Teams has been the go-to place for collaboration. It is where you go for your chats, your meetings, and sharing and collaborating on documents. We also live in a world where emails are still a daily occurrence.
Luckily enough, Microsoft has given us a great way that we can share conversations and emails back and forth between Teams and Outlook if we so choose. This could be an amazing use if you have an internal team, and an email that isn’t shared with everyone, you can put it in the team, and now you will not have to dig for that email, and it is available to everyone on the team.
You can also share a conversation from Teams to Outlook. As an example, you could take a string that discusses a troubleshooting plan or idea, then put into a nice tidy thread that can be easily forwarded to a client or outside party.
Sending an Email From Outlook To a Teams Channel
We can easily send information from Outlook to a Teams channel, and there are two ways to do so.
Option 1: Email the Channel Using the Channel Email Address
The first way that we can do this is by sending the email to Teams via the Channel email address. To get this, find the channel that you want to send the email, then click on the “…” beside the email.
Now you can select "Get email address".
You will get a pop-up that will allow you to copy the email address for the channel.
You can click on "advanced settings" to help configure who can send an email to the Team/channels. The options that it provides are "Anyone", "Team members", or "Only emails from specific domains".
Note: Once you add a domain to this list, that is the only domain that will be allowed. For example, if I add "@contoso.com", senders using "@gmail.com" will be unable to send email to the channel
Once you have copied your email address, you can simply put it in the email that you want to send to Teams, and you are done. There are a few pros and cons to this option
Pros:
- You can use any email client, not just Outlook.
- You can manage who is sending emails to the channel.
Cons:
- Takes a few extra steps to complete, requires copy and pasting.
- Could send the email to the wrong place (speaking from experience.)
Option 2: Email the Channel via Teams Sharing Button
The other option used going and finding the Teams email address, which would take you out of Outlook, just to go back and send it. There is a more convenient way where you never have to leave Outlook. Find the email that you want to send to Teams, click the "…" in the top right of the email, and select "Share to Microsoft Teams".
From here, you will get a pop-up, in which you can select which channel, chat, or group you would like to share this email with, and if you want to include any attachments that it may have come with.
Once you have selected where you would like to share, simply click on "Share", and you are done.
Pros:
- Never have to leave Outlook.
- No wondering if you sent it to the right person, or if you hit reply all by accident (again, from experience.)
Cons:
- Can only be done in the Outlook email client.
Sending a Conversation From Teams to Outlook
Now for us to do the exact opposite. Take a chat from Microsoft Teams, and put it into an email format, and send it to someone. There is only one process for this, so it does make it quite easy. We are going to find the conversation that we are looking for, scrolling over it until we see the reactions. We are then going to click on "…", then select "Share to Outlook".
You will then get a pop-out, where you can select who you want to send it to, and will give you a preview of the email, allow you to edit it, and provide a link to the Teams conversation (if you have sent it to someone that does not have access, it will not take them to the conversation).
When you are done, simply click send and it will be shared.
Get Work Done Anywhere You Want
Microsoft has opened so many doors to allow you to work and collaborate in the space that you choose to work. Being able to share conversations across platforms is an amazing tool, and allows us to embrace the hybrid work environment that Microsoft is pushing for.
If you have any other questions about how to use the features in Teams, SharePoint, or anything Microsoft 365, and want to get the biggest bang for your buck, reach out to us, and we will show you some cool new things!
