Microsoft 365 Insider Blog articles

Converse naturally across languages with consecutive interpretation

harinlee — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:30:00 GMT

Hi, Insiders! I am Harin Lee, a Principal Product Manager on the Microsoft Teams team. I’m excited to share a new way to collaborate across languages in your meetings: consecutive interpretation in Interpreter.

Keep two-language meetings flowing with consecutive interpretation in Teams

Interpreter brings speech-to-speech translation to Teams meetings so everyone can participate in the language they're most comfortable using. Consecutive interpretation is a new mode in Interpreter for Windows, Mac, and the web that helps participants collaborate more naturally in meetings with two spoken languages. With this update, Interpreter now supports two modes: real-time simultaneous interpretation (launched last year) and a new consecutive interpretation mode designed for back-and-forth conversations.

With consecutive interpretation, the translation begins after each speaker finishes speaking. This creates a turn-based flow that more closely reflects how people naturally communicate in multilingual conversations. In addition, consecutive interpretation brings Interpreter onto the meeting stage for everyone to see and hear, making it easier to follow, participate, and stay aligned.

How it works

After the meeting starts, as the meeting organizer you can click the More menu and select Turn on Interpreter.

Select Consecutive interpretation, choose the two spoken languages from the drop down menus, and click Turn on.

Interpreter will be added to the meeting stage, and everyone will be notified it’s on.
Take turns speaking, and wait for Interpreter to translate after each speaker.

Tips and tricks

Consecutive interpretation is designed for interactive, two-way conversations across a language pair (E.g., Spanish and English). Simultaneous interpretation is suited for broadcast-style, listening scenarios across multiple languages.

Known limitations

Consecutive interpretation is available across 10 languages, supporting any language pair between them. Supported languages include Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.

Requirements

To enable the Teams client for the Public Preview, IT administrators must enable Show preview features in their update policy. Learn more.

For Targeted release, global admins can go to the Microsoft 365 admin center and give access to a select set of individuals or the entire organization. Learn more.

Availability

Consecutive interpretation is available for meeting organizers with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and Teams clients enabled for Public Preview.

During the preview period for consecutive interpretation, access is subject to available service capacity. Beyond preview, additional details will be shared when the feature becomes generally available.

Features covered in this blog roll out over time to enable us to monitor quality and performance, so some preview features may not be available to you right away. Also note that features may be paused, adjusted, or removed as part of that process.

Feedback

We’d love to hear what you think about this feature! Select the thumbs up or down buttons in your Copilot response, or select Settings and more > Feedback in the top-right corner of the Teams app, and then select either Report a problem, Give a compliment, or Suggest a feature to share your thoughts.

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Bringing transparency to AI-generated content with watermarks in Microsoft 365

MSArmelle — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:43:46 GMT

As AI becomes part of everyday work, it’s more important than ever to clearly indicate when content has been generated or altered using AI. To help support transparency and responsible use, Microsoft 365 now includes watermarking options for AI‑generated content, giving organizations and individuals clearer signals about AI involvement while maintaining flexibility and control.

Whether you’re an IT admin, an information worker, or a consumer using Microsoft 365 at home, here’s what you need to know.

Why watermarks for AI‑generated content matter

AI can help people create faster and more confidently, but transparency builds trust. Watermarks help provide a visible or audible signal when content has been generated or modified using AI in Microsoft 365, supporting responsible sharing and clearer communication.

Even when watermarks aren’t visible, Microsoft 365 also adds AI‑related metadata to generated or altered content to help provide additional context about how that content was created.

How watermarks work in Microsoft 365

Watermark behavior varies slightly depending on the type of content and account type, but the goal is consistent: make AI‑generated content easier to identify.

At Work

Video and audio content (admin‑controlled)

For video and audio content generated or altered using AI in Microsoft 365, organizations can enable the Include a watermark when content from Microsoft 365 is generated or altered by AI policy that adds:

Visual watermarks to AI‑generated videos (for example, videos created with Clipchamp)

Audible watermarks to AI‑generated audio (such as audio overviews created with Copilot)

Images (user-controlled)

Images follow a slightly different model. Instead of an admin policy, individuals in your organization can choose whether to add watermarks to AI‑generated images. When turned on, the Show watermark toggle in Settings & Privacy adds a watermark to new AI‑generated images or existing images that are altered using AI.

At home

AI-generated images, videos, and audio can include watermarks to indicate AI involvement, along with embedded metadata for additional context.

By default, the Include a watermark when content from Microsoft 365 is AI-generated control toggle is off. To turn it on:

Sign in to the Microsoft privacy dashboard with your Microsoft account.
In the dashboard, go Privacy > Empower your productivity > Copilot.
Turn on the toggle under Include a watermark when content from Microsoft 365 is AI-generated.

Additional resources

For IT Admins: Add watermarks to content generated or altered by using AI in Microsoft 365
At school or at work: Watermarks on content generated or altered by using AI in Microsoft 365
At home: Include a watermark when content from Microsoft 365 is AI-generated

Feedback

Microsoft is committed to continue to evolve these features and offerings as we learn from you, our customers.

We’d love to hear from you and get your feedback about this capability. Please share your thoughts by:

Selecting Help> Feedback in your favorite app or service.
Signing in with your Tech Community profile and leaving a comment on this blog post.

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Modernizing Change Management for Microsoft 365 Customers

JDBarber — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:57:17 GMT

Hi, Microsoft 365 Insiders! I’m Jim Barber, a Principal PM Manager on the Microsoft 365 Change Management team. I'm excited to share with you our first step in modernizing the change management release and communication processes for Microsoft 365.

Microsoft 365 is constantly evolving, making it challenging for IT admins to keep up with continuous service change. This is especially true with AI-driven innovations accelerating beyond the pace that traditional change management processes were designed to support.

Based on your feedback, we’re modernizing our approach to change management by providing the release infrastructure, communication clarity, and deployment control to help you confidently use AI-assisted workflows to manage and realize value from Microsoft 365.

Modernizing change management initiative

Microsoft’s modernizing change management initiative is the foundation that leads you, as IT admins, into the Frontier era. It equips you with the clarity, control, and confidence you need to lead your organizations into the next era of productivity. It aligns with Microsoft’s Frontier Transformation vision: Human-led, agent-operated organizations that are grounded in Intelligence + Trust.

The modernizing change management initiative introduces:

Audience-based release model: A release model (Frontier, Standard, Deferred) that gives IT admins audience-based control over how and when features reach users.
Smarter communications: A restructured Message center experience with compliance-first, actionable communications that support legal, security, and helpdesk readiness.
AI-powered change insights: The Microsoft Release Communications (MRC) Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server and Microsoft MCP for Enterprise, two services that give IT admins confidence they are not missing critical changes, enabling the shift from reactive firefighting to proactive, signal-driven planning..

NOTE: The initial scope of this new, modern change management and release model is focused on Microsoft 365 Copilot features and experiences.

Together, these capabilities shift IT from reactive change management to proactive enablement—transforming change management from a disruption into a strategic advantage.

What’s changing

Microsoft 365 is evolving how service changes are released and communicated by introducing a more flexible and modern delivery approach that better aligns with different tenant needs. The table highlights how the new model differs from today’s approach.

