Frequently asked questions for Shared Spaces

What is Shared Spaces?

Shared spaces provide a focused and productive collaboration environment, ideal for large projects, departments, small groups, education, communities, and more. They include a shared grouping of channels to help organize conversations, improve discoverability of relevant topics, and streamline access to topics within a project or team.

What are the supported versions for Shared Spaces?

Shared spaces is available on the Zoom Workplace app for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, version 6.0.0 or higher

How can Shared Spaces be enabled?

Shared Spaces are enabled by default, and account admins can enable or disable the ability to create Shared Spaces at the account or user group level. Enabling at the account level will allow all users to create Shared Spaces, while enabling only at the user group level will allow users in those groups to create Shared Spaces. Users not permitted to create Shared Spaces can still be added to a shared space and will have access to the shared space and channels within it.

What types of Shared Spaces are available?

Currently, there is one type of shared space: a private shared space. These spaces are exclusively visible to members and are not discoverable for joining, so individuals must be manually added.

What settings are configurable in a Shared Space?

Settings include:

• Who can add members (Everyone, Space Owner, and Admins only)
• Who can create channels in the shared space (Everyone, Space Owner, and Admins only)
• Option to enable or disable adding external users (Disabled by default)

How is ownership managed in a Shared Space?

Each shared space has one owner, who possesses full control over the space. Owner permissions include:

• Adding and removing members
• Designating or removing members as space admins
• Changing the space name
• Deleting the space (channels within the space become private channels if deleted)

What are the responsibilities of a Space admin?

Space admins have fewer permissions than owners, and as such they can:

• Add and remove members
• Designate or remove members as space admins
• Change the space name

What actions are restricted for Space admins?

Space admins cannot:

• Modify space settings (for example, membership and channel creation permissions)
• Remove a channel from the space
• Delete the space
• Change the space owner

Can a Space owner transfer ownership?

Yes, a space owner can transfer ownership to another member within the same account.

How can users create Shared Spaces in Team Chat?

Users with permission to create Shared Spaces can access the option from the blue quick create menu at the top of the left sidebar in Team Chat. Learn more about using Shared Spaces.

What happens after creating a shared space?

Upon creation, a General channel is automatically generated for the space. This channel is synced to the space membership and cannot be deleted or renamed. It serves as the main channel for discussions with space members. Additional channels should be focused on specific subtopics within the space.

What are the channels in Shared Spaces?

• General channel: The General channel maintains the same membership as the shared space. Users added or removed from the space are automatically added or removed from the General channel. Members cannot be added individually to the General channel; they must be added to the space itself. Additionally, members cannot leave the General channel; they can only leave the space.
• Private channel: Private channels are not discoverable to non-members and users must be invited to join a private channel. Depending on settings, users can add members who are not part of the space, including external users or users not in that space. If a user is in a private channel and links to a space, but the user is not a member of that space, they will only see the channel in their sidebar and not the linked space.
• Public to members channel: Public to members channel is discoverable only by members within the shared space. Space members can see a list of all public to members channels in the space and choose to preview or join them. Only space members can be added to these channels. If a member is removed or leaves a shared space, they will be removed from any Public to Members channels in that space. These channels are only searchable or discoverable by members of the shared space.
  • Sync shared space members to the channel: By default, public to member channels will be set to automatically sync space members to these channels. If you want the channel to be discoverable, but not required to join, you can deselect the sync checkbox shown upon creation of the channel in the space.

How can users move existing channels to a Shared Space?

From an existing Shared Space, users can create a new channel within the space or select from existing channels. However, they can only move private channels they own into a shared space. Additionally, only space members with channel creation permissions can move channels into the space. Currently, when moving an existing channel into the space, users cannot choose the channel type; it will move as a private channel.

Is management of Shared Spaces available in the Admin Portal?

Account admins with the channel write access role can create new spaces in the Admin Portal and create channels within those Shared Spaces. They can also view a list of spaces, channels within each space, and manage each channel. Account admins can edit space settings and delete channels or entire Shared Spaces from the Admin Portal. If a space is deleted, channels within it will not be automatically deleted; they will move out of the space and become a private channel that is no longer linked to a space.