Use a screen reader to create and modify teams in Microsoft Teams
Applies ToMicrosoft Teams

This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Windows tools or features and Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Accessibility help & learning content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.

Use Microsoft Teams with your keyboard and a screen reader to create a team, hide or unhide a team, edit the team details, modify the team settings, or delete a team. We have tested it with JAWS and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.

Notes: 

  • New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.

  • To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.

  • Recent versions of JAWS no longer have the virtual PC cursor mode set as default for Microsoft Teams. For instructions on how to switch the virtual PC cursor mode on, go to Enable the JAWS virtual cursor.

  • To quickly access the keyboard shortcuts list from within Microsoft Teams, press Ctrl+E, type the forward slash character followed by the word keys, and then press Enter.

In this topic

Create a new team

Hide or unhide a team

You can hide teams to unclutter your teams list and focus on the teams you're using actively. Hiding a team moves it to the Hidden teams menu at the bottom of your teams lists where you can access it as usual. You can always unhide a team and return it to the teams list.

Hide a team

  1. In Microsoft Teams, press Ctrl+3 to access the Teams view. You hear: "Teams and channels list."

  2. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the name of the team you want to hide.

  3. Press Spacebar to open the More options menu.

  4. You hear: "Hide." To hide the team, press Spacebar.

Unhide a team

  1. In Microsoft Teams, press Ctrl+3 to access the Teams view. You hear: "Teams and channels list."

  2. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear "Hidden teams" and press Enter to expand the menu.

  3. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the name of the team you want to show again in the teams list.

  4. Press Spacebar to open the More options menu.

  5. You hear: "Show." To unhide the team and show it in the teams list, press Spacebar.

Edit the team details

If you're a team owner, you can edit the team details, which include the team name, description, and privacy setting.

Modify the team settings

If you're a team owner, you can modify the team settings, which include team member and guest permissions, team picture and code, @mention permissions, settings for fun stuff such as emojis and GIFs, and team expiration information.

  1. In Microsoft Teams, press Ctrl+3 to access the Teams view. You hear: "Teams and channels list."

  2. To navigate to the team whose settings you want to modify, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the team name.

  3. Press Spacebar to open the More options menu.

  4. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Manage team," and press Enter.

  5. Press the Right arrow key until you hear "Settings" and press Enter.

  6. To navigate between the different settings groups, press the Tab key until you hear the one you want. To expand the settings category, press Enter.

  7. Inside the settings group, press the Tab key to move the focus inside the category. To move between different settings in the group, press the Tab key until you hear the one you want. To move between check boxes, press the Down arrow key until you hear the one you want. Press Enter to select it.

Delete a team

If you're a team owner, you can delete a team. When you delete a team, team activity in channels, files, and chats is also deleted.

See also

Use a screen reader to chat in Microsoft Teams

Use a screen reader to check recent activity in Microsoft Teams

Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Teams

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Microsoft Teams

Technical support for customers with disabilities

Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.

If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.

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