New Team doesn't have a General Channel

Anonymous
2024-09-03T14:22:01+00:00

I've just created a new Team and during creation I was asked to create the first channel name, I attempted to use 'General' but was told this was already used so I just carried on making the rest of the required channels. Now when I look within 'Manage Team'->'Channels' there is no General channel. It appears it was never created and If I try to create it manually I get the error "The name General is reserved. Try another name."

I have restarted Teams & cleared the Cache but still do not have a General channel.

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for business | Teams and channels | Other

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Anonymous
2024-09-03T16:33:25+00:00

Dear Callum Butler,

Good day! Thank you for posting in the Microsoft Community. We will be happy to help you.

It sounds like you’ve encountered a common issue in Microsoft Teams. The “General” channel is indeed reserved and automatically created when a new team is set up. you are right! I tested the same on my end, it seems the General channel no longer automatically created when creating a Team from scratch (a basic team), seems currently to get this General channel created, you need to use the More create team options and choose the "From another team" or "From a template" and use the "Manage a Project" for example.

This behavior will be reported to Microsoft for confirmation, and we will monitor it. We will provide you with an update as soon as we receive it.

Thanks in advance for your understanding! Your patience and cooperation will be highly appreciated.

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42 additional answers

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-06-17T15:03:44+00:00

    Hey,

    Is it possible to add a 'general' channel to an already existing team? It's really important to have at the top of all channels. I can't delete a created Team since there's a lot of international people involved.

    Thanks

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-06-05T16:53:33+00:00

    The timeline changed again for MC1048628:

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-04-30T12:09:43+00:00

    It's coming back in May (for sovereign tenants) and should have already rolled out in Commercial:
    Image

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-04-25T13:19:43+00:00

    This will come back to haunt you or others in your organisation when you come to build scripts to manage channels or Teams.

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