With the announcement that Shared Channels in Microsoft teams is now generally available, it’s worth considering the different types of channels.
There are now three types of channels available within a Team:
- Standard Channel
- Private Channel
- Shared Channel
| Feature | Standard Channel | Private Channel | Shared Channel |
| Description | Channel for all team members | Channel for a sub set of team members | Channel available to be shared with team members and none team members |
| Guests Permitted (subject to organisation level controls) | YesBoth Azure AD and Consumer email | YesBoth Azure AD and Consumer email | YesAzure AD only |
| Tabs Available | Full Range | Limited. Notable exceptions are Tasks (Planner) and Calendar | Limited. Notable exceptions are Tasks (Planner) and Calendar |
| Compliance Conversation Storage | Group Mailbox | Member mailboxes | Dedicated Mailbox |
| Files Stored | Team SharePoint Site / Documents /Channel | Channel SharePoint Site / Documents* | Channel SharePoint Site / Documents |
| External Access Controlled from | External Collaboration settingsB2B Collaboration settings | External Collaboration settingsB2B Collaboration settings | External Collaboration settingsB2B Direct Connect settings |
*Note: That Channel sites used to create a channel folder in the Documents library as for standard channels. However this is no longer the case going forward. Older private channels will keep their existing structure.
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