You can add a poll to a Microsoft Teams chat by tapping the menu (…) below the message box and selecting the Polls app. The poll appears directly in the chat conversation, letting everyone in the group vote without leaving the thread. The process takes about 30 seconds once you know where to look.
Adding a Poll in a Group Chat
On the Teams desktop app or web version, click the three-dot menu (…) underneath the text box where you normally type messages. Look for the Polls app in the list that appears. If you don’t see it, your organization may need to enable it, or you may need to search for and install it from the Teams app store first.
Once you open the Polls app, type your question and add at least two answer choices. You can include up to 10 choices on a single poll. Before sending, you can adjust settings like setting a due date for responses and controlling who can see the results. When everything looks right, tap “Next” to preview your poll, then hit “Send” to publish it into the chat. Everyone in that conversation will see the poll as an interactive card they can vote on immediately.
Creating a Poll on Mobile
On the Teams mobile app for iOS or Android, the process is similar. Tap the menu (…) below the message box and select the Polls app. Type your question, add your answer options, configure your settings, preview it, and send.
One catch: if the Polls app doesn’t appear in your mobile menu, you’ll need to install it first through the Teams desktop app or browser version. Once it’s installed there, it will show up on your mobile device the next time you open the app.
Polls in Meetings vs. Chats
Polls work differently depending on whether you’re using them in a regular group chat or during a scheduled meeting. Meeting polls offer more formats, including multiple choice quizzes, open text polls, and rating polls. You also get extra options like sharing results automatically after voting and keeping responses anonymous.
To set up polls for a meeting, open your Teams calendar, find the scheduled meeting, and select “Chat with participants.” From there, click the plus icon to add a tab, search for Forms, and add it. This creates a dedicated Polls tab on the meeting where you can draft polls ahead of time and launch them during the session. You can save polls as drafts before the meeting starts, then launch them at the right moment by opening the Polls tab and selecting the one you want.
Chat polls are simpler. They support standard multiple choice questions and appear inline in the conversation. For quick team decisions like picking a lunch spot or choosing a meeting time, chat polls are perfectly fine. If you need quiz functionality, open text responses, or anonymous voting, you’ll want to use the meeting poll setup instead.
Settings Worth Adjusting
Before you hit send, take a moment to check the poll settings. You can set a due date so the poll automatically closes after a certain time, which is useful when you need a decision by end of day. You can also restrict who sees the results, helpful if you want people to vote without being influenced by how others have responded.
For meeting polls specifically, you get the option to share results automatically after voting and to keep responses anonymous. The anonymous setting is particularly useful for sensitive topics like team feedback or prioritization exercises where people might hesitate to vote honestly if their name is attached.
Third-Party Polling Apps
If the built-in Polls app doesn’t cover what you need, two popular alternatives available in the Teams app store are Polly and Slido. Both integrate directly into Teams and support live polling during meetings. They tend to offer features beyond what the native tool provides, such as recurring polls, advanced analytics, and word clouds. You can install either one from the Teams app store the same way you’d add any other app, by searching for it in the apps section and adding it to your chat or meeting.