How to use the Microsoft Teams multiple windows feature
Microsoft Teams is home to a lot of conversations and calls. You can add multiple teams to Microsoft Teams, and each team has its own channels where conversations and meetings can be held.
Keeping up with multiple conversations isn’t easy and if you have to keep them all docked to one application window, it gets harder to switch between them. Microsoft Teams is notorious for not allowing multiple instances of the app to run however, it does allow users to separate conversations into stand-alone windows.
Microsoft Teams multiple windows
Microsoft Teams multiple windows do not work for all conversations in the app. It is limited but still useful. You can separate the following conversations into their window;
- A one-on-one chat/conversation.
- A meeting/audio call.
- Select tabs from Channels (does not include the Files and Posts tab).
- Meetings.
Microsoft Teams multiple windows – Chat
To separate a one-on-one chat conversation into a window, follow these steps.
- Open Microsoft Teams.
- Go to the Chat tab.
- Select the chat/conversation thread you want to separate.
- Click the pop-out button (see screenshot below).
- The chat will separate into a window.
Microsoft Teams multiple windows – Meetings
A channel can’t be separated into a window of its own, which is disappointing but if you have a meeting in a channel, you can separate it.
- Open Microsoft Teams and join the meeting.
- The meeting will open in a separate window.
- Join or start a meeting in a different channel and it too will open in its own window.
Microsoft Teams multiple windows – channel tabs
Some tabs in Channels can be separated into windows of their own. It’s normally tabs that are not default tabs such as the Wiki, Posts, and Files tab. Other tabs i.e., app tabs such as the Planner can be separated into a window.
- Open Microsoft Teams.
- Go to the Teams tab.
- Select a channel.
- Go to the tab you want to separate.
- Click the pop-out button (see screenshot below).
- The tab will separate into its own window.
Conclusion
Microsoft Teams has conversations, meetings, and document collaboration and all this can happen concurrently. To work with so many conversations and documents, it helps to be able to have them in different windows. The windows can be set side-by-side and if you have more than one screen or monitor, managing multiple conversations is easier.
It’s a shame that channels cannot be separated into their own windows but you can work around this limitation by opening Microsoft Teams in different browser windows.