From	To
One-size fits all release model	Audience-based release: Frontier (opt-in) is designed for early adopters who want pre-GA access to evaluate and prepare. Standard release is designed for rapid adopters who want access to new features as soon as they are generally available. Deferred release is for audiences in more complex environments needing additional time to validate changes before deployment. Learn more about standard and deferred releases.
30-day notification posts for major changes	A structured, compliance-first format Message Center designed to help IT admins digest updates quickly, extract the compliance and operational details that matter, and immediately identify what action is required.
Inconsistent communications	AI-assisted methods to access trusted, up-to-date information for clients compatible with MCP: Microsoft MCP Server for Enterprise uses tenant-specific Message center and Service Health dashboard data. Microsoft Release Communications (MRC) MCP Server leverages publicly available Microsoft 365 Roadmap and Azure feature release data. IT admins can search, filter, and retrieve the latest feature release information using natural language.

Availability

The updates outlined in this blog are starting to roll out now. Our initial scope is focused on Microsoft 365 Copilot features and experiences.

Be sure to regularly check Message Center and other existing communication channels to learn about expanded scope.

Additional Resources

Feedback

This new change management model delivers on what matters most: clarity, control, and confidence. By modernizing our approach, we empower every Microsoft 365 customer to innovate at their own pace—securely, efficiently, and with complete transparency.

We’d love to hear from you and get your feedback about this new change management model. Please share your thoughts by:

Going to https://admin.microsoft.com, selecting Open Health > Product feedback, and then selecting the Give feedback icon in the bottom right corner of the page.
Signing in with your Tech Community profile and leaving a comment on this blog post.

Get more from Power Query in Excel with these little-known capabilities

jokahati — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:39:57 GMT

If you use Excel or Power BI to work with data, you’ve likely encountered Power Query - and may already rely on it regularly across desktop and web. It pulls data together, cleans it up, and prepares it for analysis. But beyond those familiar tasks, Power Query includes several capabilities that can make solutions more flexible, scalable, and easier to maintain.

The capabilities below are especially useful when you want Power Query solutions to be easier to maintain, faster to refresh, and more reusable across similar workflows.

Parameters that act like smart controls

Parameters allow you to separate logic from configuration. Instead of editing queries every time something changes, you simply adjust a parameter.

With parameters, you can:

Switch data sources (for example, Test → Production)
Control date ranges (Last 7 days vs. Last 12 months)
Enable or disable filters
Pattern: use a True/False parameter and write your filter step as an if (apply the filter only when enabled), or branch queries and select the branch based on the parameter.
Drive logic across multiple related queries

Because parameters are shared across queries, they can be referenced by any other query in the workbook, and become a single source of truth.

For intermediate workflows: parameters are evaluated at refresh time and are best for configuration (environment, date window, thresholds). For per-row/per-file logic, use a function (covered below).

To create a parameter and reference it to drive a filter and a source toggle:

To open Power Query in Excel, select your table or data range, and then click Data > From Table/Range (or Get Data and choose your source).
To create a parameter, in the Power Query window, select Home > Manage Parameters > New Parameter, and then reference the parameter in a step.
To use multiple queries, right‑click your query, duplicate or reference it, and then use the same parameter to control filters across those queries.
To toggle data source with a parameter, create another parameter and branch the Source step to pick connection strings/paths based on Env.
Switching sources can change credential and privacy behavior; test refresh end-to-end in each environment, and re-check privacy level settings if you hit unexpected prompts or firewall errors.
When you’re ready to publish or use the parameter, select Close & Load and then click Data > Refresh/Refresh All. Adjust Manage Parameters values as needed, and watch downstream queries update.

Query folding: letting the source do the work

Query folding is one of Power Query’s most important performance features - and one of the least understood. In simple terms, it means Power Query can translate some of your transformation steps into operations that run at the data source instead of in the local engine. When that happens, less data needs to be transferred, and refreshes can be significantly faster.

The following diagram demonstrates the steps that take place in this optimization process.

The M script, found inside the advanced editor, is submitted to the Power Query engine. Other important information is also supplied, such as credentials and data source privacy levels.
The Query folding mechanism submits metadata requests to the data source to determine the capabilities of the data source, table schemas, relationships between different tables at the data source, and more.
Based on the metadata received, the query folding mechanism determines what information to extract from the data source and what set of transformations need to happen inside the Power Query engine. It sends the instructions to two other components that take care of retrieving the data from the data source and transforming the incoming data in the Power Query engine if necessary.
Once the internal components of Power Query receive the instructions, Power Query sends a request to the data source using a data source query.
The data source receives the request from Power Query and transfers the data to the Power Query engine.
Once the data is inside Power Query, the transformation engine inside Power Query (also known as mashup engine) does the transformations that couldn't be folded back or offloaded to the data source.
The results derived from the previous point are loaded to a destination in Excel.

In simple terms, query folding determines whether Power Query can translate your steps into operations that run directly at the data source (most commonly in databases such as SQL Server), rather than pulling everything locally and processing it row by row.

Why it matters

When query folding is preserved:

Less data is transferred
Refresh times are dramatically faster
Large datasets stay manageable

When folding is broken, Power Query still works - but it does more of the effort itself.

To preserve folding so filters/join logic runs at the source (for example, in SQL Server):

Start with a connector that commonly supports folding (for example, Data > Get Data > From SQL Server Database). Many file/web sources (including some SharePoint patterns) won’t fold the same way - so validate folding as you build.
In Power Query, apply filters as soon as you have the columns you need (and before expensive steps like merges/expands where possible) (e.g., only current fiscal year).
Prefer fold-friendly steps (filters, removing columns, simple merges/joins, grouping). Note: Group By often folds (especially simple aggregations), but “All Rows” typically breaks folding.
To check folding, right-click a step and select View Native Query when available. If it’s disabled, folding may be broken or the connector doesn’t expose a native query - use this as a signal to test performance and keep earlier steps as simple as possible.
When supported, check it step-by-step: right-click successive steps to find the first step where View Native Query becomes unavailable - that’s often where folding stops.
To delay custom columns, add custom columns/calculations later in the chain to avoid breaking folding prematurely.
To validate performance, refresh and note timings, and then compare with/without early filters.

Turning queries into reusable functions

If you’ve ever copied the same transformation steps from one query to another, you’ve already done the hardest part of creating a Power Query function.

What many users should know

Any query can be turned into a function - often by adding a single parameter. Once created, that function becomes a reusable building block you can apply anywhere.

Why functions are a gamechangers

Reusable functions help you:

Standardize cleanup logic
Reduce copy‑paste errors
Apply consistent transformations across dozens - or hundreds - of datasets

Instead of rewriting steps, you apply the function like a tool.

To convert an existing query into a function and apply it broadly (intermediate-friendly pattern):

Start with a working query that transforms one input (for example, one file).
Identify what should vary (for example, FilePath as text). Instead of a global “Manage Parameters” value, you’ll make it a function argument so it can change per file/per row.
Open Advanced Editor and replace the hard-coded source (path/URL) with the argument (for example, use File.Contents(FilePath) or the appropriate connector call that accepts a path).
Wrap the query in a function signature and name it (example):
FileTransform = (FilePath as text) as table =>
let
  Source = Excel.Workbook(File.Contents(FilePath), true),
  Sheet = Source{[Item="Sheet1",Kind="Sheet"]}[Data],
  PromotedHeaders = Table.PromoteHeaders(Sheet, [PromoteAllScalars=true]),
  ChangedTypes = Table.TransformColumnTypes(PromotedHeaders, {{"Date", type date}, {"Amount", type number}})
in
  ChangedTypes

NOTE: The Sheet1 reference is a “happy path” example. In real-world folder ingestion, prefer importing a named Table (more stable than sheet names) or add defensive logic when sheet/table names can vary.
To apply the function to many files, create a table of file paths (or use Data > Get Data > From Folder to get a list of binaries), then use Add Column > Invoke Custom Function to call your function for each row. NOTE: If you hit Formula.Firewall or unexpected privacy prompts, review privacy level and try to avoid combining unrelated sources in a single query (or separate staging queries to isolate sources).
To combine results: use Expand (when you invoked a function returning a table) or use Append Queries to stack tables with the same schema. Use Combine Files specifically when starting from From Folder and you want Power Query to generate the sample-file pattern for you. NOTE: If you hit Formula.Firewall or unexpected privacy prompts, review privacy level and try to avoid combining unrelated sources in a single query (or separate staging queries to isolate sources). TIP: When ingesting many files, add basic resilience so one bad file doesn’t break refresh (for example, use try … otherwise around the function body or filter out error rows after invoking the function).

