Beyond the Chat: 10 Microsoft Teams Tips You're Probably Not Using
Most of us open Microsoft Teams dozens of times a day, and most of us use it for one thing: chat. That's a shame, because some of the most useful features are hiding one right-click or one "…" menu away.
I recently hosted an internal learning session for the Gravity Union team called Beyond the Chat. The response was great, and we figured we’d share it with everyone who might need it! So here it is: ten tips, grouped the same way as the session.
Clean up your day: tips to keep your focus and your chat list under control.
Get work done from chat: turning conversations into tasks and shared work.
Meetings, notifications and presence: small changes that make calls calmer and your focus time quieter.
For each tip you'll get what it is, why it's worth your time, how to use it, and a real-world example of when you can use it.
A quick note: Teams moves fast and menus shift from time to time. The steps below reflect the new Teams client as of October 2026.
Part 1: Clean up your day
Tip 1: Pin a chat window on top
What it is: You can pop a chat out of the main Teams window and pin it so it floats above every other app.
Why you need it: Productivity-wise, switching back and forth between Teams and the app you're actually working in breaks your focus. A pinned chat keeps the conversation in view without taking over your screen.
How to use it
Hover over a chat in your chat list and choose Pop out chat (or double-click it).
In the pop-out window, select … > Pin window on top.
Resize and park it in a corner. Switch to any other app and it stays visible.
Example: You're walking a client through a SharePoint configuration over chat. Pin their chat on top of your browser, and you can follow their questions while you click through site settings, without alt-tabbing every ten seconds.
A pinned chat stays on top of whatever you're working in. Ctrl+Shift+T toggles it.
Tip 2: Chat with yourself
What it is: Teams gives you a private chat with yourself. It's the one with your own name at the top of your chat list, and nobody else can see it.
Why you need it: Every day you come across things worth keeping: a link, a snippet, a half-finished thought. Sticky notes and random text files get lost. Your self-chat is always open, searchable, and synced to every device you use Teams on.
How to use it
Find your own name at the top of your chat list, or search for yourself.
Drop in notes, links, code snippets, or files, the same way you would in any other chat.
Draft important messages here first to check the formatting before you send them to a client.
Use it to move files between devices: post from your laptop, open on your phone.
Example: A colleague shares a useful PnP PowerShell snippet in a busy group chat. Paste it into your self-chat with a note: "Try this on the client tenant Thursday." Two weeks later it's one search away instead of buried in someone else's conversation.
Your self-chat: a private notepad that follows you to every device.
Tip 3: Scheduled send
What it is: Write a message now and have Teams deliver it at a time you choose.
Why you need it: Our clients are spread across Canada and around the globe, so not everyone works the same hours as you. Messages that arrive at 10 p.m. create pressure to respond, even when you didn't mean to. Scheduled send lets you work when it suits you and respect everyone else's time.
How to use it
Type your message as usual.
Right-click (or long-press) the Send button.
Choose Schedule message, pick a date and time, and confirm.
⚠️ Note: Watch the time zone! The time you pick is always in your time zone, not the recipient's. If you're in Calgary and want a message to land at 9 a.m. for a client in Toronto, schedule it for 7 a.m. your time.
Example: It's Friday evening and you've just finished reviewing a client's requirements. Instead of sending your questions now, schedule them for Monday morning, adjusted to the client's time zone. They get a clean start to their week, and you get to log off.
Pick a date and time and Teams sends it for you. The time is in your time zone.
Part 2: Get work done from chat
Tip 4: Turn a message into a Planner task
What it is: Any chat or channel message can become a Planner task in a couple of clicks, with a link back to the original message.
Why you need it: Chat is where requests show up, but it's a terrible place to track them. "Can you also update the list view?" gets buried under twenty newer messages by lunchtime. Turning it into a task means it has an owner, a due date, and a place to live. This is exactly how I build my own to-do list: anything I need to act on goes straight from chat into my ToDo plan, and I manage it all from Planner.
How to use it
Create Planner task is right in the message menu.
Hover over the message and select … > Create Planner task. (In some versions it sits under More actions.)
Adjust the title, choose your plan (mine is To Do), and set a due date.
Open the Planner app in Teams to see it alongside the rest of your work.
Heads up: Basic plans only! In my testing, Planner Premium plans don't show up as a destination. Premium plans run on a different backend from basic plans, and a few integrations, including this one, don't support them yet. Use a basic plan instead, like a personal to-do plan.
Example: During a project chat, the client asks for an extra column on their intake list "when you get a chance." Create a task straight from that message, assign it to yourself, and set it for Wednesday. No more scrolling back to find what exactly they asked for.
The task keeps a link back to the original message, so the context is never lost.
Tip 5: Add a Whiteboard as a channel tab
What it is: Microsoft Whiteboard can be added as a permanent tab in a Teams channel, not just opened during a meeting.
Why you need it: Meeting whiteboards tend to disappear when the call ends, and so do the ideas on them. A channel tab gives the team a shared board that's always one click away, and that anyone can add to between meetings.
How to use it
Go to the channel and select + next to the tabs at the top.
Choose Whiteboard from the list. If it isn't there, select Apps, search for Whiteboard, and add it.
Give the board a name and save. It now sits next to Posts and Files for everyone in the channel.
