You won't believe that Microsoft Teams has existed 7 years without this simple feature

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You'll soon be able to rename the General channel in Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams web client on Edge
Microsoft will soon add the option to rename the General channel in Teams. (Image credit: Future)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft Teams will soon let you rename the General channel within a team.
  • Every team within the app has a General channel that cannot be archived or deleted.
  • Despite launching seven years ago, Teams has lacked the option to rename the General channel.
  • The new option is available now for members of the Teams Public Preview or Microsoft 365 Targeted release on the new Teams for Windows or macOS.

Severn years after launch, Microsoft Teams will soon gain the option to rename the General channel within a team. Every team within Microsoft Teams has a General channel by default, but up until now, you have not been able to rename that channel. Microsoft is in the final stages of testing the ability to rename the General channel, and the functionality can be tried by members of the Teams Public Preview or Microsoft 365 Targeted release on the new Teams for Windows or macOS.

The General channel in a team cannot be archived or deleted, and every member of a team is placed within that channel, making it a bit odd that Teams lacks the option to rename the channel. But that gap is about to be filled.

"We’ve heard from users that they wanted the option to retitle this channel to something more meaningful," said Microsoft. "So, we made it happen! The General channel can now be renamed by the team’s owners. It will then show up in alphabetical order like other channels in the teams and channels lists for all members."

Team owners can rename the General channel through the "More options" button for that channel or through the "Manage channel" settings page. Interestingly, if you change the name to something else, you won't be able to change the name back to "General" in the future.

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A strange omission

Microsoft Teams launched in 2017. The communication platform has come a long way since then and currently has hundreds of millions of users. I know that Teams gets a lot of hate, and some of that is justified, but overall, it is an effective tool for keeping in touch with a team and getting work done. 

In the early days of Microsoft Teams, some missing features were either acceptable or at least expected, depending on your perspective. The platform was put on a global stage during the pandemic and expected to meet growing demands rapidly. Teams was only a few years old when millions of people had to shift to working from home and remote learning.

Since those early days, Microsoft has come out with a new version of Teams, added countless features, and refined the general Teams experience. The active development of Teams makes it a bit perplexing when a simple feature is missing, such as the ability to change the name of the general channel within a Team. I suppose there are more pressing areas that require attention, such as debundling Teams from Office 365, but it seems like this gap could have been filled a while ago.

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Sean Endicott
Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He's covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean's journey began with the Lumia 740, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.