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How to Share Files and Documents Within Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a powerful collaboration platform that makes it easy to share files and documents with your team members. Whether you want to collaborate on Office documents, share project files, or distribute company resources, Teams has you covered.

As a Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate, I have helped many organizations set up and adopt Microsoft Teams for secure file sharing and seamless collaboration. In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk you through the various ways to share files on Teams to boost productivity.

Store Project Files in Teams

The first step is to store your team files within Teams instead of email attachments or file servers. Teams provides a central location for all your documents where access can be controlled.

Here are some best practices when storing files:

  • Use Channels – Organize files into different channels based on projects, departments, etc. Channels allow you to target file access.
  • Leverage Tabs – Share folders and files using tabs along the top of channels. Tabs make specific files easy to discover.
  • Add Metadata – Use titles, descriptions and tags when uploading files for easy searchability later.

Uploading files into a Team channel automatically stores them in the integrated SharePoint document library. This allows all files to also be accessible from SharePoint directly.

Share Entire Folders and Libraries

Rather than sharing individual files, I recommend sharing entire folders or document libraries to make access easier.

Follow these steps:

  1. From the Files tab, select the 3-dot menu next to the folder and choose Copy link.
  2. Go to the channel Files tab and select Get link.
  3. Choose the Specific people option and add names or groups who should have access.
  4. Toggle link permissions between Can edit and Can view as needed.
  5. Send teammates the copied folder link for one-click access.

Now anyone can access that entire folder without needing to request access to each file manually.

Collaborate Seamlessly with Office Files

One advantage of Teams is the deep integration with Office 365 apps. This means you can:

  • Co-author Word, Excel and PowerPoint files – Multiple people can edit simultaneously.
  • Auto-save versions – Edits save automatically with no manual saving required.
  • View presence and revisions – See who’s editing and view revision history.

Follow these tips when collaborating on Office files:

  • @Mention others – Bring items to someone’s attention with @mentions.
  • Reply in threads – Have threaded, chat-like conversations right within the document.
  • Use Excel live tables and charts – Tables and charts update automatically as changes occur.

The Office integration makes it seamless to work with others on Office files from any device.

Share with People Outside Your Organization

Sometimes you need to share Team files with people outside your company, such as clients, partners or consultants.

Teams makes this easy by allowing you to invite external guests:

  1. From the channel Files tab, select Sync to open the SharePoint library.
  2. Choose the dots next to the file/folder and select Share.
  3. Enter the email address and optionally add a personal message.
  4. Set the access level to Can edit or Can view.

External users can access the files directly without needing their own Teams license. This allows secure collaboration while keeping business data internal.

Get a File Link to Share Anywhere

For maximum flexibility, you can create a direct file link to share via chat, email or anywhere else:

  1. In the file location, select the 3-dot menu next to the file.
  2. Choose Get link and configure the settings:
  • Link type: View, Edit, Restricted
  • Link scope: Org-wide or Specific people
  • Link permissions: View or Edit
  • Expiration date
  1. Copy and share the unique file link with anyone.

The major benefit of a direct link is being able to share files while configuring access and permissions at a very granular level.

Use Private Channels for Confidential Files

For more sensitive files, take advantage of Microsoft Teams private channels. Private channels allow creating a subset of team members with their own SharePoint document library.

Follow these steps to share confidential files using a private channel:

  1. Create a new private channel – Only invite members that should have access.
  2. Upload confidential files into the private channel Files tab as needed.
  3. Manage user access to the private channel itself rather than individual files.

This ensures only invited team members will ever have access to the files stored in the private SharePoint library.

Conclusion

With the exponential growth in remote and hybrid work, sharing files seamlessly is more critical than ever for an organization’s productivity and security.

As this guide outlines, Microsoft Teams provides extremely flexible ways to share documents and collaborate with both internal and external users.

By leveraging private channels, direct links and integrated Office apps, you can confidently store all company files in Teams for easy discovery and access.

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out! I have helped many companies successfully adopt Microsoft Teams over the past 5 years and can provide tailored advice for your file sharing needs.

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