What's new in Microsoft Planner | September 2026
Fall is officially here, and with it comes our first quarterly edition of What's New in Microsoft Planner! Each quarter, we'll bring the latest Planner updates together in one place. We're continuing to invest in Planner to help people work alongside AI to plan and get work done, whether you're tracking your own tasks or coordinating a shared plan across your team. This quarter's updates give you a clearer view of your work, new ways to save time keeping plans current, and more places to manage tasks where work already happens. Planner Agent is now built directly into basic plans, so you can ask questions about your plan, create and update tasks, and focus on your top priorities without leaving Planner. We're also making Planner Agent in Copilot more capable, with fuller answers on large, complex plans and faster, more reliable responses. You'll also find updates that bring Planner closer to where your team collaborates, from adding Planner as a tab in private and shared Teams channels to bringing your tasks and plans into Outlook. And the new Task Details Side Pane lets you update assignments, dates, and checklists without losing sight of the bigger picture. Read on to see everything that's new in Planner this quarter and share your feedback through the Planner Feedback Portal. Keep the details and bigger picture in view Task Details Side Pane Planner now offers a new way to view and edit task details without losing sight of the plan or task list. The Task Details Side Pane opens alongside Board, Grid, and My Tasks views. Assignees, dates, notes, and checklists can be updated without leaving that view. Seeing task details alongside the plan makes it easier to review assignments and dates without losing context. Planner now also remembers the preferred task details layout when the app is reopened. On smaller screens, task details automatically open in a dialog for a better fit. Save time planning and getting work done Chat with Planner Agent in Planner Planner Agent chat is available directly in basic plans. It allows teams to ask questions about the plan, create and update tasks, and filter the view to focus on the top priorities. With chat built into the plan, teams can now review tasks and make updates without leaving Planner to start a separate conversation in Copilot. Planner Agent in Microsoft Copilot More context for large plans: Planner Agent can now use more information from large and complex plans when answering questions. It leverages the latest frontier models for more in-depth reasoning and draws more effectively on work content. These improvements help find relevant tasks and include more supporting plan details in responses, giving teams a fuller picture of the work being reviewed. Create larger plans in Copilot: The previous 30-task limit when creating a plan has been removed, allowing Planner Agent to generate larger initial task lists without a limit. Teams can review the proposed tasks in Copilot before saving them to the plan. Improvements also extend beyond plan creation, with faster responses and fewer interruptions across the Planner Agent experience in Copilot. Assign tasks to team members: Users can set task owners by asking Planner Agent or using task cards in the agent's responses, without leaving the conversation in Copilot. Choose how Planner Agent responds: A new model selector offers Quick response, Think deeper, and Auto modes. Users can choose a quicker response, request more in-depth reasoning, or let Planner Agent select the mode automatically. Planner capabilities in Copilot Users can keep tasks current while handling other work in one conversation, without opening Planner or a separate Planner Agent chat. In Copilot Chat, users can now search for tasks and plans, get answers about their work, create or update tasks, and take action on plans. The same chat includes capabilities from Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and other apps. Users can access these alongside Planner capabilities without switching between agents. Manage work where it happens Planner in Outlook Planner is now available in Outlook, bringing tasks and plans, along with Planner Agent, into the inbox. This experience supports both personal task tracking and collaborative planning, so individual commitments and shared work can be managed in one place. With Planner in Outlook, people can track progress, coordinate responsibilities, and take action without leaving their inbox. To get started in Outlook on the web or the new Outlook for Windows, select Apps, search for Planner, then add and pin it for quick access. Planner tabs in Teams channels Planner can now be added as a tab in private and shared Team channels. Team members can create a new basic plan or select an existing plan shared with the group associated with the channel. Once added, the plan is easy to find in the channel where the team collaborates. Members can return to that dedicated space to review tasks and manage projects together.In case you missed it: A roundup of the latest Planner announcements
The Microsoft Planner team recently celebrated two pivotal milestones: International Project Management Day and Microsoft Ignite. To round out the year, here’s a quick look at some of the new and existing features we announced. 7 hidden gems to effectively manage your tasks In honor of International Project Management Day on November 6, our team published a blog post to highlight lesser-known but powerful Planner features that help teams work more efficiently across Planner and Microsoft Teams. These features include the ability to bulk edit tasks, export plans to Excel, and auto-generate status reports. To learn more, check out our blog post, “7 hidden gems to effectively manage your tasks in Microsoft Planner.” Planner at Microsoft Ignite At Microsoft Ignite 2025, we unveiled a major wave of updates that deepen the integration between Planner, Teams, and the Project Manager Agent—bringing AI-powered coordination, automation, and compliance capabilities into everyday workflows. In meetings, Facilitator now listens for spoken intent, captures decisions as actionable tasks, and generates documents using meeting context. Tasks are automatically synced to Planner, reducing manual follow-up and ensuring alignment as soon as the meeting wraps. In Teams channels, the Channel Agent can create and update tasks, answer plan-related questions, and produce richer status reports. These status reports are now enhanced with Planner data for better visibility into progress, risks, and