams:

  1. In the 'Files' tab on the sidebar.
  2. In the 'Files' tab of a chat with a coworker in the 'Chat' section.
  3. In the 'Files' tab in a channel on the 'Teams' section.