Microsoft Teams has replaced email as the primary communication tool in many organisations. For IT administrators, managing Teams effectively — including policies, app permissions, guest access and archiving — is an important part of the Microsoft 365 admin role. This guide covers Teams administration essentials in 2026.
Access the Teams Admin Centre
The Microsoft Teams Admin Centre is at admin.teams.microsoft.com. You need a Teams Administrator or Global Administrator role to access it. From here you can manage users, teams, policies, apps and devices.
Manage Teams Policies
Teams uses policies to control what users can do. The main policy types are:
- Meeting policies — control recording, screen sharing, lobby settings and external participant permissions
- Messaging policies — control chat features including GIFs, memes, message deletion and read receipts
- App permission policies — control which apps users can install and use in Teams
- Calling policies — control calling features including voicemail, call forwarding and simultaneous ring
Manage Teams via PowerShell
# Install Teams PowerShell module
Install-Module -Name MicrosoftTeams -Scope CurrentUser
# Connect to Teams
Connect-MicrosoftTeams
# Get all Teams in the organisation
Get-Team | Select-Object DisplayName, Description, Visibility, Archived | Format-Table -AutoSize
# Get members of a specific team
Get-TeamMember -GroupId (Get-Team -DisplayName "IT Department").GroupId
# Create a new team
New-Team -DisplayName "Project Alpha" -Description "Project Alpha team" -Visibility Private
# Archive a team
Set-Team -GroupId (Get-Team -DisplayName "Old Project").GroupId -Archived $true
# Get all guests in Teams
Get-AzureADUser -Filter "UserType eq 'Guest'" | Select-Object DisplayName, Mail, UserPrincipalNameControl Guest Access
- In the Teams Admin Centre go to Users → Guest access
- Toggle Allow guest access in Teams on or off
- Configure what guests can do — calling, meeting, messaging capabilities
- Note that guest access is also controlled at the Azure AD level — check Azure AD → External Identities → External collaboration settings
Set Up Teams Meeting Recording Policies
# Get current meeting recording policy
Get-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity Global | Select-Object AllowCloudRecording, AllowRecordingStorageOutsideRegion
# Disable meeting recording for all users
Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity Global -AllowCloudRecording $false
# Create a custom policy allowing recording for specific users
New-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity "AllowRecording" -AllowCloudRecording $true
Grant-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity [email protected] -PolicyName "AllowRecording"Teams Usage Reports
Microsoft 365 admin centre provides Teams usage reports showing active users, messages sent, meetings attended and calls made. Go to Microsoft 365 Admin Centre → Reports → Usage → Microsoft Teams user activity to access these reports. Data is available for 7, 30, 90 and 180 day periods.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I prevent users from creating Teams?
By default all users can create Microsoft 365 Groups which creates a Team. To restrict this, remove the Group creation permission from all users and grant it only to specific security groups. This requires Azure AD PowerShell: Set the GroupCreationAllowedGroupId setting in Azure AD to a specific security group whose members are allowed to create groups.
How long are Teams messages retained?
By default Teams messages are retained indefinitely unless you configure a retention policy. In the Microsoft Purview compliance portal you can create retention policies for Teams chats and channels — either retaining for a set period or deleting after a set period. Retention policies are essential for organisations with compliance or legal hold requirements.
Can I recover a deleted Team?
Yes — deleted Teams can be restored within 30 days of deletion. In the Teams Admin Centre go to Teams → Manage teams and filter by Deleted. Select the team and click Restore. After 30 days the team and all its content is permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.
How do I set up Teams Phone (formerly Teams Calling)?
Teams Phone requires a Microsoft Teams Phone licence and either a Microsoft Calling Plan (Microsoft provides the phone numbers) or Direct Routing (connect your own telephony infrastructure via a certified Session Border Controller). Configure in the Teams Admin Centre under Voice → Phone numbers and Voice → Direct routing.
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