What are the special character restrictions in Teams policies?

• Applies to:

  Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams

You can't create or edit policies (for messaging, meetings, etc.) that have a special character in the name in the Microsoft Teams admin center.

If a policy name contains special characters, you will be limited in managing these policies in the Microsoft Teams admin center. As such, we strongly recommend that policy names don't include special characters.

Policy names that have been created using PowerShell for meetings and messaging in Teams can have special characters such as @,#,$. However, if you are wanting to make changes to the policy in the Microsoft Teams admin center, you won't be able to.

If you have a policy with special characters, you will need to either edit the policy using Windows PowerShell (forever) or create a new policy in the Microsoft Teams admin center with the same settings as the old policy and assign it to the same group of users.

To remove special characters

Step 1 - Make a remote connection with PowerShell.

Note

Skype for Business Online Connector is currently part of the latest Teams PowerShell Module.

If you're using the latest Teams PowerShell public release, you don't need to install the Skype for Business Online Connector.

  # When using Teams PowerShell Module

   Import-Module MicrosoftTeams
   $credential = Get-Credential
   Connect-MicrosoftTeams -Credential $credential

Step 2 - Get the settings for the old policy and capture the output.

Note

This example is for a Messaging policy. The steps would be the same for other policy types but you must use the correct cmdlet.

Get-CsTeamsMessagingPolicy -id <old_policy_name>

Step 3 - Create a new policy.

You can either create the new policy with the same setting by using the Microsoft Teams admin center or PowerShell.

Running this will create a new policy for you but you will need to add the correct settings by seeing Set-CsTeamsMessagingPolicy and then running it:

Set-CsTeamsMessagingPolicy -id <new_policy_name>

Step 4 - Assign the policy.

Grant-CsTeamsMessagingPolicy -Policy <new_policy_name>

See, Grant-CsTeamsMessagingPolicy for more information on this cmdlet.

Step 5 - Delete the old policy.

This will delete the old policy with the special characters.

Remove-CsTeamsMessagingPolicy -identity <old_policy_name>

See, Remove-CsTeamsMessagingPolicy for more information on this cmdlet.

If this command succeeds, you're done. If the above command returns an error, it is because the old policy is assigned to users so you need to run to remove all assigned users from the policy:

Grant-CsMessagingPolicy -Policy <old_policy_name> $null

Want to know how to manage with Windows PowerShell?

Windows PowerShell is all about managing users and what users are allowed or not allowed to do. With Windows PowerShell, you can manage Microsoft 365 or Office 365 by using a single point of administration that can simplify your daily work when you have multiple tasks to do. To get started with Windows PowerShell, see these topics:

• Why you need to use Office 365 PowerShell?

• Best ways to manage Microsoft 365 or Office 365 with Windows PowerShell

• Windows PowerShell has many advantages in speed, simplicity, and productivity over only using the Microsoft 365 admin center, such as when you are making settings changes for many users at one time. Learn about these advantages in the following topics:

  • An introduction to Windows PowerShell and Skype for Business Online

    Using Windows PowerShell to manage Skype for Business Online

  • Using Windows PowerShell to do common Skype for Business Online management tasks

    Note

    The Windows PowerShell module for Skype for Business Online enables you to create a remote Windows PowerShell session that connects to Skype for Business Online and Microsoft Teams. This module, which is supported only on 64-bit computers, can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center at Windows PowerShell Module for Skype for Business Online.