Microsoft Team templates are pre-built definitions for a team’s structure designed around a business need or project. Microsoft provides base template types are unique templates that Microsoft created for particular industries. These base templates contain apps that aren’t available in the apps store. Once a template type is created, you can extend or override the template with more properties that you’d like to specify. Some base template types contain properties that you can’t override.

What Does a Team Template Contain?

Teams Templates contain channels and apps required for the template. For example, the “Manage a project” template has four channels: General, Announcements, Resources, and Planning. It also contains four Apps: Wiki, OneNote, Planner, and Lists. The purpose of most Teams templates is to manage tasks, share documents, conduct project meetings, and document risks and decisions with this template for general project management.

How Do You Create a Teams Template Using the Admin Center?

Custom team templates are a predefined structure of channels, tabs, and apps. Organizations can develop templates that help create a suitable collaboration space instantly, and your custom team template uses your preferred settings.

To create a custom Teams Template within the Teams Admin Center, navigate to the Teams admin center, expand Teams and click Team templates. Click the Add option to start creating the custom Template. In the Team templates section, select Create a brand new template.

From the Template settings section, complete the Template name, short and long descriptions, and Locale visibility. Click Next.

Click Next. In the channels, tabs, and apps section, add any channels and apps that you need.

Clicking Add within either section, will slide out the configuration pane.

Once adding all the Channels and Apps, click Submit.

With the template saved, you can select the template when creating a new Team within the Teams client.

Just be aware that if you have not waited enough time, you will be presented with an error.

How Do You Create a Teams Template Using PowerShell?

PowerShell is also available to create Teams Template. You can use the following commands to manage templates in PowerShell.

The definition needs creating in JSON format, ready for importing. The most straightforward approach is to retrieve an existing Teams Template definition, then modify it as required.

Retrieve the full list of Templates

Get-CsTeamTemplateList

Now you need to copy the “ODataId” for the chosen existing Teams Template.

Retrieve an existing Teams Template

$template = Get-CsTeamTemplate -OdataId '/api/teamtemplates/v1.0/53bf1fbf-dcf3-4e24-9f66-b79c1d0995bc/Tenant/en-US'

Checking the value of the “$template” variable displays the JSON structure, with the options for modifying.

We can set the display name, short and long description, and modify the fun settings to allow Memes, Giphy’s, Stickers, and then add a new Channel.

$template.DisplayName = "Custom PowerShell Template"
$template.ShortDescription = "Short Custom PowerShell Template"
$template.Description = "Long Custom PowerShell Template"

$template.FunSetting.AllowGiphy = $true
$template.FunSetting.AllowCustomMeme = $true
$template.FunSetting.AllowStickersAndMeme = $true

$template.Channel=@{ `
	displayName = "Custom PowerShell Channel"; `
	id = "PowerShellChannel";
	isFavoriteByDefault = $false;
}

Now the template is ready, we simply pass the “$template” object into the “New-CsTeamTemplate” command.

New-CsTeamTemplate -Locale en-US -Body $template

Once the command complete the template becomes visible within both he Teams admin center and for end-users.

As you can see, it is straightforward to create Teams templates both using the Teams admin center and PowerShell. Another option is to use Microsoft Graph too. All options help you as an organization to define your business process as a Teams template.