Watch out, Zoom: Microsoft Teams is getting a killer new feature

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Microsoft Teams adds the List app to make collaborating easier

Microsoft Teams List app
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft Teams is getting a new feature to increase collaboration — and it's something Zoom doesn't offer.

Microsoft has made its new Lists app available as an add-on to its Teams video meeting service. Lists allow teams to track information across various projects in "simple, smart and flexible ways," the company says. Over the past few months, Microsoft Teams has been adding a ton of new features and improvements in a clear bid to gain some ground against Zoom, which is at the top of our list of the best video chat apps.

Microsoft Lists, which was announced at Microsoft Build 2020, is separate from both the To Do and Tasks apps. Lists look like spreadsheets, with rows and columns, but come with a conversation space so team members can exchange messages about each individual item. Users can select from pre-made templates or make their own custom lists that pull in from Excel or other sources.

Among the ready-made templates are three industry-specific ones for healthcare (patients), financial institutions (loans) and government agencies (incidents).

Lists can be added to Teams channels, so that team members can collaborate and provide feedback on items. And since it's in Teams, the conversation can support all messaging capabilities such as mentions, GIFs, stickers, emojis, and attachments. You can get a preview of Lists in action in Microsoft's announcement video.

"The vision of the Lists app in Teams is to bring all the collaboration and communication modalities to lists and list items, so it is easy to get work done," wrote product manager Ansuman Acharya in a blog post.

The Lists feature is now available on the Teams mobile app for iOS and Android for all Microsoft 365 commercial and Government Community (GCC) customers. A separate Lists mobile app is expected later this year. 

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Kelly Woo
Kelly Woo
Managing editor, streaming

Kelly is the managing editor of streaming for Tom’s Guide, so basically, she watches TV for a living. Previously, she was a freelance entertainment writer for Yahoo, Vulture, TV Guide and other outlets. When she’s not watching TV and movies for work, she’s watching them for fun, seeing live music, writing songs, knitting and gardening.