Use tags in Microsoft Teams to @mention a group of people at once in a channel or chat. Tags group team members by role, project, skill, or schedule. When you @mention a tag, everyone in that tag gets notified.

With tags, you can:

  • @mention a group in a channel to notify everyone in that tag

  • Start a chat with all members of a tag

  • Create and manage tags for a team (with permission)

Using tags

To use a tag, just @mention it in a channel. Everyone who's been assigned that tag will receive a notification. To see the mention, select ​​​​​​​Tag mentions  The Categorize icon. in Quick views above the list of chat or channel conversations. You can also view the notification in Activity  Activity button​​​​​​​ on the left side of Teams.

To message multiple people at once, try starting a new chat with a tag. Select the tag that's assigned to the people you want to reach, then write your message.

@mention a tag in a channel

In a channel conversation, simply @mention a tag (type @ and the tag name) in your message and select the tag from the list. The tag will appear just like any @mention, and the people associated with the tag will be notified.

Start a chat using a tag

To start a chat with the members of a tag, select New message  New chat icon in Teams. Start typing the name of the tag, and then select the tag from the list. Everyone in the tag group will be added to the To: field.

Create and manage custom tags in Teams

Hover over the team you want to create tags for, then select More options  More options button and choose Manage tags  manage tags icon. Create a tag by naming your tag, adding a helpful description, and assigning people on your team. 

There are three kinds of tags in Teams:

  • Custom tags: Created and managed by team owners, or team members if allowed. Use these in channels and chats.

  • Shift-based tags: Based on schedules in the Shifts app. Use these in channels and chats.

  • Automatic tags: Based on job title or department. These are set up by your IT admin and can be used in channel conversations.

Note: If you're unable to create tags, your organization might not have the feature enabled. To get permissions to create or manage tags, contact your team owner.

Tags settings for team owners

Team owners can adjust tags settings from the desktop app. 

Choose whether team members can create tags:

Team owners can choose whether members of their team can create tags.

  1. Find your team in the list.

  2. Go to More options More options button and then select Manage team Settings button.

  3. Choose the Settings tab, and then go to the @mention section.

You can now choose who can use team, channel, and group @mentions.

Choose whether to use shift-based tags:

To use shift-based tags, in the Settings tab, go to Tags and turn on the Shifts toggle.

To learn more, see Turn on shift-based tags in Teams.

Choose whether team members can use automatic tags:

To allow team members to @mention people based on department of job title, go to the @mention section, and then select the checkbox labeled Show members the option to @mention groups based on job title or department. This will notify everyone in that group. 

Notes: 

  • For shared channels, only direct members of a shared channel can be added to a shared channel tag. 

  • If you're an admin, see Set up targeted communications for more info about how to enable automatic tags in your org.

  • For IT admins, see Manage tags in Microsoft Teams.

  • Tags are not yet available in Air Gap.