❌ This is the solution if you can't add anyone to a private channel in Microsoft Teams
If you cannot add someone to a private channel in Microsoft Teams it is because the guests or members are not on the main team.
It is not possible to add people directly in a private channel or private channel without them being part of the general channel.
Scenario: An example scenario is: Collaboration with external users. Add everyone to the same team. Do not use the general channel for 'internal' communication but create private channels. In this example, do not use the general channel and close all communication. See tip: Create guest team and limit the general channel in use - Read-Only
In this blog, I have provided a lot of information on how to organise a team in the ideal world.
Is it not possible to add members in Microsoft Teams ?
If you want to add members, but cannot do so in a private channel, this is because people must first be added to the general channel.
Open the team your private channel belongs to
Navigate to your main team. In this case, "Project Y".
Add people to the team via 'Add member'.
Then open the Microsoft Teams private channel
Add the member or several new members in the private channel one by one or in group.
This is the solution to add people in a private channel in Microsoft Teams.
Also readthese handy manuals in Teams
How to prevent users from deleting channels, tabs & apps in Teams
Microsoft Teams - Create a read-only folder so participants can't edit your documents
The 30 best Microsoft Teams features highlighted
Sharing your screen with computer audio in Microsoft Teams | Windows + Mac
How to share your screen with other participants in Microsoft Teams?
About the author
best,
I have created a Team with 15 guests (external members).
I create a private channel and now I want to add certain guests to this channel.
I can add 2 guests ... a 3rd is no longer possible.
What is the cause of this or is 2 a maximum?
Hi Eric, have your guests been added to the main team? Normally there are no limits. Only above 5000 members.
The guests have indeed been added to the main team.
However, when I try again, I see that it works ... apparently "Teams" does not always respond as it should ...
Problem solved, thanks in advance.
I can't even add members in the main team.... arrghhhh help!!!
Are you the owner of the Team? I thought that only owners can add members, members have to ask permission from the team owner to add a member.
Yes, I am the owner! Very strange...
With previous teams it always worked. Now 2 new ones started and suddenly it doesn't work anymore....
Hi Lotte, can this blog help you? https://365tips.be/externe-toegang-inschakelen-om-te-kunnen-samen-werken-in-teams/
In the meantime, I have somehow managed to add them as guests ;-). But it would actually be better if they were 'members' or also 'owners'... Can you change this?
I really don't understand what is going wrong today... We ran a training course at Teams a few months ago and today we are starting a second edition...
You can change members into owners via: Team management -> Members -> Select member -> Make owner.
Yes, a member... but a guest, is that possible too?
A guest can also become an owner.
And how do you do that? Because I can't exactly change the role of guest via administration...
Hi Lotte, just tested. It does not work with real guests. It does work with other (external) office 365 users.
I have a similar problem. I have added guests to a Team, then try to put them in a private channel. For some it works, but not for others. It does not find that address when I want to add it.
Sometimes I manage to remove the guest from Teams and then add them again. Then (sometimes) it manages to invite the guest to a channel.
What strikes me is that when I try to find the guest in question via the 'search for members' field in the Team member overview (i.e. the highest level), the guest is not found either. However, if I scroll down the list, the guest is listed!
I am curious who recognises this problem and whether there is a solution.
grt, werner
Hi Werner, what you can do is check whether the guests have been added in the team itself. Only later can you add them in (private) channels.
Sometimes it takes a while. Have you tried the web version?
I have the exact same issue as Werner up to every detail. In my case she was added days ago by now, surely it cannot take that long?
Hi Pieter, sometimes it needs to propagate. But I don't believe that's the case if it's hours ago. What you can do (if you're administrator) is lookup in Azure AD users if the external contact is there and see if this person is able to login. If not removing and re-adding could speed this up.
Hello Jasper,
On MS Teams, is it possible to invite a guest user only to a private channel without adding that guest user to the main team? I'd like for the guest user to only have access to that private channel and not have access to the General channel. Is that possible?
Hi There,
It's not possible. A (private)member needs to be invited to the main team before you can add him/her to the Private Channel.
What I suggest is; remove crucial things from general to another private channel and make General Read Only or for a select group of people: https://365tips.be/en/microsoft-teams-create-a-read-only-folder-so-users-cannot-modify-your-documents/
Looking forward to help understand the solution to integrate in another article.