Folder + sample file pattern (automated ingestion)

Many people know Power Query can import data from a folder - but fewer explore how sophisticated the sample file pattern really is.

When you connect to a folder, Power Query automatically:

Selects a representative sample file
Applies transformations to that file
Reuses the logic for every file in the folder

Why this matters

With the right setup, Power Query can:

Handle hundreds or thousands of files
Automatically include new files as they’re added
Enforce a consistent schema over time

The result feels less like a spreadsheet and more like a lightweight data pipeline.

How to use a folder connector with a robust sample file transform

To connect to a folder, select Data > Get Data > From Folder and select a folder.
In the Power Query window, review the file metadata (Name, Extension, Date modified), and then click Transform Data.
Power Query creates helper queries (for example, Sample File, Transform Sample File, and the main combined query). Edit Transform Sample File - Power Query applies that logic to every file in the folder.
In Transform Sample File, perform all cleanup (remove top rows, promote headers, set types). TIP: Keep most transformations in Transform Sample File. Avoid heavy edits in the auto-generated helper queries unless you’re intentionally changing the pattern.
In the main query, keep Name and Date modified to preserve lineage.
To validate the connection, drop a new file into the folder and notice that the added data is automatically included.

TIP: Avoid adding complex logic directly in the auto‑generated helper queries unless you intentionally want to change the pattern—doing so can make future edits harder to reason about.

Applied Steps pane: your logic map

The Applied Steps pane may look like a simple audit trail, but it’s actually the heart of Power Query’s logic.

What’s often overlooked

Step order affects:

Performance
Query folding
Long‑term maintainability

Renaming and reordering steps isn’t cosmetic - it’s foundational.

Best practices experienced users follow

Rename important steps so intent is clear
Group transformations logically (Filter → Shape → Enrich)
Be intentional with Changed Type steps - auto-detected types can make refresh brittle when schemas drift (and type steps can affect folding depending on connector).
Review steps periodically as workflows evolve
In Excel, keep intermediate/staging queries as connection-only (disable load) and load only the final outputs you actually need.

Treating Applied Steps like readable code pays off over time.

To make steps readable, improve performance, and avoid accidental logic breaks:

In Power Query, locate the Applied Steps list.
To rename critical steps, right‑click a step name, and then click Rename (e.g., Filter_FY25, Join_ProductDim).
To group transformations, select Filter > Shape > Enrich (filters first, column cleanup, then joins/calculations).
To safely re‑order steps, drag them upward or downward carefully, and check dependencies (e.g., a step refers to a column removed earlier) if an error appears.
Periodically review steps as workflows evolve, and delete obsolete steps only after confirming no later steps depend on them (then rename steps so they read like a story).
After re-ordering, check folding where supported (right-click a step and select View Native Query). If it’s not available, validate via refresh time and by confirming you aren’t pulling unnecessary rows/columns early.

Feedback

We want to hear from you about how these features and others can make working with Power Query more effective. If you have any requests or suggestions, select Send Feedback or use the respective feedback icons.

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Meet video recap: a new way to revisit key moments in Teams meetings

Anqi_Chen — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 15:34:29 GMT

Hi, Insiders! I am Anqi Chen, a Senior Product Manager on the Microsoft Teams team. I’m excited to share with you a new way to catch up on your meetings: video recap.

Meet video recap: a new way to revisit key moments in Teams meetings

Video recap is a video‑based feature in Microsoft Teams for Windows, Mac, and the web that helps you quickly catch up on meetings you’ve missed or revisit key moments. Video recap creates narrated highlight videos from recorded meetings, combining key takeaways with short video clips so important discussions and decisions are surfaced conveniently for you. Get up to speed fast with video recaps that both summarize what was discussed and captures the tone of the meeting.

By leveraging this feature, you:

Quickly see what was presented during the meeting, including slides or shared visuals.
Understand the flow of discussion without having to watch the entire recording.
Watch real clips from the meeting, selected to capture key moments.
Get a sense of meeting context and sentiment through narrated visual highlights.

How it works

From the meeting recap page in your Teams app, click Video recap in the top left corner.

Known issues

Video recap requires meeting to be between 10 and 90 minutes long.
Transcribed-only meetings are not supported and will not result in a video recap.
Video recap is available 10 to 15 minutes after a meeting recording has been successfully uploaded.

Availability

To enable your Teams client for the Public Preview, IT administrators must enable Show preview features in their update policy. Learn more.

For Targeted release, global admins can go to the Microsoft 365 admin center and give access to a select set of individuals or the entire organization. Learn more.

Feedback

We want to hear from you! Please submit your comments and feedback by clicking on thumbs up or down in the video recap window.

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Watch our video series: Getting started with the Copilot app

AliciaAl-Aryan — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:06:44 GMT

Hello, Insiders! We are Alicia Al-Aryan, Oby Omu, and Patrick Gan, program managers on the Microsoft 365 Copilot app team. We’re excited to share a video series we created in collaboration with our wider team that will show you how Copilot can help you at work.

From meetings to momentum: Learn how to use Copilot at work

This video series is inspired by real work. Instead of walking through features, each video focuses on common, everyday moments where a little clarity can make a big difference. You’ll see how Copilot can fit into workflows you encounter every day.

Download the Microsoft 365 app and let’s get started!

🛠️ Video 1 | Downloading the Microsoft 365 Copilot App

Constance shares a quick walkthrough of the app, showing you how to download it and start getting productive right away.

Presenter: Constance Gervais

🚀 Video 2 | From insights to impact: Turn action items into deliverables

Copilot can help you turn action items into deliverables that are polished, impactful, and executive-ready.

📊 Video 3 | From chaos to coordination: Gather vital information and deliver it fast

There’s no need to chase updates to ever-changing data and information alone. Use Copilot to gather and organize vital details and create content that makes it easy to digest and share with others.

🕒 Video 4 | Catch Up After Time Away

Coming back from out‑of‑office or a packed meeting calendar? Cora shows you how Copilot can help you quickly catch up, prepare, and re‑orient yourself for the workday ahead.

Presenter: Cora Chen

✨ Video 5 | Create with confidence using brand kits

Oby shows you how Copilot supports content creation with Brand Kits, helping you turn everyday ideas into on-brand materials.

Presenter: Oby Omu

🤝 Video 6 | Prepare for your next presentation

A beautiful PowerPoint deck won’t get you far if you’re not prepared for the presentation. Copilot can help you prepare and be ready with answers to likely questions you’ll get during your presentation.

Presenter: Ishita Sharma

Stay connected

We’ll continue building this series with additional short videos and deeper learning moments that can help you get more value from the Microsoft 365 Copilot app as part of your everyday work.

Continue the conversation by joining us in the Microsoft 365 community. Want to share best practices or join community events? Become a member!

