How to @Mention Someone in Microsoft Teams (and Get Noticed)

Posting in a busy channel and hoping the right person sees it rarely works. An @mention sends them a notification, so your message stands out from the noise.

1. In a chat or channel, type @ followed by the first few letters of their name.
2. Pick them from the list that appears.
3. Finish your message and send.

Their name is highlighted in your message, and they get a notification and a red @ in their Activity feed.

Tip: After choosing someone, press Backspace once to remove their surname — "@Sarah" reads more naturally than "@Sarah Jones". The mention still works.

Use team and channel mentions sparingly — nobody likes being pinged for something that isn't relevant to them.

Note: Team owners can stop members from using @team and @channel mentions in Manage team > Settings.

Tags let you notify a set of people by role, without typing every name.

1. A team owner clicks ⋯ next to the team and chooses Manage tags.
2. Click Create tag, give it a name (like "Nurses" or "IT Support") and add people.
3. Anyone in the team can now type @IT Support to notify everyone with that tag.

Click the Format icon (the pen or "A") under the message box, then the ⋯ or the ! option to choose:

• Mark as important — adds a red "IMPORTANT!" banner to your message.
• Urgent (in chats) — notifies the person every 2 minutes for 20 minutes until they read it.

Save Urgent for genuinely urgent things. Use it too often and people will mute you.

1. Click Activity in the left bar.
2. Click the filter icon.
3. Choose @Mentions (or Mentions).

You'll see every message that mentions you, newest first.

You can also make sure mention notifications are on in ⋯ > Settings > Notifications and activity.

Type @ and a name to notify someone directly, use tags for groups like "managers", and save Important and Urgent for when it really matters. Check Activity > @Mentions to make sure you haven't missed anything aimed at you.