Microsoft Teams launches as a single app for work, personal, and education

Microsoft Teams has finally become one. Previously cobbled together as a confusing mix of two separate Windows 11 apps for work and personal use, Teams is now one unified app that lets you switch between different accounts and access types. Rolled out on Tuesday, the new app brings work, personal, and educational accounts under one roof for Windows 11, Windows 10, and Macs.

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Teams has long been a mainstay conferencing and chat app for business users. With the release of Windows 11, Microsoft positioned Teams as a one-stop communications app for personal use. But that led to an awkward situation with two separate apps, one for personal and another for work or school, each with a different layout and features.

In a Tuesday blog post, Microsoft said that the new app is now available for all users. If you already have Teams on your Windows PC or Mac, the app will automatically be updated. Otherwise, you can download it from the Teams website as well as grab it for iOS and Android devices.

The new Teams app is the result of feedback from both personal and professional users who said they’d prefer a single app that allows them to switch between different accounts rather than try to navigate two separate apps.

Launching the new Teams app presents you with a screen showing all your accounts for work, school, or personal use. Simply select the account you wish to access. After signing in, you can switch to another account by selecting your profile picture in the upper right and choosing the account you want.

Anyone who taps into Teams for personal use can connect and work with other people for free. You can schedule free meetings and invite participants to them or join a community for calling, chatting, and file sharing.

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You can even join a Teams meeting as a guest without signing in. But if you want to log in, you’re able to select your preferred account as you join the meeting.

Any notifications you receive in Teams will indicate which account they reference. Plus, notifications for personal accounts will contain more details so that you can respond to them directly from the notification banner.

For now, the new unified preview app will be known as Microsoft Teams (work or school), though the name will automatically change to simply Microsoft Teams in future releases. At the same time, the standalone consumer version called Microsoft Teams (free) will be removed from Windows.