For tips & tricks or to stay up to date on the latest news and announcements directly from the product teams, make sure to Follow or Subscribe to the Microsoft 365 community blog.

📚 Keep learning

Try the Microsoft 365 Copilot app and learn more ways to be productive.
Dig deeper into real-world Microsoft 365 app scenarios with our webinar series.
Find tools for Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and agent deployment and adoption that deliver value and employee satisfaction.
Learn how to use the Microsoft 365 Copilot app from Microsoft Support.
Follow @Copilot on X.
Follow @MicrosoftLoop on X.
Join the "Microsoft Loop Community" public group on LinkedIn.
Follow the Microsoft 365 public roadmap.

Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

Scale knowledge sharing with AI community agents in Viva Engage

cferancik — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:20:20 GMT

Hi, Insiders! We are Kaleem Rahman and Christina Ferancik, Product Managers on the Viva Engage team. We're excited to share with you some new capabilities coming to agents in Viva Engage communities.

Transform community support with AI‑powered answers in Viva Engage

AI-powered community agents are your new built-in knowledge assistants to help communities scale knowledge, speed up answers, and reduce repetitive work for admins.

Communities in Engage help employees learn from one another and share knowledge. In a time of rapid change, questions are often coming in faster than admins and experts can answer them. Community agents are designed to help community managers quickly answer repeat questions with high-quality trusted content from the community.

These new AI agents live directly inside Viva Engage communities and act as helpful assistants, powered by your organization’s trusted content. They can help ensure important answers don’t get buried and expertise becomes part of your long‑term organizational memory. They can:

Proactively answer questions by drawing from past conversations and approved content.
Ground answers in information from trusted, admin-defined SharePoint sites.
Support @mentions, so members can bring the agent into any conversation to clarify or answer follow-up questions (coming soon).
Add to the community’s searchable history of answered questions, so knowledge compounds over time.
Offer admin controls to define content sources and maintain confidence in every response.

Agents can be of great help in communities where questions repeat or where accurate guidance is critical, like:

AI change and adoption communities, such as Copilot adoption communities
Communities of practice (HR, IT, Communications, Sales Enablement)
Onboarding and “how‑do‑I” hubs for employees navigating change
Global communities spanning time zones and languages
Product, program, or tool‑focused communities where up‑to‑date answers matter

With these new agents, your communities can be more responsive and productive, especially when engagement surges. Your communities can handle more questions without adding to the workload of admins and experts.

You’ll experience:

Fewer repetitive questions thanks to instant, consistent answers, so experts can focus on the questions that need a human touch.
Faster access to information, so newcomers and infrequent contributors can get unblocked quickly.
Smoother conversation flow, with questions answered where they’re asked instead of redirecting you elsewhere.
Scaling support as your community grows, without a proportional increase in admin workload.

How it works

A Viva Engage network admin needs to opt into community agent preview via the Engage admin center. Microsoft 365 Copilot-licensed community admins can add a community agent to communities they manage.

You can then opt your network into the Agents in communities public preview through a simple network toggle:

Go to the Engage admin center and select Tenant settings.
Set the Community agent preview toggle to On.

Find more instructions here.

Add and configure the agent in your community

To add an agent, Copilot-licensed community admins can select to "Add agent" in the community member panel to the right.

From there, Agent configuration is straightforward.

From the Set up your agent page, apply the following settings:

Require review before posting: By default, the agent automatically posts answers to questions asked in the community. To require admin and expert review and approval before posting, enable this toggle.
Add sources: Add a SharePoint site or library to give the agent deeper information to draw from. Enter the URL (E.g., https://zava.sharepoint.com/teams/Sales_Marketing_Resources) and select Add. The agent will only use content that’s accessible to all community members. If the site isn’t already shared with the community, you’ll be prompted to grant read access.
To update agent configuration, select the Edit icon next to Agent in the community member panel.

Select Save to complete setup.
To update agent configuration, select the Edit icon next to Agent in the community member panel.

Review agent-drafted answers

If you enable reviews of agent-created information, suggestions appear in a dedicated Review agent suggestions page. Community admins and experts can apply the following actions:

Approve: Select Post to push the answer to the community, marked as verified by the reviewer.
Edit and Approve: Edit the answer before posting. The answer appears as posted and verified by the reviewer.
Dismiss: Remove the suggestion from review. The agent doesn't attempt to answer questions again when the agent answer is dismissed.

Availability

The agents in communities feature is currently in public preview. A network admin needs to opt in through the Engage admin center. Features may change before general availability.

Community agent can be added by Microsoft 365 Copilot-licensed community admins. After the agent is active, Copilot-licensed admins and community experts can review, approve, and edit agent-drafted answers. After agent responses get posted, admins can delete them. All community members can see content posted by the community agent, regardless of license assignment.

Find set up and licensing information here.

Feedback

We want to hear from you! When you question your agents, rate agent responses with a thumbs up or thumbs down. Your feedback can help us to improve.

Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

Work with Copilot as a co‑creator directly in Word for iPhone

PalashMJ — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:30:00 GMT

Hi, Insiders! We are Pratik Das and Palash MJ, Senior Product Managers on the Word team. I’m excited to introduce a new feature that allows you to co-create Word documents with Microsoft 365 Copilot on your iPhone.

Work with Copilot as a co-creator directly in Word for iPhone

You can now work with Copilot as a co-creator directly in your Word document on your iPhone. Copilot helps you turn ideas into polished Word documents faster, without having to navigate between Word and Copilot apps. Stay in Word and stay in your flow! Working as a co‑creator, Copilot lets you create, refine, and format content directly in place using Word’s built‑in styles, so your document stays structured and consistent while you focus on what you want to say.

In earlier releases, this was referred to as Agent mode.

How to use

Open Word on your iPhone and sign in with your Copilot-enabled account.
Create a new document or open an existing document and select Edit document.
Tap the Copilot icon to open Copilot chat.
In the prompt box, type your request.

To watch the video on YouTube. follow this link,

Tips and tricks

In your edit request to Copilot, be clear and provide details, like “Update the table in the document with numbers from /Sept Data Pull email.” Continue to ask and create as Copilot does the heavy lifting.
If you want to ask Copilot to use an existing document as a source, type / and then type the name of your document, email, meeting, etc. Alternatively, in the pane that opens, select Files and then select your document from the list.
If you don’t see the icon in your Copilot chat that signals you’re editing, check that you are in Edit view. (You can always go into Edit view by selecting the Edit icon from the top bar in any document. Click on “+” to select it if it’s not selected by default.)
Be careful when working with sensitive or shared files, as Copilot makes direct changes to your Word documents. If you need to revert your changes, you can easily undo changes or view prior versions at any time.
When using a shared document, Copilot will always show a preview of its suggested changes in chat first. You must review and confirm these changes before they are applied to the document. This prevents accidental sharing of sensitive or unintended content with collaborators.
Copilot can only create content in the currently open Word document. It can't create new files at this time.
Copilot cannot generate or insert images into the document. To use Copilot to generate an image, turn off the edit function by tapping the Word icon in the Chat field. Then submit a prompt to generate an image in Chat as usual.
Copilot cannot add or modify comments in your Word document at this time. If you request changes to content in the document that a comment is associated with, the comment may be deleted if Copilot makes changes to the paragraph to which the comment is anchored.
Copilot cannot turn Track Changes on or off, or accept or reject tracked changes, but it will respect tracked changes. If Track Changes is enabled, changes made while editing the document with Copilot will be tracked.

