⌨️ Call & Meeting Shortcuts
In a Call or Meeting
Mute / UnmuteCtrl+Shift+M
Camera on/offCtrl+Shift+O
Raise/lower handCtrl+Shift+K
Accept callCtrl+Shift+A
Decline callCtrl+Shift+D
Share screenCtrl+Shift+E
Start/stop recordingCtrl+Shift+R
Leave callCtrl+Shift+H
Toggle gallery viewCtrl+Shift+G
Navigating Teams
Search / command barCtrl+E
Go to ActivityCtrl+1
Go to ChatCtrl+2
Go to TeamsCtrl+3
Go to CalendarCtrl+4
Go to CallsCtrl+5
Start new chatCtrl+N
Open SettingsCtrl+,
💬 Chat & Messaging
Messaging Essentials
New line (without sending)Shift+Enter
Send messageEnter
Open formatting toolbarCtrl+Shift+X
1
@mention someone to notify them directly; use @team or @channel to alert an entire group
2
Hover a message → ••• → Edit or Delete within the allowed time window
3
React with emoji or use Mark as Important / Urgent (red exclamation icon) so it repeats notifications every 2 minutes until read
4
Use Loop components to share live, collaboratively-editable tables and lists directly in chat
⚡ Slash Commands
Type "/" Commands in the Search Bar
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/call [name] | Starts a call with a person directly |
/goto [team/channel] | Jumps straight to a team or channel |
/available, /busy, /dnd | Changes your status instantly |
/files | Shows your recent files |
/whatsnew | Shows recent Teams feature updates |
/keys | Shows the full keyboard shortcut list |
/saved | Opens your saved messages |
📂 Channels & Tabs
Organizing Channels
1
Right-click any channel → Pin to keep it at the top of your Teams list
2
Standard channels are visible to the whole team; Private channels are visible only to invited members
3
Use Shared channels to collaborate with people from outside your organization without giving them full team access
4
Hide unused channels (••• → Hide) rather than leaving them — keeps the sidebar uncluttered without losing access
Channel Tabs
1
Click the + next to existing tabs to embed a Word doc, Excel sheet, Planner board, website, or third-party app
2
Pinned tabs mean the whole team works from the same live document without hunting through Files
3
The default "Files" tab is actually a SharePoint document library tied to that channel
🎥 Meeting Features
Breakout Rooms & Together Mode
1
Breakout Rooms (••• menu during a meeting) splits a large call into smaller focused discussion groups, then brings everyone back together
2
Together Mode places everyone in a shared virtual background — feels more natural for large groups than a grid of boxes
3
Apply a Background Effect (blur or custom image) before joining via the pre-join screen
4
Use Spotlight to pin a specific person's video for everyone in the meeting (great for the active presenter)
Meeting Notes & Whiteboard
1
The Notes tab during a meeting creates a shared doc visible to all attendees, saved to the channel automatically
2
Open Whiteboard (Share Content → Whiteboard) for real-time collaborative sketching during a call
3
Use Live Captions (••• → Turn on live captions) for real-time on-screen subtitles
🎬 Recording & Transcripts
Recording Meetings
1
••• menu → Start Recording — all participants are notified that recording has begun
2
Recordings save automatically to OneDrive/SharePoint with an auto-generated transcript
3
After the meeting, Teams can generate an AI summary of key discussion points and action items (Copilot-enabled tenants)
4
Search within a transcript for a keyword to jump straight to that moment in the recording
⚠️ Always inform participants before recording — Teams notifies them automatically, but check your organization's recording policy and local laws on consent.
📁 Files & Apps
File Storage & App Integrations
1
Files shared in a channel are stored in that team's SharePoint site; files shared in 1:1 chat go to your personal OneDrive
2
Add apps like Planner, Forms, Power BI, or Trello via the Apps icon in the left sidebar
3
Open a Word/Excel file directly inside Teams to edit collaboratively without switching apps
🟢 Status & Notifications
Managing Status & Focus
1
Set Do Not Disturb to silence all notifications during deep-focus work or presentations
2
Add a custom status message ("In a workshop until 3pm") visible to anyone who messages you
3
Set status duration (e.g., 1 hour, until I change it) so it reverts automatically
4
Customize per-channel notification levels (Banner / Banner+Feed / Off) to mute noisy channels without leaving them
🛠️ Troubleshooting
Common Teams Problems
1
No audio/video in calls: Check device selection in Settings → Devices; confirm OS-level mic/camera permissions are granted to Teams
2
Teams running slow: Quit and clear cache: close Teams fully, delete contents of
%appdata%\Microsoft\Teams, then relaunch3
Can't join a meeting: Confirm you're signed into the correct account/tenant if your org uses multiple Microsoft 365 tenants
4
Screen share is laggy: Share a specific Window instead of the whole Desktop to reduce bandwidth use
5
Missing notifications: Check Windows Focus Assist isn't blocking them, and notification settings inside Teams aren't set to Off