Microsoft Teams
Important
The new Microsoft Teams & Skype for Business Admin Center is coming soon! Starting in March 2018, we're gradually migrating settings to it from both the current Skype for Business admin center and the Microsoft Teams experience in the Office 365 admin center. If a setting has been migrated, you'll see a notification and then be directed to the setting's location in the new Microsoft Teams & Skype for Business Admin Center. For more information, see Manage Teams during the transition to the new Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business Admin Center.
Microsoft Teams has clients available for web, desktop (Windows and Mac), and mobile (Android, iOS, and Windows Phone). These clients all require an active internet connection and do not support an offline mode.
Web client
The web client (https://teams.microsoft.com) is a full, functional client that can be used from a variety of browsers. The web client supports Calling and Meetings by using webRTC, so there is no plug-in or download required to run Teams in a web browser. The browser must be configured to allow third-party cookies.
Teams supports the following internet browsers.
Browser | Notes |
---|---|
Internet Explorer 11 | |
Microsoft Edge | Calling and Meetings supported on Edge RS2 or later |
Chrome, the latest version plus two previous versions | Meetings supported on Chrome 59 or later Calling support coming soon |
Firefox, the latest version plus two previous versions |
Note
Safari isn't currently supported. Check the Teams Roadmap for news about new features in Teams. Users who try to open Teams on Safari will be directed to download the Teams desktop client.
The web client performs browser version detection upon connecting to https://teams.microsoft.com and if an unsupported browser version is detected, it will block access to the web interface and recommend that the user download the desktop client or mobile app.
Desktop client
The Microsoft Teams desktop client is a standalone application and currently not part of Office Pro Plus. Teams is available for both Windows (7+), both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and MacOS (10.10+). On Windows, Teams requires .NET framework 4.5 or later; the Teams installer will offer to install it for you if you don't have it.
The desktop clients provide real-time communications support (audio, video, and content sharing) for team meetings, group calling, and private one-on-one calls.
Desktop clients can be downloaded and installed by end users directly from https://teams.microsoft.com/downloads if they have the appropriate local permissions (admin rights are not required to install the Teams client on a PC but are required on a Mac).
IT admins can choose their preferred method to distribute the installation files to machines in their organization such as System Center Configuration Manager (Windows) or Casper Suite (MacOS). To get the MSI Package for Windows distribution, see Install Microsoft Teams using MSI.
Note
Distribution of the client via these mechanisms is only for the initial installation of Microsoft Team clients and not for future updates.
Windows
The Microsoft Teams installation for Windows provides downloadable installers in 32-bit and 64-bit architecture. The architecture should match that of the OS, which is what the online download defaults to.
Note
The architecture (32-bit vs. 64-bit) of Microsoft Teams is agnostic to the architecture of Office that is installed.
The Windows client is deployed to the AppData folder located in the user’s profile. Deploying to the user’s local profile allows the client to be installed without requiring elevated rights. The Windows client is installed in the following locations:
-
%appdata%\local\Microsoft\Teams
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%appdata%\roaming\Microsoft\Teams
When users initiate a call using the Microsoft Teams client for the first time, they might notice a warning with the Windows firewall settings that asks for users to allow communication. Users may be instructed to ignore this message because the call will work, even when the warning is dismissed.
Note
Windows Firewall configuration will be altered even when the prompt is dismissed by selecting “Cancel”. Two inbound rules for teams.exe will be created with Block action for both TCP and UDP protocols.
Mac
Microsoft also provides a DMG installation file for Mac OSX computers. Administrative access is required to install the Mac client. The Mac OSX client is installed to the /Applications folder.
Mobile clients
The Microsoft Teams mobile apps are available for Android, iOS, and Windows Phones, and are geared for on-the-go users participating in chat-based conversations and allow peer-to-peer audio calls. For mobile apps, go to the relevant mobile store for Google Play, Apple App Store, and Microsoft Store.
Supported mobile platforms for Microsoft Teams mobile apps are the following:
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Android: 4.4 or later
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iOS: 10.0 or later
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Windows Phone: Windows 10 Mobile
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