Availability

This feature is available to all Word for iOS users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

Feedback

To share your feedback, use the thumbs up or thumbs down buttons in the Copilot chat window.

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A modernized comments experience for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on iPhone

JessicaHu — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 15:30:00 GMT

Hi, Insiders! I am Jessica Hu, a Product Manager on the Apple Ecosystems team. I am excited to share an updated commenting experience on Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iOS on your iPhone!

A modernized comments experience for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on iPhone

The updated Comments pane experience improves the clarity and usability of mobile commenting by making comment threads easier to find, read, and act on. With a more modern, streamlined user interface, you can more quickly understand what needs your attention, respond quickly, and stay engaged in collaboration as you review your files on the go.

How it works

Open a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file on your iPhone. Tap on any comment icon in your file or on the Review tab to access the new Comments pane. In Word and PowerPoint, you can also access Comments through the bottom task bar.

Availability

The new Comments experience in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iOS is rolling out to iPhone users running Version 2.106 (Build 26022013).

We will continue rolling out improvements to the commenting experience in the following months, with features like filters, a new drafting sheet, and a new way to add comments from an empty state.

Feedback

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this new update! Please submit any feedback you might have through the Help & Feedback tool found when you select your user account icon in the top left-hand corner.

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Better contrast checking for slides in PowerPoint

shireensalma — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 15:30:00 GMT

Hi, Insiders! I’m Shireen Salma, a Product Manager on the Office Accessibility team. Today, I’m excited to share an update to Accessibility Assistant in PowerPoint for Windows that improves how we detect color contrast issues—especially when text appears on transparent backgrounds. This enhancement helps to ensure that contrast checks reflect what you can actually see, particularly in slides that use images, gradients, or layered design elements.

Better contrast checking for slides in PowerPoint

Color contrast is one of the most common accessibility challenges in presentation content. In PowerPoint, text is often placed on top of images, gradients, or layered visuals, and most text boxes are transparent by default. Until now, Accessibility Assistant evaluated color contrast only when text appeared on solid backgrounds, which meant some real‑world contrast issues could go undetected.

With this update, Accessibility Assistant now checks the color contrast of text against the background you can actually see, even when that background includes transparency.

This means authors get more accurate guidance when text appears over images, gradients, or other slide content—helping ensure presentations are readable for people with low vision or color‑vision deficiencies.

How it works

In a PowerPoint file, go to Review. From the ribbon choose Check Accessibility, then select Hard-to-read text contrast.
Notice that text against transparent backgrounds are evaluated and flagged.

Availability

This feature is rolling out to users with a Microsoft 365 subscription and running:

Windows: Version 2603 (Build 19822.20114) or later.
Mac: Version 16.108 (Build 26032513) or later.

Features covered on this blog roll out over time to enable us to monitor quality and performance, so some preview features may not be available to you right away. Also note that features may be paused, adjusted, or removed as part of that process.

Known issues

Color contrast evaluation against transparent backgrounds does not yet apply to text inside tables without solid fill and text inside native Chart objects such as legends and data callouts.

Feedback

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how this update is working! Open Accessibility Assistant, then select Give Feedback to provide feedback.

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The best backup is the one you never think about

gacarini — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 18:11:37 GMT

Today is World Backup Day, and nobody is celebrating. That's the point. If backup is doing its job, you never think about it.

My name is Gaia Carini and I've been a Product Manager on the OneDrive team for over a decade. A big part of my job has been making backup invisible. Your stuff should just be safe.

New laptop, same everything

I got a new personal laptop last month. I have over half a terabyte of files in my personal OneDrive. Years of tax returns, downloaded copies of important documents, personal projects, things I don't think about day to day but would absolutely miss if it were gone. Moving all of that to a new machine used to mean a full day of copying, waiting, and hoping nothing got lost.

This time, I didn't move anything. Folder backup had been syncing my Desktop, Documents, and Pictures to OneDrive in the background for years. Every file I saved locally was already in the cloud.

I signed in my new Windows computer with my personal Microsoft account, and then headed to the kitchen to make coffee and breakfast. Came back to my files syncing and my Desktop looking exactly like it used to.

Windows Backup restored my apps and settings too, right down to my wallpaper, a photo from our family trip to Italy.

Set up folder backup: PC | Mac

Learn more about Windows Backup

The video you can't reshoot

Folder backup covers your laptop. But what about your phone?

Last week, my son sat down at his toy laptop with a cup of pretend coffee and told me he had a meeting. I grabbed my phone, got the video, and moved on with my day. Those moments happen fast. You get maybe three seconds before a toddler moves on to the next thing, and they never do it the same way twice.

I didn't think twice about it because Camera Roll Backup is already running. It uploads photos and videos to OneDrive automatically, and it's on my laptop almost instantly. Bedtime photos, first wobbly steps, all of it backed up before I even lock my phone.

If you haven't turned on Camera Roll Backup yet, do it now and avoid what happened to one of my friends last summer. She had her phone stolen and lost months of photos and videos. You can’t recapture those moments so take 30 seconds to set up.

Set up camera roll backup: Android | iOS

Two days of work, gone overnight

Backup protects your files from device loss. But what about everyday accidents?

Last year, I spent two days polishing a deck for an executive review. Formatting every slide, tightening the narrative, getting the data just right. I was collaborating with teammates, and someone accidentally saved over a bunch of my changes. I opened the file the night before the meeting and my stomach dropped. Two days of work, gone. I had twelve hours to redo it all, and half of that was supposed to be sleep.

But, because the file was in OneDrive, it took about ten seconds to fix. OneDrive keeps previous versions of every file it syncs. Right-click the file, select Version history, pick the version of the file that was saved before the overwrite, and then click Restore. Done. I closed my laptop and went to bed. Learn more

Accidentally delete the file instead? That's covered too. OneDrive keeps deleted files in the recycle bin for 30 days on personal accounts and 93 days on work or school accounts. Learn more

The same features protect a client presentation at work and a family budget at home. And if you're an IT admin, you get additional controls to manage version retention, compliance policies, and storage at scale.

When ransomware hits close to home

Version history handles accidental changes. But, what about something more serious?

A family friend clicked on something they shouldn't have. An attachment that looked like an invoice from a vendor they actually work with. Within minutes, their files started changing. Familiar documents suddenly had strange extensions they'd never seen before. They couldn't open anything. Then came the email asking for bitcoin.

They called me in a panic, not sure if they should pay, not sure if paying would even work. I walked them through OneDrive's ransomware recovery. OneDrive had detected the attack and flagged the affected files. They restored their entire OneDrive to the moment before the attack, every file, back to normal. No ransom paid.

With a personal Microsoft 365 subscription, you can restore your entire OneDrive to any point in the last 30 days. Not just one file. Everything. OneDrive detects the attack and walks you through the recovery. Learn more

At work, OneDrive monitors suspicious activity like bulk deletes and notifies you so you can take action. You can restore your OneDrive the same way. For an even more powerful restore experience for very large OneDrive accounts, we recommend enabling Microsoft 365 Backup, specifically designed for organizations large and small. Learn more

The 60-second checklist

For you:

Turn on folder backup on your laptop (PC | Mac)
Turn on Camera Roll Backup on your phone (Android | iOS)
Turn on apps and settings backup on your PC (Learn more)

For your organization:

Set up Known Folder Move so your organization's files are automatically backed up (Learn more)
Review Sync Ideal State for recommended OneDrive Sync settings for your organization (Learn more)
Check out Microsoft 365 Backup for enterprise-grade restore capabilities (Learn more)

Happy World Backup Day. Follow those few steps today and someday, when something goes wrong, you'll be glad you invested a little time today.

