How can we make Microsoft Teams better?

← Public

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

3,481 votes
Sign in
(thinking…)
Sign in with: Facebook Google
Forgot password?
Create a password
Signed in as (Sign out)
Close
Close

We’ll send you updates on this idea

Isaac Chua shared this idea  ·   ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →

304 comments

Sign in
(thinking…)
Sign in with: Facebook Google
Forgot password?
Create a password
Signed in as (Sign out)
Close
Close
Submitting...
An error occurred while saving the comment
  • Antonio commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Are there any updates on this request? The last message from the development team is from August 2018, it is now December 2019.

  • Brian commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Why is Microsoft creating silos within SharePoint - with existing historical drives/files on one side and "Team" files on the other?

    In my own company, the Document Libraries replaced the "Drives" of our old, on-premises server. Each drive (main company, subsidiary, HR, etc.) had many sub folders for different operations (marketing, accounting, stats, etc.) that had been accumulating projects and files for years. This separation, however, has made Teams the workspace and our existing SharePoint an historical repository for final documents. That only works if people remember to transfer their files back over once they are done in Teams. What if the Team leader leaves for another job, who's going to remember to transfer the files?

    When creating a new Team it would be a great option to select WHERE the files will be saved 1) in Teams as a stand alone as is done now, or 2) in an existing SharePoint folder. There is an option to link to an existing document library but that falls short. That requires linking to existing folders, whereas Teams should be able to create and save new folders/files within the existing SharePoint site.

    Example: I have my computer's File Explorer open on one screen and the Teams App open on the other. I also have synced all of the existing SharePoint document libraries to my computer. When I create a new team within the Teams App, I could select to CREATE a new folder for saving documents anywhere within my existing SharePoint site. When I create that folder in the Teams App, it now pops up in my in my synced File Explorer. That new team folder would have a general folder for files. If I create another channel, another folder pops up alongside the general folder and so on.

    Now everything is saved and stored in one place but you can CREATE everything in the Teams workspace.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Sign me up for a feature that can convert or directly connect a new Teamsite to SP sites !!

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Please also consider the Sync function for the SP sites that integrate with Teams, let users to pick the sites, document libraries and folders to be sync

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I found an option in Teams to create a Team from an existing Office365 Group. But, it creates a new Team with the members and logo of the Group--and an empty General tab! If that function would also adopt the Group's SharePoint site instead of creating a new, empty SharePoint site in the General tab, that would provide the functionality I am looking for.

    As it currently functions, it's more confusing. Now I have a Team with an empty General tab, and a separate SharePoint site with same name and Group membership that contains the documents for the Group--but is not connected to the Team! This is crazy.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    This basic functionality should be available by now as I am sure there are many like my company with large legacy SharePoint collections who are balking at moving to Teams because of this limitation. Lack of this capability blocks our adoption of Teams.

    The comments contain multiple ways to accomplish this functionality, from selecting an existing SharePoint site when creating a Team, to pointing a new Team's SharePoint site to an existing SharePoint and others. How about just allowing us to remove the General tab (or even slide it to the right so it's not the primary tab) and place an existing SharePoint site as the first tab?

  • Mark Garety commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I can create a group calendar in outlook and turn it into a fully functioning teams with a rhobust SharePoint site that has web apps, lists, flows, planner, etc integrated into it. The user can access the site through Teams or through SharePoint in my web browser and get to the calendar in outlook...

    But, I cant take a SharePoint site and pull it back into teams to create a collaborative working hub? It's all the same features, it's all Office 365, why not have a common architecture enabling integration in whatever way makes sense to the user?

  • Michael Delpach commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    When creating a new Team, Team must provide an option to choose an existing SharePoint Online site, and integrate that SharePoint Onilne site identical to how newly created SharePoint Online sites through Microsoft Teams behaves.

    There are ugly workarounds like adding Cloud Storage and using that but the newly created SharePoint Online site still what Teams think as the integrated one.

  • Colm Flynn commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I want to configure the Files tab in an existing Teams Channel to point to an existing SharePoint folder instead of creating a new folder in SharePoint.

    Failing that, I would at least like to be able to rename the new SharePoint folder to distinguish it from the existing SharePoint folder.

    I have a Channel in Teams with a Files tab that points to a SharePoint folder which it has created automatically. I cannot change the Channel settings to point its Files tab to the correct, existing folder, nor can I rename or delete the new SharePoint folder which Teams has created.

    I know how to add the existing SharePoint folder to a channel (either as a documents library or as cloud storage) but that does not sync with documents shared via a Teams Conversation.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Different from many of the other comments, we do not want partial functionality with linking a document library or page. We are looking for the ability to select an existing SharePoint site when creating a team. Instead of a new site being created, the existing site would be used, libraries linked, security groups merged, world peace achieved and other really cool features that result in a WOW reaction by all who happen upon their implementation.

  • Tom Gilley commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    agree with the anon request below that the post is no longer accurate;

    The blogpost https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/skypehybridguy/2017/10/28/microsoft-teams-use-an-existing-sharepoint-library/

    I have found a work around for my needs by adding "Document Library" tab and that tab has ability to use link of existing sharepoint documents, once in that teams tab you can open in sharepoint and see all the sharepoint site

  • Gary commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    My clients have great document management solutions built in SPO and now that Skype is being replaced by Teams it is no longer an option (in many cases) to ignore Teams. Microsoft, you need to enable better integration between existing SharePoint solutions and Teams. Please.

  • Susan commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    It would be nice if we could import the folders / data files from a SharePoint site into the new Teams SharePoint document library. I'm shocked that Microsoft has over complicated this whole process. It has created mass confusion amongst our employees linking SharePoint site libraries to their new Teams SharePoint. We have issues with employees not working out of the same library or outdated documents because they are in the wrong linked SharePoint Document library.

  • Shane Gilmer commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Any updates as yet to this request ? We also have existing SharePoint sites with all the documents and info and would be nice to create a new Teams site off of it

  • Suzanne Morealnd commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    How is this in backlog? Who thought it was a good idea to create distinct, disparate collaboration tools? Seriously!

← Previous 1 3 4 5 … 15 16

Forum Home

Reference Information for Teams

Public: Teams and Channels

Categories

Feedback and Knowledge Base

(thinking…)

More Teams Information