Five ways to work with external users in Teams

Working with customers, partners or suppliers in Teams? There are several ways, each with different possibilities. Here are the five scenarios side by side, so you pick the right one.

The five scenarios

1. External access (chat and calls): chat, call and meet with someone who stays in their own organization. They don't see your teams or files. Read set up external access.
2. Guest in a team: the external person becomes a guest in a team and sees that team's channels, files and apps. Read add guests.
3. Shared channel: you share one channel with people from another organization, who see it in their own Teams without switching organizations. Both organizations have to set this up.
4. Joining a meeting: anyone with the link can join, even without an account, possibly via the lobby. Read join as an external guest.
5. Sharing files with a link: share a file or folder from OneDrive or SharePoint without adding anyone to a team.

Comparison

	External access	Guest	Shared channel
Chat	Yes	Yes	Yes, in the channel
Team files	No	Yes	Only the channel's
Need to switch organization	No	Yes	No

Also see a group chat with internal and external contacts and remove yourself as a guest.

Read also

Set up external access in Microsoft Teams
How to add external guests in Microsoft Teams
Join a Microsoft Teams meeting as an external participant

Nederlandstalige versie: Vijf manieren om met externe gebruikers te werken in Teams

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