How to Customize Apps in Microsoft Teams

In Microsoft Teams, you can customize apps to both rebrand and integrate them into your digital workplace. If the app developer allows Teams admins to make customizations to the app, you can set custom preferences to enhance your Teams experience. The biggest advantage in this process is the ability to make these apps looks like an extension of your internal tools. If you already know how to use apps in Microsoft Teams, then knowing the best apps and how to customize them will let you maximize your use of the Teams platform. Isn’t that cool?

Let us discuss how to customize apps in Microsoft Teams.

What customizable fields are there in Microsoft Teams?

A Microsoft Teams Admin can customize certain details of an app. The following list includes specific factors that admins can edit for the apps that are custom-made by app developers:

• Name
• Description
• Full description
• Website URL
• Privacy Policy URL
• Terms of Use URL
• Outline Icon
• Color Icon
• Accent Color

If you are a new Microsoft Teams user, gain a better understanding of Microsoft Teams Apps here: How Microsoft Teams is Enhancing User Experience with Apps.

Have you decided to customize an app so it visually identifies with your organization’s brand characteristics?

Let's discuss the steps to make this possible.

Steps to Customize the App’s Details

To start customizing an app in Microsoft Teams, first go to the Microsoft Teams Admin Center.

• Sign in to your Microsoft 365 account and select Admin from the App Launcher
• You will be taken to Microsoft 365 Admin Center
• Select Teams admin center from the left sidebar
  
• At the Teams admin center homepage, select Teams apps on the left, then select Manage apps
  
• On the Manage apps page, select Org-wide app settings
  
• Enable the toggle switch labeled Allow interaction with apps and click Save
• Select the Customizable column option, then sort the apps based on customizable apps
  
• You can select the Customize option in three different ways:
  • Select the app you wish to customize, then click the Customize option at the top
  • Select the app name, then click on the customize icon
  • Select the app name, then choose Customize from the Actions dropdown menu
• Expand the details section, then edit details of desired fields
• You can edit any field that the app developer has enabled customization for
• Click on the Icon section to expand
• Upload an icon, then choose an icon outline color
• Pick an accent app color that matches your icon
• Click on Apply, then Publish

Now that you successfully completed the app customization steps, the customized app is now displayed in the Manage apps section. By customizing an app, perform an update on the original app. In this way, only the latest version of the app is made available.

Top Factors to Consider While Customizing Apps

To make your app customization legitimate and ideal, you must consider a few factors and follow certain procedures:

• App developers may have included instructions or guidelines for further app customization in their terms of use or documentation. Review and follow guidelines if included.
• If using third party images in your app customization,  ensure that you respect the rights associated with the images.
• Confirm that the links provided to the privacy policy and terms of use are valid.
• The app developer may change the permissions to customize certain fields of an app following customization. The admin will find a message notifying the change in the app details page in that case. Additionally, the values of those fields will be reverted to the original.
• It is best practice to test customized apps in a Teams test tenant to verify its use before rolling it out to the production environment.
• A standard waiting period of 24 hours is applicable for all customizations to appear in user environments.

How to Review and Reset Apps Details

You may need to view the app details page to review the customized app.

Follow these steps to review app details:

• Go to the Teams admin center
• Select Teams apps
• Select Manage apps
• Choose the desired app name, then check app details
• Find the Short name from publisher field
• This field is only displayed for customized apps where their original Short name is changed

You can also reset app details to default settings by following these steps: 

• Go to Teams apps >> Manage apps page as above
• Choose the app name
• Go to Actions
• Select Reset to default 

We hope you gained an understanding of how to customize apps in Microsoft Teams. Read How to Pop-out Chats and Apps in Microsoft Teams to learn even more information.