So, You Want to Connect SharePoint and Teams? Let’s Walk Through It — No Buzzwords
Integrating SharePoint with Microsoft Teams sounds great on paper — until you're the one tasked with figuring out how to do it. Thing is, there’s no one-size-fits-all playbook. What works for one department might confuse the next. Some setups need a full migration, others just need a simple link.
This isn’t a tutorial. It’s a guide from someone who's seen the nice parts — and the messy ones.
First Things First: Figure Out What You’ve Got
Before touching anything, sit down with the basics.
Ask yourself — or your team — a few uncomfortable questions:
– Are your SharePoint sites running in the cloud, or still sitting on a local server in some closet?
– Do these sites use custom workflows, or is it mostly just documents and lists?
– Is everything a tangled mess of permissions, or are you using Microsoft 365 Groups to keep things sane?
This isn’t busywork. It’s damage control — you want to know what might break before it actually does.
Option 1: Just Link the Site in a Tab — Seriously, That’s Enough Sometimes
If the SharePoint site works and people already know how to use it, no need to reinvent anything.
Here’s the trick:
– Pick a channel in Teams.
– Click the + at the top (the one for adding tabs).
– Choose “Website.”
– Paste the SharePoint URL and give it a label.
Boom — done. Your SharePoint page now lives inside Teams, and nobody had to migrate a thing.
Is it fancy? No. Is it effective? Absolutely — especially for dashboards, forms, or document libraries you don’t want to move.
Option 2: Migrate Files Into Teams — When You’re Done with the Old Stuff
Now, if your SharePoint site is basically a glorified file share, and you're ready to clean house, then yeah — maybe it's time to move.
But here’s the thing: don’t do it manually. Seriously.
Use a migration tool. Microsoft gives you one for free (SharePoint Migration Tool), or go with something like ShareGate or AvePoint if you're working at scale.
General idea:
– Install the tool.
– Tell it where your old files are.
– Point it to the Teams file library (which is just a SharePoint doc lib anyway).
– Hit go.
Pro tip: double-check version history and author info before moving. And permissions — those can get weird fast if you’re not paying attention.
Option 3: Add Teams to SharePoint — If You’re Already Using SharePoint Online
Let’s say the site already lives in SharePoint Online. You can bolt Teams onto it without migrating anything.
– Go to the SharePoint site in a browser.
– Look for the “Add Microsoft Teams” button — it’s not always obvious.
– Click it. Wait. Magic happens.
– A new Team appears, connected to the same doc library.
Now users can work in either place. But be warned: this setup sometimes confuses people. Files in “General” (inside Teams) aren’t always the same as what they see on the SharePoint homepage. Be ready to explain the structure.
Don’t Overlook the Permissions Thing
Here’s what most people forget: Teams uses Microsoft 365 Groups for access control. If your SharePoint permissions are old-school and manually configured, things might not line up.
Once Teams is involved, channel owners can change access — which can be good (fast decisions) or bad (no one tells IT). You’ll want to decide how much control to give users before rollout.
Sometimes You Don’t Move — You Just Connect
And honestly? That’s totally fine.
Not every SharePoint site needs to be folded into Teams. If it has complex workflows, custom integrations, or connects to on-prem systems — leave it alone. Just link it where needed.
You don’t need full integration to make collaboration smoother. You just need fewer barriers.