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

Capture.PNG 34 KB

4,492 votes

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

on the backlog ·

Warren 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 ·

Warren 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 ·

Warren 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 ·

Suphatra 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 ·

Suphatra 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 ·

Suphatra 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 ·

Suphatra 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 ·

Suphatra 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!

324 comments

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Natalia Fuentes commented · February 24, 2021 6:27 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Did you drop the log behind a wall cabinet? How can this request still be on the backlog?!!!

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Star commented · December 10, 2020 8:36 AM · Flag as inappropriate

I see this under the gear in SharePoint Online, but only at a site collection level.
It needs to be available at the subsite level as well.

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Star commented · October 23, 2020 10:34 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Re creating a Team from an existing SP site: it needs to apply to classic templates as well as modern.

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Anna-Marie Ferguson commented · October 6, 2020 7:33 AM · Flag as inappropriate

We are desperate for this function to prevent the creation of all of the siloed file organisation and hide the default file storage and link to an exisiting heirachy to give visibility accross our more senior people to access without being a member of every Team and enabling the channel posts to stay private. I echo Marie in March i cant believe this wasnt thought of by Microsoft.

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A Val commented · August 24, 2020 7:45 AM · Flag as inappropriate

We have a few hundred older SharePoint sub-sites (NOT BASED ON GROUPS) that need to be converted to Teams.
We have professors trying to save as much of the old documentation as possible on loose USB sticks> and then attempting to transfer everything manually into Teams! We'd be so relieved if we could upgrade the standard SharePoint doc libraries from older sites to Teams.

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JE commented · July 13, 2020 9:29 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Teams deployment has been super limited for our Org. for this exact reason.
We have spent years developing our SharePoint sites "not group sites" and need to keep our doc libraries with-in them.
It would be huge to have request #2 implemented for teams.

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Sebu commented · June 15, 2020 12:38 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Nead sharepoint subsite to Teams team, cant make subsite to group site, niead ide or tool

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Anonymous commented · June 11, 2020 2:46 AM · Flag as inappropriate

This can be done

- create a Group from your existing SharePoint Site
- then create your Team from that group

It will actually upgrade your existing SP site to the new version while existing site content, hierarchy and permissions remain the same

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- Create Group.PNG 53 KB
- SP Settings.png 13 KB
Anglican Family Care commented · May 13, 2020 5:36 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Yes! This would be really useful to our organisation too.

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Jono commented · April 6, 2020 7:27 AM · Flag as inappropriate

1. Login to the Admin 365 Center
2. Navigate to Groups from the left side menu
3. Select the existing group (Sharepoint site)
4. Select the Microsoft Teams tab
5. Click the Create a Team button

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- deployTeam.PNG 17 KB
Anonymous commented · April 2, 2020 12:46 AM · Flag as inappropriate

@Jennifer, that is only a workaround and not the request.
I can add 50 tabs with sites from SP but that will not connect my new team with an excisting SP site that is even an office365 group.

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JENNIFER commented · March 6, 2020 7:41 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Hi! Add the website part and paste your current SharePoint site URL. :) Now, you can access your existing SharePoint site within Teams. There is also an icon to quickly open the site in your browser.

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ValH commented · March 6, 2020 2:54 AM · Flag as inappropriate

@Manoj
current available choices are: create a new team from
- Team
- Office365 group
In your screenshot it's obvious a group. Currently it is not possible to create a team based on "normal" SharePoint Online site.

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Maria Espino commented · March 4, 2020 6:11 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Guys.... SHAREPOINT CAME FIRST, its been around for nearly 2 decades, you don't think that people will want to create new Teams workspaces for EXISTING SharePoint sites AND be able to retain the hub site functionality? That's crazy to think that you didn't think of this.

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Kris commented · February 13, 2020 6:39 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Does anyone know if it's possible to add a O365 Group / MS Team to a specific subsite rather that just the top level site collection?

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Manoj K commented · February 4, 2020 6:05 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Seems this capability is already there ! See the attached. You can go to the SharePoint site and simply click on that purple link below to associate a new Team for that site.

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- Create a team2.png 5 KB
- Create a team.png 45 KB
Lena commented · January 27, 2020 5:58 AM · Flag as inappropriate

If you are using modern sharepoint sites (with office 365 groups) it is pretty easy to create a Team from an existing sharepoint site. (see attached).

To make teams work, you will need an O365 group

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- modern_sharepoint_Team.jpg 38 KB
Amanda commented · January 13, 2020 7:23 AM · Flag as inappropriate

Is there an update on this request? This should be standard functionality. There is so much effort that goes into managing sharepoint sites that having randomly created sites from teams that don't link to existing sharepoint sites ultimately results in 2 sharepoint sites for a project and becomes a maintenance nightmare.

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Shawn Fielding commented · January 6, 2020 1:01 PM · Flag as inappropriate

Wait, isn't being able to create a Team from an existing SharePoint site already done? Swear I have done it.

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Maria Espino commented · December 26, 2019 4:20 PM · Flag as inappropriate

We absolutely NEED this ability... in fact when you create a new TEAMS workspace, it should NOT automatically create a new SharePoint site, but rather give you a pop up to either create a new site OR link to an existing site.

So many of us have had SharePoint running in our organizations for YEARS now, have invested a TON of money into its management, migration, and governance. This makes SOOOO many of my clients HOLD OFF on getting into Teams (they are HANGING ON to SFB for dear life) because they don't want new freaking sites created every time they use a Teams workspace!!!

PLEASE UPDATE THIS TO A PRIORITY and off the backlog, Warren.

Thank you,

Maria Espino,
Principal and CEO for TLP Gaming, Inc.
Managing Consultant for Catapult Systems, Inc.

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