Get started with OneDrive

Microsoft SharePoint turns 25!

Rob_Nunez — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 16:18:38 GMT

In 2001, shared drives were filling up fast, version control meant emailing attachments back and forth, and finding the right document often meant asking someone where they saved it. Organizations everywhere were looking for a better way to manage information and collaborate across teams.

Enter Microsoft SharePoint.

Launched in March 2001, SharePoint introduced a new way to store, share, and work together on content in one place. Today, it powers collaboration for organizations of all sizes and supports more than 1 billion users each year, with over 2 billion files uploaded and 2 million SharePoint sites created every day.

As SharePoint turns 25, we’re taking a moment to look back at how far it’s come and share a preview of what’s ahead.

Looking back

From its earliest days as a portal and team collaboration product to today’s AI‑powered knowledge platform, SharePoint has evolved alongside the way we work. Here are some of the milestones that helped shape the last 25 years.

Looking forward: SharePoint’s next chapter

We are as committed as ever to innovating SharePoint to support users in managing, sharing, and collaborating on their content. To that end, we’re investing in several areas and are excited to share an overview of what’s coming—some of which has already arrived!

Watch the video below or find it on YouTube.

Agentic and AI experiences

We are continuing to make it simpler for users of any background to build end-to-end solutions for critical business needs, from procurement contracts to marketing content, using natural language. SharePoint now acts as an active partner, asking clarifying questions and proposing plans to help ensure the solution aligns with your intent before anything is created. By describing what you want to build, SharePoint can respond with a structured plan that spans site structure, pages, libraries, lists, and starter content.

Coming soon, custom AI skills grounded in organizational knowledge, such as standards, terminology, governance rules, and business logic will ensure AI doesn’t act generically and provides relevant assistance based on how your organization works.

The new SharePoint experience

A new visual update for SharePoint is designed around the core user jobs of:

Discovering relevant content.
Publishing once across Microsoft 365.
Building and managing enterprise solutions.

Discover, the new front door to the SharePoint sites and content that matter to you most, replaces SharePoint Start. It’s personalized for you, bringing together recent and favorite sites, relevant news, updates from collaborators, and file activity. Publish has been redesigned with AI built in throughout, making communication easier to manage centrally and helping organizations publish critical content faster. Build, the central launchpad for creating and managing solutions in SharePoint, allows makers to work with Sites, Lists, Libraries, and Agents from a single, intuitive surface.

The top, customizable node in the new SharePoint app bar is your organization Home site for all of these experiences. It is fully configurable and programmable by your organization. As part of this update, the best of Viva Connections is consolidated into the SharePoint Home site.

Click through the interactive demo below to see more.

This new experience is now available in public preview via tenant -level opt-in.

Enhanced content governance

The new SharePoint Admin Agent, announced at Microsoft Ignite 2025 and fully available to admins with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, brings proactive, AI-driven governance into the SharePoint admin center. New agentic skills cover site permissions, lifecycle management, and storage.

To learn more about these enhancements, read:

Your feedback makes us better

We love to hear from you and appreciate the quality feedback you share. Please keep it coming and help us make SharePoint the best product it can be for YOU!

You can subscribe to our blog and join a community that’s shaping the future of work!

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Accessibility Assistant now flags inaccessible hyperlinks

shireensalma — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 15:35:58 GMT

Hi, Insiders! I’m Shireen Salma, a Product Manager on the Office Accessibility team. Today, I’m excited to share improvements coming to Accessibility Assistant in Microsoft Word and Excel for Windows that help identify hyperlinks that may be difficult to understand or use, especially for people relying on assistive technologies.

Accessibility Assistant now flags inaccessible hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are an essential part of many documents, but not all links provide clear or meaningful information to every reader. Descriptive link text helps users quickly understand a link’s purpose — and is especially important for people using screen readers, who often navigate content by moving between links.

When link text is unclear, overly technical, or presented as long raw URLs or non-descriptive labels, it can make navigation slower and more confusing. To support more inclusive authoring, Accessibility Assistant now flags hyperlinks that are not optimized for accessibility, such as:

Long, complex, and raw URLs
Links that lack meaningful or contextual link wording
Links that are missing link text

With this enhancement, authors can quickly identify and fix hyperlinks that aren’t easily understood by all readers.

NOTE: Accessibility Assistant does not evaluate broken links or enforce specific writing styles. Our goal is to provide helpful guidance that supports accessibility without disrupting natural author workflows.

How it works

In Word or Excel for Windows, select Review > Check Accessibility. If a hyperlink is inaccessible, you will see Unclear hyperlink text in the Accessibility Assistant menu.

Availability

This update is available to Windows users with a Microsoft 365 subscription and running:

Word: Version 2503 (Build 19729.20000) or later.
Excel: Version 2503 (Build 19817.20000) or later.

This feature will be available to PowerPoint for Windows users soon!

Recent accessibility posts

We have heard from some of you that you'd love to be able to keep track of the availability status of accessibility experiences and features we have covered on our blog in the past several months, so take a look below and do let us know if this provides the information you are looking for.

Blog	Feature availability status
Richer alt text in Word and PowerPoint, powered by generative AI	Current Channel
Better screen reader experience: Audio feedback for 60+ Word keyboard shortcuts	Current Channel
Improved keyboard and Narrator support for comments in Word for Windows	Current Channel
Automatic alt text generation in Word and PowerPoint on Copilot+ PCs	Current Channel
Make math inclusive for everyone with Microsoft 365	Keyboard shortcuts for entering and editing math - Current Channel, MEC, and SAC Feedback with sound and improved screen reader experience when editing math - Current Channel and MEC Improved accessibility of exported PDFs with math - Current Chnnel (Preview) Paste MathML from web pages and other apps in : OneNote on Windows - Current Channel and MEC OneNote for Mac - Current Channel Paste Special as MathML and Convert All to Office Math in: Word and PowerPoint for Windows - Current Channel and MEC Word and PowerPoint for Mac - Current Channel
More logical navigation through Word documents for screen readers	Current Channel

Feedback

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how this update is working! Open Accessibility Assistant, then select Give Feedback to provide feedback.

Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

Generate richer alt text in Word and PowerPoint for Mac

shireensalma — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:51:55 GMT

Hi, Insiders! I’m Shireen Salma, and I’m a Product Manager on the Office Accessibility team. I’m excited to share a major improvement to how alt text is generated in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint for Mac – now also available in over 80 languages.

Generate richer alt text in Word and PowerPoint for Mac

We know that many of you want to make your documents and presentations as accessible as possible, and that requires generating alt text for images that is rich, descriptive, and tailored to your audience.

Previously, alt text was generated automatically using the Azure Vision model, which could lead to generic descriptions. With this update to Word and PowerPoint for Mac, alt text is powered by generative AI models, helping you to write higher-quality descriptions that are grounded in what’s visually present.

We released this update to Word and PowerPoint for Windows in November, and are thrilled to now bring it to Mac users!

Image	Alt text by Azure Vision	Alt text by generative AI
	Diagram with lines and circles	The diagram illustrates two equations: R = 20D and R = 10D, where R represents a resultant force and D represents a distance or displacement.
	A bar chart of revenue	The U.S. Vertical Farming Market is projected to grow from $200 million in 2016 to $2.7 billion by 2026, with technologies like aeroponics, hydroponics, and aquaponics contributing to this growth.
	Screenshot of a computer	The image shows a user's notification list on a device, with various messages from friends and events, including a Facebook friend request, a dinner invitation, and a photography event.

