Get started in Shifts
Applies To
Teams Microsoft TeamsWelcome to Shifts, the employee scheduling and time tracking app included with Microsoft Teams. With Shifts and Teams, you and your team have one place for your scheduling, communication, and collaboration needs to get work done, from anywhere, on any device.
Whether you’re a frontline manager looking to fill open shifts or a frontline worker wanting to view or request changes to your schedule, we’ve got you covered.
In this article
How do I get the Shifts app?
The Shifts app is included with Teams. If you have Teams, you have Shifts!
You can use Shifts on Teams desktop, web, and mobile.
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Shifts on desktop and web is optimized for schedule creation and management. Managers have lots of room to plan for the upcoming day, week, or month, and respond to changing needs as they arise.
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Shifts on mobile is geared for workers. Team members can see their upcoming shifts with a quick tap, set availability, and make shift and time-off requests, as needed.
How do I access Shifts?
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On desktop and web: In the app bar on the left side of Teams, select Shifts. If you don’t see it there, select View more apps
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On mobile: In Teams, tap Shifts in the app bar. If you don’t see it there, swipe up from the app bar.
Pin the Shifts app for quick access
If you have a Microsoft 365 F3 or F1 license, Shifts is automatically pinned to Teams for easy access. Otherwise, to pin it:
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On desktop and web: In the app bar on the left side of Teams, select View more apps
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On mobile: Swipe up on the app bar, tap Edit, and then drag Shifts from More apps to the top section.
How do I start using Shifts?
Frontline managers
To get up and running, here's an overview of how to create and publish a team schedule for the first time.
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Create a team schedule. Create your schedule, add schedule groups, and add team members to each group.
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Configure schedule settings for your team. Define the schedule options and Shifts capabilities that you want to make available to your team.
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Add shifts to the schedule. Assign shifts to team members and add open shifts to groups, as needed.
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Publish (share) the schedule. After it's shared, team members can view their own shifts and the team's shifts on the schedule.
Tip: You can use an Excel workbook to import your schedule into Shifts. An Excel import can help you get set up faster than manually filling out your schedule, especially if you manage a large team. To learn more, see Import a schedule from Excel to Shifts
Frontline workers
After your manager creates a team schedule and publishes it, you can see all your own shifts and your team’s shifts on the schedule.
From within Shifts, depending on the settings enabled for your team, you can do things like clock in and out of your shifts, request time off, swap or offer a shift to a teammate, and request to work an open shift.
What can I do in Shifts?
Here’s an overview of what managers and team members can do in Shifts on desktop, web, and mobile.
Frontline managers (team owners)
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Capability¹ |
Desktop |
Web |
Mobile |
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Create a schedule and share it with the team. |
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Import a schedule from Excel to Shifts. |
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Copy a schedule. |
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Add, update, and delete schedule groups to organize team members based on common characteristics within a team. For example, department or job type. |
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Add, update, and delete shifts. |
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Add, update, and delete open shifts for workers on their own team to request. |
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Add, update, and delete open shifts for workers on other teams (locations) to request. |
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Manage schedule settings for the team. |
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Manage (approve and deny) time-off and shift requests from workers. |
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Export and view time sheet reports. |
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Export the schedule to Excel. |
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Recall shifts on the schedule. |
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Print the schedule. |
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¹This table summarizes capabilities when using Shifts as a standalone app. If your organization is using Shifts with a workforce management system (WFM) to sync schedule data through a connector, you can view and manage your schedules in your WFM system from within Shifts. Learn more about the capabilities available to managers when using Shifts with a WFM system .
Frontline workers (team members)
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Capability¹ |
Desktop |
Web |
Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|
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View your own shifts. |
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View the team schedule. |
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View open shifts available in your schedule groups. |
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Request to pick up open shifts at your location. |
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Request to pick up open shifts at other locations. |
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Request time off. |
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Swap a shift with a coworker on the same team. |
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Offer a shift to a coworker on the same team. |
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Clock in and out of shifts and breaks. |
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Edit time sheet entries for clocking in/out and breaks. |
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Set availability. |
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Set shift reminders. |
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¹This table summarizes capabilities when using Shifts as a standalone app. If your organization is using Shifts with a workforce management system (WFM) to sync schedule data through a connector, you can view and manage your schedules in your WFM system from within Shifts. Learn more about the capabilities available to team members when using Shifts with a WFM system .
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