Microsoft Teams is the preferred collaboration tool for many organizations because of its clean interface and a bunch of features. Tabs is one such feature that has made Teams immensely popular.

Tabs are the quick shortcuts present at the top of channels in all teams. This is a customizable area where you can add various integrated apps that Microsoft Teams offers and even add the files shared in channels for quick access.

How To Add a File as a Tab

The Files tab is present by default in Microsoft Teams in each channel. It has all the files shared in a channel by all users stored neatly in one place for quick access. But in addition to that, users can also turn individual files into tabs for quick access.

Any file that the team is currently collaborating on is opened quite frequently and using it as a tab in the channel is potentially a huge time saver for everyone involved. Files can be turned into tabs directly from the shared post in the channel or the file list in the ‘Files’ tab.

To turn a recently shared file into a tab, go to the conversation in the channel where the file is shared, and click on the ‘More options’ icon (three-dot menu) next to the File name. A pop-up menu will appear on the screen. Select the option ‘Make this a tab’ from the menu to turn the file into a tab.

The above method works fine for a recently shared file. But if a file was shared some time ago, it would make no sense to scroll upwards on the channel until you find the file. It would be best to take the alternative.

Go to the ‘Files’ tab in the channel that contains the file, and find the file you want to turn into a tab. Then, hover your mouse on the file. Hovering will reveal a ‘More options’ icon (three-dot menu) next to the file name. Click on it.

A pop-up menu will appear on your screen. Choose the ‘Make this a Tab’ option from the menu, and it will turn the file into a tab.

How to Add an App as a Tab

In the Microsoft Teams desktop or web app, go to the channel where you want to add the app as a tab. To go to the channel, click on Teams on the left navigation bar, and select the team that the channel is the part of and then click on the channel to open it.

In the channel, go to the area where the tabs are, and click on the ‘+’ button next to the tabs.

The ‘Add a Tab’ screen will open with all the integrated apps at your disposal.

Select the app you want to add. You can add a website, Word, Excel, or choose from countless other apps.

The next step would depend on the particular app you are adding. Some apps would simply require you to click the ‘Add’ button to add the app.

In other instances like Microsoft Word, you will have to select a specific file to add the app as a tab.

Complete the steps depending on the app you are adding, and it will add the app as a tab in the channel.

Conclusion

Being able to work with efficiency is one of the most important factors while choosing any kind of collaboration platform. Microsoft Teams plays it right with the ‘Tabs’ feature. Add your most-used apps and files as Tabs in channels, and forget what it even means to waste time when it comes to accessing these essential tools. They will always be at your fingertips. You can add as many Tabs as you like, and also remove them easily when they are no longer needed.