For the list of supported languages, please refer to Frequently asked questions about AI-generated alt text.

How it works

In Word or PowerPoint for Mac, insert an image in a document or presentation.
Select the image, and then select Picture Format > Alt Text. NOTE: You can also select Review > Check Accessibility > Missing Alt Text.
Select Generate alt text for me, and notice that the alt text is rich, contextual, and meaningful.

Availability

This update is available to Word and PowerPoint for Mac users with a Microsoft 365 subscription and running Version 16.107 (Build 26012815) or later.

For users with perpetual license versions of Word and PowerPoint, older versions that previously generated alt text automatically will no longer do so by default. You can still enable this feature manually by selecting File > Options > Accessibility > Automatically generate alt text.

Future perpetual releases will include the new gen AI-powered experience, delivering the same rich, on-demand descriptions available to Microsoft 365 users. This ensures a consistent, high-quality experience across versions, while giving users full control over when and how alt text is added. For the list of supported languages, please refer to Frequently asked questions about AI-generated alt text.

Recent accessibility posts

We have heard from some of you that you'd love to be able to keep track of the availability status of accessibility experiences and features we have covered on our blog in the past several months so take a look below and do let us know if this provides the information you are looking for.

Blog	Feature availability status
Richer alt text in Word and PowerPoint, powered by generative AI	Current Channel
Better screen reader experience: Audio feedback for 60+ Word keyboard shortcuts	Current Channel
Improved keyboard and Narrator support for comments in Word for Windows	Current Channel
Automatic alt text generation in Word and PowerPoint on Copilot+ PCs	Current Channel
Make math inclusive for everyone with Microsoft 365	Keyboard shortcuts for entering and editing math - Current Channel, MEC, and SAC Feedback with sound and improved screen reader experience when editing math - Current Channel and MEC Improved accessibility of exported PDFs with math - Current Chnnel (Preview) Paste MathML from web pages and other apps in : OneNote on Windows - Current Channel and MEC OneNote for Mac - Current Channel Paste Special as MathML and Convert All to Office Math in: Word and PowerPoint for Windows - Current Channel and MEC Word and PowerPoint for Mac - Current Channel
More logical navigation through Word documents for screen readers	Current Channel

Feedback

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how this update is working! Open Accessibility Assistant, then select Give Feedback to provide feedback. Alternatively, you can select Give feedback on this alt text in the Alt Text pane for specific feedback on alt text.

Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

A faster way to find your Word, Excel and PowerPoint files online

kulkarnisonia16 — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 19:58:05 GMT

Hi, Insiders! My name is Sonia Kulkarni, and I’m a Principal Product Manager on the Office Shared Services and Experiences team. I’m excited to share with you a new feature on Word for the web, Excel for the web, and PowerPoint for the web that allows you to easily find your files from the Search box in the header.

A faster way to find your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files online

This feature enables you to easily search for your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files when you’re working in the web app homepage. You no longer need to waste time scanning the homepage looking for the right file – just start typing your file name in the Search bar, and your file will surface in a drop-down list underneath the Search bar.

How it works

Log in to your favorite app's homepage: PowerPoint.cloud.microsoft, Word.cloud.microsoft, or Excel.cloud.microsoft.
Start typing the filename you're looking for in the Search box in the header, and notice that file suggestions based on what you type appear as you type.
Click the filename you want to open it.

Tips and tricks

If you have not had any recent activity in a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file, you may not see any file suggestions when you first try this feature. In that case, simply open an existing file in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, and then refresh the page. Start typing the filename in the Search bar, and you should see your file listed. If you don't remember the file name, try typing in file metadata like author name (and see if that shows any suggestions).

Availability

This feature is currently rolling out to all commercial Microsoft 365 Word for the web, PowerPoint for the web, and Excel for the web users.

Feedback

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how this feature is working! Scroll to the bottom of the Word, Excel, or PowerPoint app homepage and click the Provide feedback button to share your comments and ideas. Please make sure you mention “Search” in your comment.

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Publish to web delivers polished files externally with one click

ekdwived — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 20:01:45 GMT

Hi, Insiders! I am Ekta Dwivedy, a Product Manager on the PowerPoint team. I'm excited to introduce the new Publish to web feature, available in Excel for the web and PowerPoint for the web, and coming soon to Word for the web. It makes it easy for enterprise users to share clean, polished documents with external clients and stakeholders without revealing internal edits, comments, or version history.

Publish to web delivers polished files externally with one click

You’ve shared with us that you frequently need to share final documents externally, but the manual cleanup process to ready those documents is a struggle. It’s not uncommon to accidentally expose internal comments, version history, or speaker notes, and leak sensitive information or appear unprofessional.

Publish to web allows you to generate a clean, view-only web link for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files stored on SharePoint. When you publish, the link shows only the finalized content – no internal edits, comments, tracked changes, version history, or speaker notes are included.

How it works

Open your worksheet or presentation in Excel for the web or PowerPoint for the web . NOTE: The file must be stored in SharePoint.
Select File > Share > Publish to web.
In the Publish to web dialog box, click the Publish button to generate your public link.

Copy the generated link and share it with your intended external recipients, or click the Share button to manage access permissions.

To update a published version of a file, select File > Share > Publish to web, and then click the Republish button.

To revoke access to the published link, select File > Share > Publish to web, and then click the Unpublish button.

Scenarios to try

Share a client presentation without internal notes: You've just finished a sales pitch presentation with your team, and it's full of internal speaker notes like "mention competitor weaknesses here" and comments debating pricing strategy. Instead of manually scrubbing all that sensitive content, use Publish to web to generate a clean, professional version you can confidently send to prospects.
Embed live training materials on your company intranet: Your HR team maintains an employee handbook in Word that gets updated quarterly. Instead of replacing static PDFs on your company portal every time, publish the document to web and embed that link on your intranet. When you make updates and republish, the embedded version automatically reflects the latest content – no re-uploading required.
Share board-ready reports with external stakeholders: You're preparing a quarterly business review Excel dashboard for your board of directors, which includes internal tabs with raw data, assumptions, and "what-if" scenarios you don't want to expose. Publish to web lets you share the finalized, polished tabs while keeping your working data private.
Distribute public announcements without revealing edit history: Your Marketing team drafted a company policy announcement that went through several rounds of legal review with tracked changes and heated comment threads. It's now final and ready to go public. Use Publish to web to share the clean final version on your external website without anyone seeing the messy journey it took to get there.
Quickly revoke access after a project ends: You shared a proposal presentation with a potential partner, but the deal fell through and you want to ensure they can no longer access your strategic content. Simply unpublish the document to instantly revoke access – there is no need to track down forwarded emails or copies.

Tips and tricks

The Publish to web feature offers flexibility and the following capabilities:

Republish any time to reflect updates or unpublish to revoke access entirely.
Published links are view-only by default, with additional permission management available through the Share dialog box.
Skip the tedious process of manually removing comments, accepting all tracked changes, and deleting speaker notes before sharing externally.
Generate a shareable link in seconds instead of downloading, cleaning, and re-uploading files.
Republish in one click to ensure external stakeholders always see your latest version – there is no need to resend files.
Stop publishing instantly if you need to revoke access, without chasing down forwarded copies.

Availability

The feature is available in PowerPoint for the web and Excel for the web to users with a Microsoft 365 Enterprise license and for files stored in SharePoint. It is coming soon to Word for the web.

Feedback

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how this feature is working! From the Home screen in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint for web, from your ribbon click Help > Feedback.

