Make it possible to remove and/or rename the default tabs (files & notes)
It would be really great if we would be able to remove / rename the default tabs. A lot of times files / notes are too generic names for the tabs, so renaming would be really helpful then. :-)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this feature request has been declined.
-Warren
129 comments
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MNS commented
Now that we got the "Files" entry on the leftmost (dark) panel, we need to option to REMOVE the "Files" tab, for every channel!
It just takes up space much needed for other tabs...
THANKS! :-) -
Kristinn commented
I need this so badly...
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Brandon Blake commented
Wow, all this time and nothing on this issue? Are they not listening?
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Anonymous commented
Please, I'll do anything, just give me the ability to remove the "Files" tab. I've already created and used for years a SharePoint document library that I'll use for the teams.
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Chami commented
Yes, would be a good idea, especially to remove the FIles tab. Or give the option to link to an existing Sharepoint repository.
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Anonymous commented
Even being able to move the tab to the right of custom tabs, such as a sharepoint library tab, would be an improvement
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Chamo commented
See below for one use case for being able to remove the default Files tab, which I suspect others are facing as well, along with a work-around for users until Microsoft implements this.
* I don't want our users to save their files in lots of different SharePoint sites, which makes it harder to find things. I want them to save their files in our existing SharePoint sites, not in the new SharePoint site that Microsoft Teams created automatically (accessed through the Files tab in teams)
* We have already created and used for years an awesome SharePoint document library with a taxonomy managed metadata and views everyone loves
* Therefore, in Teams, I want users to only be able to upload files to our existing SharePoint sites, not in the new SharePoint site that Microsoft Teams created automatically (accessed through the Files tab in teams)
Here are the problems I faced that Microsoft could fix, and the workarounds I did to get it to (kind of) work the way I wanted it to -- you're welcome, Microsoft Team users :)
Problem 1: When I add our existing SharePoint document library in a tab, it does not include the fields and metadata I need.
Workaround 1: Create a new tab not as a SharePoint site, but instead add it as an ordinary website, and put in the URL of your document library. (The UI is not ideal, since there is a left hand nav bar in teams I have to do more scrolling to the right to see all of the SharePoint Document Library view, but at least we can access our views and metadata.)
Problem 2a: I can't hide the default File tab. This means that, instead of going to the new tab I created above to get to our existing SharePoint site, some users will see the files tab and upload file to it, leaving a mess ("wait, did I add the file to my new Team file area or to my existing SharePoint document library?")
Problem 2b: I can't change it so that, when you click on the default Microsoft Teams File tab and upload a file, it actually gets saved in our existing SharePoint Document Library instead of the automatically created new Microsoft Team site.
Workaround 2: In the Team File area, I add a link that goes to the URL of my existing SharePoint document library. I name the link "Use this link to the place to save files." I think click on the top nav bar item Open in SharePoint, and from there I clicked on Site Permissions, and set Site Members' permissions to Read-Only.
Result: Users save their files in our existing SharePoint sites, not in the new SharePoint site that Microsoft Teams created automatically when I created the team, and users have full access to the taxonomy, metadata and views they already know and love from their existing SharePoint site.
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Anonymous commented
My team has an existing SharePoint which we want/need to keep using. It's very confusing to have the Files tab point elsewhere.
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A commented
For the Files tab specifically:
* Allow renaming
* Allow deleting
* Allow mapping to another existing SP document library INCLUDING SUBFOLDERS
** at the time of creation (then, the default channel library is not provisioned)
** or at any point afterwards
* Allow moving the entire contents into another place (move my standalone document library into a sub-folder of an existing document library, for instance)All this stems from the fact that a lot of customers (including myself) already have established SharePoint structure and don't want 100500 new entities created.
My management currently strongly opposes using Teams until I show them that all the _Back-End_ (notes, documents, etc) can still be held in the existing SP structure. They want to use Teams as more efficient way of collaborating/accessing the content, but not the extra entities created.
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Andy S commented
Agreed. This is causing a lot of confusion for us as well.
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NakiKiwiNZ commented
Ditto to Rick Bojahra's comment "The inability to remove the Files tab is the biggest reason we have not rolled out Teams at our Site."
This appears to be a very quick-win and simple item to action, and everyone says the same thing - wondering why it is taking so long to action?
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Kate commented
Yes please! Those old OneNote tabs on pre-existing teams that you don't want to use but can't remove or rename are a pain.
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NakiKiwiNZ commented
Please action this! Inability to remove the Files tab makes Teams so inflexible!
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NakiKiwiNZ commented
Just looking through the comments - this was asked for a very long time ago and seems from the comments to be a no-brainer. I am wondering why it still hasn't been actioned?
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NakiKiwiNZ commented
Definitely need to be able to hide the Files tab. We are using document libraries in tabs within channels, and the Files tab really confuses our users!
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David Grand commented
Or at a minimum let us hide Files or move Files to the end of the Tabs so it is not so easy to find. We are using an existing SharePoint Document library via the Tabs functionality and we really don't want new content (other than the gifs that people upload as part of Conversations) to slip into the default Files doc library.
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Rick Bojahra commented
The inability to remove the Files tab is the biggest reason we have not rolled out Teams at our Site. The test group we used to evaluate the product came back with a number of issues but the biggest was not knowing the difference between the Files and SharePoint Tab. We are a SharePoint customer and would remove the "Files" tab completely.
To that note, I would like to see a Global option to remove/Hide the files tab 100% from Teams. Having to go in one Team/Channel/Chat at a time and remove the tab is really not a good solution.
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NakiKiwiNZ commented
Yes absolutely. Also need to be able to use a URL from the SharePoint site that is more flexible than just picking a whole library.
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James Martin commented
We already have "team" spaces created in SharePoint. I've linked the SP libraries in the Channel but I don't want people using the default files tab. It would actually be nice if I could link teams to an already existing SP site and not have a new one created which is just making a bit of a mess.
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Johan Bennink commented
Also (a bit outside the scope of this item perhaps) I noticed that naming conventions of these tabs differ when I open them in OneNote app. I have a "General_Notes" and "<channelname>_Notes but a newly created channel for which I added a OneNote tab has a "<channelname> - Onenote" so not _ but instead "_-_" _=space and the latter part is the tab name I created it with.