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I encountered an issue when trying to create a new team from scratch in the desktop version of Teams. It seems that naming the first channel has become a mandatory step. However, I am unable to name the channel "General" as it shows the message: "The name General is reserved. Try another name."
Could anyone please advise on how to create a "General" channel from scratch in the desktop version of Teams? Is there a workaround for this restriction?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Controlling settings, permissions, and membership within Teams and channels
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
I have just wasted a whole amount of time on this, as I am sure others have. What a mess. This is not cosmetic and it foundational. Who ever release this without understanding what would happen it really irresponsible.
As a workarround, if you happen to be a Teams admin, you can still create new teams from the Teams admin panel. The first channel will be created automatically without any questions and guess what, it will be called General.
Hope this helps
Also I just ran a test where I used General1 as the 1st channel name. Then I created a second channel named Alphabet Street. And yup, you guessed it....the General 1 channel dropped to the bottom. So not only can we not use General as the name for the 1st channel....it will no longer be the cream that rises to the top automatically. That sucks! Sure you can pin the channel but that adds it to the very top above all channels but does nothing for the order within the Team itself. Hey....want another interesting observation? When you go into the 1st channel to manage things....it still says "General" even though you renamed it. This is wild. Having said all of that....we can still get the general channel and that cream rising to the top scenario, if we use the admin center to create the team.
I agree, @MichaelMalloy. It seems like this functionality was rolled out too fast.
@Shajia, Is there a possibility to roll it back until it’s more thoroughly thought out and mature?
UPDATE - It looks like this temporary fix of using the app on your phone doesn't work any longer. (posting on Feb 5, 2025). Really unfortunate as now the best way is to use "Create a Team from Template" > Select the 2nd option "Manage a Project" - which shows the "General" channel > and then go back and delete the extra channels that it automatically creates.
NOT A GREAT SOLUTION - when the "FROM SCRATCH" option should include the GENERAL channel as its default and primary channel.
REALLY FRUSTRATING that this continues to be a problem.
_ _ _
Here's an easy fix - USE THE TEAMS APP ON YOUR PHONE (not the desktop) - and it will only ask you to name the "Team" and will automatically add "General" as the first channel.
When using app on your Phone (for now, until Microsoft messes it up further) - you only have to enter the Team Name, and General Channel is set up automatically.