Create Team from existing SharePoint site, and other requests

#1 User Request on SharePoint:
Enable integration of Microsoft Teams to an existing SharePoint site rather than to always create a new site collection

There have been a few ideas raised on integrating lists, OneNote, document libraries, etc. from an existing SharePoint site with Microsoft Teams, but in summary, it will be best if we could create a team upon on existing site, so that the "Files" and "Notes" tabs would directly reference the existing document library and OneNote in SharePoint. It does not make sense to have two separate sites: one for all the usual SharePoint stuff, and another just for Microsoft Teams.

#2: Link to Existing SharePoint Sites

Trying to link my Team up to an existing SharePoint site - only seem to be able to link to individual folders rather than the whole document library, meaning that if i want all folders on the Team i need to create multiple tabs to get this. Would be good to link to a whole document library rather than one folder.

#3: Other Asks

Post Team chat to SP microfeed
Connect team sites onenote if available (replace default notes)
Add links to existing document libraries (replace default files)
Add links to existing lists
Add support for SharePoint taxonomy and managed metadata, SharePoint views etc :D

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2,176 votes

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We’ll send you updates on this idea

Isaac Chua shared this idea · Nov 2, 2016 · Flag idea as inappropriate… · Admin →

on the backlog ·

AdminWarren (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Aug 6, 2018

This feature request is working its way through the backlog queue. No new details are available yet.

-Warren

Show previous admin responses (8)

on the backlog ·

AdminWarren (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Jun 1, 2018

This item is still queued in the backlog. Unfortunately there are no additional details to share at this time.

-Warren

on the backlog ·

AdminWarren (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Jan 25, 2018

This item has moved to the backlog. There is no additional info to share at this time.

As things develop we will post updates.

-Warren

under review ·

AdminSuphatra (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Aug 25, 2017

So, I have got an update for you.

We have pulled this out of “planned” and backwards to “under review” because the SharePoint team is working on a feature to allow you to convert an existing SharePoint site into a Modern Group. And as you likely already know, once it is a Modern Group, it can be easily converted into a team in Teams.

I’m trying to get a status update from the SharePoint team on this feature — once I have it, I’ll let you know.

Thanks for your patience and hope everyone is enjoying their August.

Sincerely,
Suphatra

planned ·

AdminSuphatra (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Jun 21, 2017

Hi everyone, thanks for your responses!

I’ve talked with our Files team (here at Teams) and this item is planned, but note that for this item to happen, it has to be done by primarily by the SharePoint team.

So I’m trekking the long haul across campus to knock down some doors on the SharePoint team to see if we can speed this up. Will let you know how that goes!

Suphatra

needs your feedback ·

AdminSuphatra (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · May 23, 2017

Hi everyone, so I think there are multiple asks in this request, as I’m getting messages asking for different things. Can you vote in the thread below and tell me which scenario you are seeking?

Scenario A: When creating a new Team, you want to be able to point an existing SharePoint site to that Team without having to migrate the site over. (For example, currently when you create a new Team, we let you elect an existing O365 Group during team creation so it automatically ports all the people into the new Team.)

Scenario B: You want to be able to “Bring your own SharePoint”, which means you want to be able to add an existing SP site as a tab into a channel.

If you are asking for Scenario A, then can you please answer these follow up items:

Q1: If we made this possible, then would you expect the SP library to auto-generate channels in accordance to the folder structure? What would you expect to happen if you selected an existing SP site in the team creation process?

Q2: How important is this to you, comparative to other asks in UserVoice? The best way to answer this is giving it a 1 to 10 rank, 1 being this is nice but not vital, 10 being there is no other feature you want more.

Q3: Would using the Create Channels API fix this for you, so you could make your own solution?

Thanks everyone, and a special thanks for your patience as we learn more about what you need.

Sincerely,
Suphatra

completed ·

AdminSuphatra (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · May 9, 2017

Hi folks,

BYOS — Bring Your Own SharePoint! You can now integrate an existing SharePoint Online library into Microsoft Teams.

Just add your own SharePoint by clicking the little plus sign in your channel, which is next to the last tab in any channel.

Note — this will only work for existing SharePoint Online libraries. We do not have support for migrating existing on-premise SharePoint into Teams.

Thanks and just tweet me if you have any questions.

Suphatra

Twitter: @skprufo

under review ·

AdminSuphatra (Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams) responded · Mar 12, 2017

Hi everyone, I was reading through the comments here and it sounds like this item was not completed to address your needs. Can you add to the thread the scenario you’re in, or any other relevant information, that I can pass on to this particular dev team?

Thank you for your help! We’ll try to make this work to meet your needs.

Suphatra

completed ·

Angela Sze responded · Nov 5, 2016

Thanks for your feedback! You can currently add an existing Sharepoint library to you channel by clicking the + to add tab, then select Sharepoint. Please let us what you think of this feature!

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Anonymous commented · November 14, 2018 9:52 AM · Flag as inappropriate

I need the "files" tab in a channel point to an Existing SharePoint Site. Having existing SharePoint libraries linked to as "tabs" does not help us. If someone accidentally uploads a file in the "conversations" tab, now it's in the New Team SharePoint and not our existing site. Having more that one place where files are stored and not being able to control where files get uploaded is pretty unmanageable.
Anonymous commented · October 30, 2018 9:33 AM · Flag as inappropriate

this needs to be a thing..... we are looking to deploy teams around our company and like the teams integration it has with SharePoint team sites. BUT all of our SharePoint sites are legacy sites and we cannot link them to teams. cannot believe this is in back log and not urgently being worked on! also when you are trying to push a product like teams having the functionality working before release would be advised! but we area ware that this is unheard of by Microsoft so i guess ill just have to wait for a long time!
Anonymous commented · October 17, 2018 7:06 AM · Flag as inappropriate

