Get started in Shifts

In this article

• Open the Shifts app

• See your shifts

• Use Tags to communicate with others in your shift

• Create a schedule

• Import a schedule from Excel to Shifts

• See the team schedule

• Open a different schedule

Open the Shifts app

You'll find Shifts on the left side of Teams with the other apps. Select it to start working on your schedule. If you don’t see it there, select More apps and find it in the list.

See your shifts

Keep track of all your upcoming shifts in the team schedule.

1. Choose More options  and then Shifts.

2. Your shifts for the current week will display.

3. Choose Day or Month buttons above the list of dates to narrow or expand your view.

   Note: If you’re a manager or admin, you’ll see everyone’s shifts for the current week.

Use tags to communicate with others who are on-shift

When you name the shift, it automatically becomes a tag. The tag can be used in @mentions on the To line in a chat or in a post on any standard channel of a team.

Shift-based tags let you reach people who are on-shift in real time. Notifications are sent only to those people who are on-shift at the time the tag is used in a chat or channel post. For example:

• A store manager uses the @Cashiers tag to post an announcement to a channel for all on-shift cashiers.

• A nurse uses the @CardiologistsOnCall tag to start a chat with all on-call cardiologists.

Create a schedule

In Shifts, each Teams team gets one schedule to work with, and you can create a schedule for any team you’re an owner of.

If it’s your first time using Shifts and your teams don’t have schedules already, don’t worry, we’ll step you through the process of creating one and give you some tips about how to use the app.

From the app, you can create a schedule for a Teams team that doesn't have one yet:

1. Go to the top left of the app and select the team name.

2. Select Create team and choose the team you want to create a schedule for.

3. Make sure the time zone is correct for the shifts you’ll be scheduling, and then choose Create.

Now that you've created a schedule, the next step is to fill it out.

Import a schedule from Excel to Shifts

You can use an Excel workbook to bring your schedules into Shifts. Importing your schedule from Excel to Shifts can help you get your team set up faster, especially if you manage a large team. 

To learn more, see Import a schedule from Excel to Shifts.

See the team schedule

Check out who’s got a shift on any given day.

1. Go to More options on the far-left side of the app and choose Shifts.

2. You can change the dates you’re viewing with the buttons at the top of the frame.

From there, you can select a shift to see the details, swap it, or offer it to someone else.
 

Open a different schedule

Here’s how to open a different schedule if you’re on more than one team.

1. Go to More options on the far-left side of the app and choose Shifts.

2. Scroll down to find your team.

3. You can change the dates you’re viewing with the buttons at the top of the frame.

From there, you can select a shift to see the details, swap it, or offer it to someone else.
 

Want to know more?

Read more about Shifts

For IT admins

Manage the Shifts app for your organization