New Chat and channels experience in Education

Microsoft is excited to announce the availability of the new chats and channels experience for education customers. This blog contains the details of the enhancements that are going to be available soon.
  

Will my current Teams and Chat apps merge into one?

Not by default. The current Teams and Chats experience will remain the same. Only users who want to opt into this new experience will have the option to do so. 

Customizing the experience

Users can tailor their chat and channels experience in Teams Settings. You can choose to keep chat, teams, and channels separate as they currently are or switch to a combined Chat and Teams view (in the Chat app).

In the combined Chat view on Windows, Mac, and Web, message previews are off by default to simplify the list. Users can turn on message previews in Settings.

Note: If you are in Grid view, the 'Combined' option will be deactivated. Shifting to the List view enables it.

Chat enhancements

In the chat app, users will see these sections (in order):

1. Favorites containing any previously pinned chats and channels
2. Chats sorted by most recent
3. Teams and channels, organized in same order as in the Teams view (only when in Combined view)

Also, users can create custom sections to organize projects and topics that can include individual, group, and meeting chats.

Favorites, Chats, and Teams and (channels for Combined view only) in one list in Teams for Windows:

Favorites, Chats, and Teams and (channels for Combined view only) in one list in Teams for iOS (also available for Android):

New filters for Unread, Chat, Channels, Meetings and more help users focus on relevant conversation in their list. Filters persist until turned off.

The new @mention view gathers all personal @mentions into one interactive list. Users can quickly access messages with @mentions across chats, channels, and meetings.

Use /go to: Quickly navigate to your frequently used conversation across your chat and channels with a new keyboard shortcut Ctrl+G (Cmd+G on Mac).

When this will happen:

This is expected to be available to Education customers in June