Setting to choose if Private Teams should still be searchable
We create our Teams as private by default since they are about the clients we work with. We are okay with everyone at the company knowing that these Teams exist, but we don't want them to be able to join them without permission.
The problem we're having is that people keeping asking 'does a Team exist for client X?' and there is no easy way to answer that question.
We'd like a way to search for private teams so that folks can request to join them.

Coming soon!
Cheers,
Suphatra
12 comments
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James Geer commented
Any update? It has been 3+ years since "Comming soon!". Can you update the status please?
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Linda commented
Is there any time estimate on this?
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Todd commented
Agreed, this is an important feature.
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Alex Carlock commented
Microsoft, have you progressed at all with this? We also create teams as private so they're less visible (for example, we don't want subcontractors to see our entire list of teams), but we need a way for employees to know if a team exists so they don't create a duplicate. If would be perfect if there was a Searchable flag on each team to enable it to be searched or not.
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PHIL FRANK commented
Totally agree! My organization is moving over to Teams but they are all being set to private by default. It will likely have the effect of reducing collaboration and hiding good work that should be reference able in the future.
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Lisa R commented
I would prefer private teams *not* be searchable as a default, but allow Team owners to opt into the Team being searchable. A warning could be included to remind to check that the team name does not leak confidential information.
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Anonymous commented
Users can not search for private rooms to ask for membership approval. They can search for public teams but those can not be member approved by owners.
We would like to have an option when creating private team whether it is hidden from search or not so users could easily find us and ask for membership. -
Anonymous commented
there are some private Teams that do not want to be found via search. Provide an option to allow to be found by search or not
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cathleen o'hare commented
I support making teams searchable. By not having teams searchable so someone can request to join, then we are contributing to working in silos.
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Brad Cromwell commented
I agree with Mark, we have the same issue and request. We want to be able to search on private teams, however not ALL private teams. So we would like an option for the private team to be searchable (such as a public team today) or not.
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Jose Cerna commented
I agree I came here to say the same. We want out groups visible but private and an easy way for a new member to request access.
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Mark Bretl commented
I have this issue too. As our company begins to adopt Teams as a unified communications platform, it makes it difficult to determine if a team already exists since Private teams do not show up in the directory listing. I can go into O365 online and see there are other private office groups, however, there are two issues: 1. I have to go outside of Teams to verify 2. In O365 I still cant tell if the group is Teams enabled.
Additional functionality for either another type of team, such as 'Hidden' or 'Stealth', or an option on a Private team to be excluded from the directory listing within Teams.
Best regards,
--Mark