Example: Your team is mapping out an approval workflow for a client's request form. Sketch the flow on a Whiteboard tab in the project channel. When the client adds a new approval step a week later, you update the same board instead of starting from scratch.
A Whiteboard tab lives in the channel, ready for the next brainstorm.
Part 3: Meetings, notifications and presence
Tip 6: Test your notifications
What it is: A built-in notification test that most people never touch.
Why you need it: If you've ever missed a message and thought "Teams never told me," the problem is often Windows or macOS focus settings, not Teams itself. The test shows you in seconds whether alerts are getting through.
How to use it
1. Go to Settings > Notifications and activity and select Test notification.
2. If nothing pops up, check your operating system's notification and focus settings.
Example: A colleague says they pinged you three times before a client call and got no answer. Run the test and you find Windows has been blocking Teams banners since the last update. Two minutes to fix, instead of a week of missed messages.
Tip 7: Show, don't type: record a quick clip
What it is: Teams lets you record a short screen or video clip (up to 5 minutes) right from the chat compose box and send it as a message.
Why you need it: Some things take three paragraphs to explain and thirty seconds to show. A clip is faster to make than a long email, easier to follow, and the recipient can watch it whenever suits them.
How to use it
In a chat, select the record video clip option below the compose box.
Choose to record your camera, your screen, or both.
Record, review, and send.
Example: A client reports that they "can't see the new library." Instead of writing a step-by-step email about permissions inheritance, record a two-minute clip showing exactly where to click and send it to their chat.
Screen and camera together, recorded straight from the chat.
Tip 8: Join muted, and let Teams remember it
What it is: Teams remembers whether your mic was on or off when you joined your last meeting, and uses the same choice next time.
Why you need it: Everyone has joined a call mid-sentence, or with the coffee grinder running. Join muted once and you're covered for the meetings that follow.
How to use it
On the pre-join screen, turn your mic off and select Join now. Teams remembers it for next time.
When you're ready to talk, click the mic button or press Ctrl+Shift+M (Cmd+Shift+M on Mac).
💡Good to know: If more than about five people are already in the meeting, Teams mutes you on join anyway.
Example: You finish one client call at 10:59 and click straight into the next at 11:00 while still wrapping up notes out loud. Because you joined your last meeting muted, the next client hears nothing until you're ready.
The pre-join screen: set your mic here and Teams remembers it next time.
Tip 9: Pause notifications (and set a status that expires)
What it is: A brand new Teams feature that silences all your notifications for a period you choose, then turns them back on by itself. It's rolling out to everyone between mid-September and late October 2026, so if you don't see it yet, it's on its way. It works on desktop, web, and mobile.
Why you need it: Until now, getting a quiet hour meant switching to Do Not Disturb or muting chats one by one, and then remembering to undo it all. Pause notifications is one click, doesn't touch your notification settings, and ends on its own. It's perfect before a client presentation, a workshop, or a focus block.
How to use it
Select your profile picture in the top-right corner of Teams.
Choose Pause notifications and pick how long: 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, today, or a custom time.
Get on with your work. When the time is up, notifications come back exactly as you had them.
You know what could make this even better? Pair it with a status message that expires. Pausing tells Teams to be quiet. A status message tells people why, and when you'll be back.
Select your profile picture > Set status message.
Type your message and, optionally, tick Show when people message me so they see it before they write.
Under Clear status message after, pick a time so you don't end up with "Back at 2 p.m." still showing three days later.
Example: You're presenting to a client at 1 p.m. and screen sharing for an hour. Pause notifications for an hour so no chat banners pop up mid-demo, and set a status message, "In a client presentation until 2 p.m.," that clears itself after today.
👀 Did you know? "In a call" and "In a meeting" are different statuses. "In a meeting" comes from a scheduled calendar event, while "In a call" means an ad hoc call. Also make sure your work hours are set, so colleagues can see when you're offline.
Pause notifications sits in your profile menu, with quick durations or a custom time.
Tip 10: Annotations while sharing
What it is: When you share your screen, everyone in the meeting can draw, highlight, and add notes on top of it in real time.
Why you need it: "Can you scroll up a bit… no, the other box… to the left…" Annotations end that game. People can simply point at what they mean.
How to use it
In a meeting, select Share and choose your full screen (annotations don't work on a single window).
Select Start annotation at the top of the sharing bar.
Use the pen, highlighter, or sticky notes, and invite others to draw too. Select Stop annotation when you're done.
Example: You're reviewing a draft Power Apps form with a client. Share your screen, turn on annotation, and ask them to circle the fields they want moved. You get clear, visual feedback in minutes.
Yes, that's a photo of my screen. My screen capture tool couldn't grab the annotations, so it was back to basics.
Now give these 3 tips a go!
Ten tips is a lot to take in at once. If you can only try three, I recommend:
Video clips instead of long emails: next time an explanation runs past a paragraph, record it instead.
Scheduled send: stop sending late-night messages that land in someone's evening.
Chat to Planner tasks: turn the next "when you get a chance" request into a real task.
Small habits like these add up quickly, especially when your day is a mix of client calls, chats, and delivery work.
🌟Have a favourite Teams feature I didn't mention? Let us know, it might make it into the next blog!
