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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  1. Anonymous
    2024-10-04T14:20:50+00:00

    If you use the teams APP on your PHONE - you can make a "Team" without having to set up a specific "Channel" - and it will automatically have "General" channel.

    Hopefully Microsoft will change it back to the way it was working before on the Desktop application... really annoying that they changed something that has been working fine for everyone.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-10-04T08:50:03+00:00

    Hi,

    Same problem here.

    I've used the workaround to use the (iOS) app to create a new Teams site and voila... the General channel is created...

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-10-01T16:44:38+00:00

    An issue that I find with this is the ability to use Sync features in the same manner. When the General channel is created, you can go to 'files' move up to the 'documents' folder and click sync. then all public channels will be synced. Now it looks like you will have to make a separate sync folder for each channel, which will make my file explorer and even bigger mess. (I really wish the private channels that you are included in would sync along with public channels... private channels also make my file explorer a mess.)

    Yes, you can go to SharePoint and set up sync from there. Interestingly, if you do go to SharePoint you'll see that a General folder has been created in the library, it just is not identified as a Channel. So seems a lot more of a bug than a feature.

    Hoping a patch fixes this soon!!

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-09-25T19:32:52+00:00

    Sounds great for new Teams; any idea how to get the channel for a Team I already created?

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    7 people found this answer helpful.
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