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Powerful image editing, now in PowerPoint

rachelledong — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 19:53:06 GMT

Hi, Insiders! I am Rachelle Dong, a Product Manager on the PowerPoint team. I’m excited to share with you a new way to edit images directly in PowerPoint so you can enhance, refine, and perfect visuals without leaving your deck. With built-in tools like Remove background, Erase, Move, resolution upscaling, and more, it’s now easier than ever to turn a good slide into a great slide.

Powerful image editing, now in PowerPoint

Images are a core part of storytelling in PowerPoint, and switching tools can disrupt your flow. You can now edit images directly inside PowerPoint for the web, for Windows, or for Mac, saving you the time and the hassle required to switch to a separate image-editing app. It’s easy to make improvements like removing backgrounds, erasing or moving unwanted elements, enhancing image quality, upscaling resolution, or even editing text that appears on an image.

How it works

Select an image in your PowerPoint slide.
Click the Edit Image button (first button from the left) in the Picture Format tab on the ribbon, or right click the image and select Edit Image from the menu.
Edit your image with actions like Remove background, Erase, Move, Upscale, Auto enhance, Add text, Edit text, or Effects. Preview the changes in real time, and then select Update to update the image directly on your slide.

Scenarios to try

Clean up screenshots, photos, or online images.
Remove distracting backgrounds from photos before placing them into layouts.
Add text annotations with cool text effects.
Improve low-resolution images copied from the web or scanned documents.
Auto‑enhance lighting and contrast to make images presentation‑ready.
Remove objects or artifacts that don’t belong with Erase.
Improve clarity for images that look pixelated on large screens with Upscale.

Availability

This feature is rolling out to PowerPoint for the web users and is available to users running:

Windows: Version 2510 (Build 19422.20000) or later.
Mac: Version 16.104 (Build 25121423) or later.

Feedback

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how this feature is working! After opening the image editor via Edit Image, you can share feedback by selecting Send feedback to Microsoft in the top-right corner or by using the thumbs up or thumbs down in the bottom-right corner.

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Simplify cross-tenant user migrations with Microsoft 365 orchestrator

Rebecca_W_Wood — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 17:03:03 GMT

Hi, Insiders! I am Rebecca Wood, a Product Manager on the Enterprise and Cloud team. I’m excited to tell you about cross-tenant orchestrated user data migration in Microsoft 365, our new product for moving user data and workloads between separate Microsoft 365 tenants.

Simplify cross-tenant user migrations with Microsoft 365 orchestrator

The orchestrator, also known as cross-tenant orchestrated user data migration, is a self-service product for customers undergoing mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures.

It was made for customers who wanted to use an in-house Microsoft solution that keeps all Microsoft 365 data within the Microsoft boundary. For the first time, we’re offering a product that moves Teams Chats! In addition, we have built an improved experience for migrating Teams Meetings.

How it works

Orchestrator is an opt-in feature that runs through PowerShell, where tenant admins can batch and schedule the migration of a user's mailbox, OneDrive, Teams meetings, and Teams chats.

Learn more.

Scenarios to try

This feature is best used with mergers and acquisitions scenarios, whether you’re aiming for tenant consolidation or tenant separations.

Availability

Cross-tenant user data migration is available as an add-on to the following Microsoft 365 subscription plans:

Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard, and Premium
Microsoft 365 F1/F3/E3/E5
Office 365 F3/E1/E3/E5
Exchange Online
SharePoint in Microsoft 365
OneDrive
EDU

It is available to customers who have a license under an Enterprise Agreement, cloud solution providers, Web direct customers, Small Business, and Education customers. It is an opt-in feature that requires the purchase of an add-on Cross-Tenant User Data Migration license for each migrating user.

Feedback

Please share your feedback with the experience here.

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Make spring gardening simple with help from Microsoft Copilot

StephanieParry — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 16:30:00 GMT

Spring is inching closer, and for many of us, that means it’s time to dust off the gardening gloves and give our outdoor spaces a fresh start. Whether you're nurturing a long‑loved garden or finally committing to planting something, Copilot can help you ease into the season with confidence. With a few well‑crafted prompts, you can turn Copilot into your personal landscape architect.

Below are three spring‑ready prompts and what they can help you accomplish.

Kickstart your garden with a spring prep checklist

Spring prep can feel like a lot: debris to clear, soil to refresh, and early plantings to get in the ground before the season runs away from you. Copilot makes it easier by giving you a simple, actionable checklist tailored to your needs.

Copilot prompt:

I want a garden that is blooming with color by early May and through September. Create a step-by-step spring garden prep checklist, including clearing debris, soil prep, early planting tasks. I also want a plan and watering system recommendation for optimal watering from now throughout summer, based on my location.

Copilot response:

Keep your garden thriving with only a few hours each week

If your schedule is packed but you still want a flourishing spring garden, a short, consistent routine is your best friend. Copilot can help you build one that's realistic, sustainable, and effective.

Copilot prompt:

I have only 2–3 hours per week to maintain my garden. Help me design a low-maintenance plan that keeps my garden healthy and attractive from spring through fall. Prioritize native or drought-tolerant plants, simple routines, and seasonal tasks.

Copilot response:

A custom garden plan that’s designed to your specifications

A beautiful garden is not just about picking plants you like. It starts with designing intentionally, the same way a landscape professional would. When you pair a clear vision with a simple site assessment, you can make choices that support how you want to feel in the space, how you plan to use it, and how much time you want to spend maintaining it. With a few well‑crafted prompts, Microsoft Copilot can help you plan your layout, define zones, build a cohesive plant palette, and create a practical path from idea to installation.

Copilot prompt:

I’ve always wanted a professional landscape designer to help me create a mindful, beautiful garden design plan. Based on the details I give you about my yard’s size, sun exposure, and how I want to use the space, propose a conceptual layout with zones, flow, and key features.

Copilot response:

Spring is a season of fresh starts, and with Copilot as your garden companion, you can grow something wonderful—no overwhelm required. Here’s to a bright, blooming season ahead.

Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

Agent mode in Excel now works with your local files

Prash_MSFT — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 18:21:11 GMT

Hello Insiders! I am Prash Shirolkar, a Product Manager on the Excel team. I am thrilled to announce that Agent mode in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat now enables you to query modern (.xlsx, .xlsb, .xlsm) locally stored Excel workbooks on Windows and Mac desktop.

Agent mode in Excel now works with your local files

Previously, insights and analysis from Excel Agent mode were limited to Excel workbooks stored in the cloud. With this new feature, analyzing your locally saved Excel workbooks with Excel Agent mode makes it possible to stay productive even when you’re offline.

How it works

In Excel for Windows or Excel for Mac, open a local file saved on your computer or network share.
In the ribbon, click the Copilot icon. In the Copilot pane, if you don’t see Agent mode in the input box, then select Tools. Choose Agent mode and then type your query or data modifications.

Availability

This feature is rolling out to Excel for Windows and Excel for Mac users with a Copilot Chat-eligible Microsoft 365 subscription running:

Windows: Version 2601 (Build 19628.20204) or later
Mac: Version 16.105 (Build 26011018) or later

What's next

In addition to addressing your feedback and making this capability available more broadly, we are working on adding foils to show changes made by Agent, restoring from a backup copy, enabling Agent for new or unsaved workbooks as well as non-Modern workbooks, like .csv, and .xls.

Feedback

We’d love to hear from you! Let us know what you think by selecting Help > Feedback and including #LocalFilesAgent in your comments so we can easily find them!

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