When is it expected to get this feature to link to sharepoint sites as this is required to really benefit from using Microsoft Teams and not having to copy paste which is WASTE in my books.
Bart Louwagie commented · October 16, 2018 12:30 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Agreed. Is crazy how complex Microsoft makes this. Why is there a "open this in Sharepoint" when you then can't really connect to a Team's location from SharePoint.
If that is not possible then make Flow be able to use/be triggered by Teams's lists.
Anonymous commented · October 12, 2018 9:41 AM · Flag as inappropriate

please get this off the f-backlog and into f-development!!!
Martin commented · October 5, 2018 1:38 AM · Flag as inappropriate

We really need this function in our organization... Please add it.
Anonymous commented · October 2, 2018 6:38 PM · Flag as inappropriate

2000 Votes! Please make this available. I followed the post shared by @Nathan Berger but this option isn't available to me in our sharepoint environment.
Anonymous commented · August 8, 2018 4:11 AM · Flag as inappropriate

@Nathan Berger. Its still here because Microsoft is insistent on creating thousands of site collections. Furthering the SharePoint Governance mess. Teams should be one site collection with subsites for each Team. Site Collection administrators IS NOT a permission level for users.

A Governance mess doesn't even touch the sides.
Nathan Berger commented · July 26, 2018 12:58 PM · Flag as inappropriate

This is currently possible. You have to create an O365 group on a SharePoint site: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/transform/modernize-connect-to-office365-group

Then just create the Team on the O365 group and you're all good to go.

I have no idea why this is still up here.
Iain Hands commented · July 26, 2018 5:42 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Is there any way this could be moved further up the development queue?

I cannot believe that two mutual technologies that are essentially built on the same platform cannot be linked! We have spent years developing and enhancing our SharePoint sites for project and team working. We are wanting to embrace Teams as we see the benefits of what this offers, however the fact we cannot put a Teams front end onto our existing SharePoint site seems, well frankly, ridiculous!

Please Microsoft development - fix this one!!
Bernard Mariès commented · July 19, 2018 6:29 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Since Teams and Sharepoint are supposedly parts of the same O365 universe, they can not and should not be isolated one from another. That in the current state, Teams automatically generates its own sharepoint, whithout letting users choose to connect existing ones, AND that it is not possible to generate a Team page from an existing sharepoint is a SHAME ! Hope you guys put that one on top of your desks - should never have happend in the first place. #basicLogic #coherence
S. MacLaren commented · July 10, 2018 9:45 AM · Flag as inappropriate

For reasons of backward compatibility and Office365 transparency, export / import one-way - minimum - into Teams is important for productivity.
To me, the import of any Sharepoint library should be seamless, and I do not care if it uses a compressed folder. (Meantime the get-around is to simply link the external library with the Team, which works VERY nicely, web app or desktop app). There are advantages in leaving it on the Sharepoint which include not having to add people you do not want in the Team but letting them stick with their existing permissions for the Sharepoint library.
istrasci commented · June 15, 2018 3:04 PM · Flag as inappropriate

I'm a Scenario A voter. I want the ability to connect a new Team to an existing Sharepoint site.

> If you are asking for Scenario A, then can you please answer these follow up items:

> Q1: If we made this possible, then would you expect the SP library to auto-generate channels in accordance to the folder structure? What would you expect to happen if you selected an existing SP site in the team creation process?

I think an *option* to auto-generate the channels would be fine. Just prompt when creating the Team. I guess when creating a new channel you'd need to check if a folder of the same name already existed in the structure. If so, just link them.

> Q2: How important is this to you, comparative to other asks in UserVoice? The best way to answer this is giving it a 1 to 10 rank, 1 being this is nice but not vital, 10 being there is no other feature you want more.

10

> Q3: Would using the Create Channels API fix this for you, so you could make your own solution?

That wouldn't be feasible for my organization.
Ryan P commented · June 11, 2018 9:44 AM · Flag as inappropriate

This would be very helpful. We create sites in SP for projects to track all documents and restrict them to the project team. It would be great to be able to link a Team to an existing site in SP so we can continue to collaborate around existing content and process.
Mike Connell commented · June 8, 2018 7:06 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Just on boarding Teams and very impressed so far, but need the ability to create a Team from an existing site, so awaiting an update on this!
ColmC.ie commented · June 5, 2018 1:14 AM · Flag as inappropriate

this might not be the answer to all peoples questions , however in my case it is promising news so might also be for others.

See "Connect to Teams" button on the SharePoint Community Blog

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-SharePoint-Blog/What-s-new-for-your-intranet-in-Office-365/ba-p/194168
Dipesh Arora commented · May 25, 2018 12:51 PM · Flag as inappropriate

I would like the ability to
1) link an existing Sharepoint site to MS Teams
2) link a folder inside a document library (not the root of document library) as the default location for uploading files or creating channels
Chris Tornato commented · May 18, 2018 10:02 AM · Flag as inappropriate

How can this be moved to the backlog.

It is so important to be able to create a team from an existing sharepoint site. With all the changes that occur in office 365. It is easy to go down one path of design and have to make changes later.
The only way to do the above right now would be to create a team (new) and move all data from an existing sharepoint site. This can break links and also break embedded links in excel as well.
Tim bridgham commented · May 16, 2018 1:18 PM · Flag as inappropriate

it would be great if a Team site and a SharePoint site could be linked so that when a collaboration idea/document is completed by a team it could be moved up to SharePoint for consumption by a larger audience and indexed by search.
Justice commented · May 4, 2018 8:47 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Would also like an update. Want to be able to share and interact with a Sharepoint list from Teams.