Microsoft Teams & SharePoint

5 answers from our senior SharePoint consultants.

What is the relationship between Microsoft Teams and SharePoint?

Every Microsoft Teams team automatically creates a SharePoint site behind the scenes. Files you share in Teams channels are actually stored in a SharePoint document library — Teams is the collaboration interface, SharePoint is the storage layer. Standard channels share a SharePoint site; private channels get their own dedicated SharePoint site collection. This means SharePoint permissions, governance, and storage policies apply to all Teams file content. Organizations should govern Teams and SharePoint together, not as separate platforms.

Can I use SharePoint instead of Microsoft Teams for file sharing?

Yes, and for many use cases SharePoint is the better choice. Use SharePoint directly (not Teams) for: company-wide intranet content and policies, formal document repositories accessed by large audiences, content requiring fine-grained permissions beyond team-level, and records management with retention policies. Use Teams for: real-time collaboration on projects, ongoing department communication, and workstreams with a defined team. Many organizations use both — Teams for active collaboration, SharePoint sites for structured document management and intranet content.

How do I control what Teams members can access in SharePoint?

Teams membership directly controls SharePoint permissions: Team Owners get Full Control, Team Members get Edit access, and Guests get limited Edit access. To restrict SharePoint access differently than Teams membership: create SharePoint-only permission groups for specific libraries, use sensitivity labels to restrict downloading from Teams-connected libraries, and configure information barriers for regulated industries. Note that private channels automatically create separate SharePoint sites with isolated permissions — only private channel members can access those files.

Where are Teams meeting recordings stored?

Since September 2023, Teams meeting recordings are stored in Microsoft 365 cloud storage: non-channel meetings go to the organizer's OneDrive (My Recordings folder), and channel meetings go to the associated SharePoint site's Recordings folder. Recordings have a default expiration policy (typically 60-120 days depending on your org settings). For recordings that need long-term retention — training sessions, all-hands, board meetings — move them to a governed SharePoint library with an appropriate retention label applied.

What happens to the SharePoint site when I delete a Teams team?

Deleting a Teams team soft-deletes the associated Microsoft 365 Group and puts the SharePoint site into the SharePoint Recycle Bin. You have 93 days to recover the site before it is permanently deleted. If a retention policy applies to the site's content, that content is preserved even after the site is deleted — it moves to the Preservation Hold Library. Best practice: archive Teams teams instead of deleting them when the project ends, which puts the team in read-only mode in Teams while keeping the SharePoint site fully accessible.

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