blockers. Workback plan generation is now available in channels, helping teams quickly create reverse timelines based on a target deadline. Please note, the Teams meetings and channel capabilities mentioned above are available in public preview and require a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. To learn more about Project Manager Agent skills in Teams meetings and channels, as well as newly released compliance features, see our recent blog post, “The next chapter for AI-powered work management in Microsoft Planner.” The new Planner in Teams for GCC High Also worth mentioning is the availability of the new Planner in Teams for our customers in the GCC High environment. As of October, all existing tasks, basic plans, and premium plans have been migrated to the new Planner in Teams. GCC High customers can now plan, track, and collaborate on work alongside their chats, meetings, and files. Learn more and access some of our most frequently asked questions in our recent blog post: The new Planner in Microsoft Teams is now available to customers in GCC High. Feedback We want to hear from you about how these features and others can make working with Planner more effective. Tell us what you think using the Feedback button in the top-right corner of the web app, or by selecting the ? icon in the top-right corner of Planner in Teams, then selecting Feedback. We also encourage you to share any feature requests by adding your ideas to the Planner Feedback Portal. Your feedback helps inform our feature updates, and we look forward to hearing from you as you try Planner’s new and existing capabilities! Planner resources Watch the on-demand Breakout session from Ignite 2025. Walk through the interactive demos for Project Manager Agent in Planner and Project Manager Agent skills in Teams meetings. Learn more about Planner on the Planner adoption page. Sign up to receive future communication about Planner. Check out the Microsoft 365 roadmap for feature descriptions and estimated release dates for Planner. Visit the Planner help page to learn more about Planner.The next chapter for AI-powered work management in Microsoft Planner
Today at Microsoft Ignite, we’re excited to share the next major evolution in work management—one that builds on the journey we began in April 2024, when we unified Microsoft To Do, Planner, and Project for the web into a single, modern experience we called the new Planner. Now available in Microsoft Teams and as a web app, Planner has further been enhanced with the Project Manager Agent, an AI-powered assistant that helps streamline your planning process. Now, we’re taking the next step by bringing advanced AI skills through Project Manager Agent to our platform—delivering intelligent automation and a seamless planning environment that can help empower teams to move faster, stay aligned, and deliver results with less friction. A day in the life: From conversation to coordination It’s Monday morning. A product launch team gathers—some in person, some remote. Instead of action items getting lost in chat threads or emails, Facilitator and Project Manager Agent are now part of the meeting experience. During the meeting, Facilitator listens for spoken intent and captures decisions as actionable tasks. Team members can also prompt Facilitator through the meeting chat to add, update, or assign tasks in real time. This ensures that nothing is missed and that tasks are created directly from the flow of conversation. Project Manager Agent structures these tasks within Planner, assigning owners and due dates as directed by the team. The agent helps team members organize and track their work efficiently by making it easier to create, assign, and update tasks within Teams meetings. Furthermore, the Project Manager Agent works alongside Facilitator to generate a marketing plan, so the team can use the document as a reference for stakeholders. The agents are able to create the document, pulling context from the meeting transcript, meeting chat, and files shared during the meeting. The document is posted in the meeting chat and is also available as an attachment to the task in the meeting plan. As the meeting wraps up, the plan is live in Planner, with clear ownership and next steps. Everyone leaves the meeting aligned, knowing exactly what needs to be done and who is responsible. This is the story we’re showcasing at Ignite: how Planner and agents are helping teams drive work across Teams. What’s rolling out soon to general availability Below is a list of features that are currently available in public preview and rolling out to general availability in the next two weeks. Project Manager Agent skills in Teams meetings: Leveraging the skills of Project Manager Agent, Facilitator can create tasks during meetings and automatically extract tasks from meeting transcripts to ensure nothing is overlooked. These tasks are captured in meeting notes and seamlessly synced to Planner for enhanced post-meeting tracking. Additionally, the Facilitator can generate documents from meetings, helping resolve the "cold start" challenge. Simply @mention Facilitator to create, assign, or access tasks, or to generate required documents. Project Manager Agent skills in Teams channels: Leveraging the skills of Project Manager Agent in Teams channels, users can create tasks, set due dates, and assign tasks seamlessly within their collaborative workspace by @mentioning the respective Channel Agent. Learn more about Project Manager Agent skills in Teams meetings and channels in our announcement blog post. What’s new for Project Manager Agent and Planner Below is a list of features that are new to Project Manager Agent, Channel Agent in Teams, and Planner. Workback plans in Teams channels: Project Manager Agent and the Channel Agent together now support the creation of AI-powered workback plans, automatically generating a reverse timeline of tasks and milestones based on the target deadline and goal provided. A screenshot of a Teams channel shows a conversation with the Channel Agent. The Channel Agent has created a workback plan with tasks and due dates. Ask questions about your plans in Teams channels: You can now ask the Channel Agent questions related to your plans in Planner. Simply @mention the Channel Agent directly in your channel conversation with questions such as: What tasks are assigned to me? What tasks need to be completed this week? Create and update tasks with Channel Agent: You can also ask the Channel Agent to create new tasks and update existing ones. Simply @mention the Channel Agent with prompts such as: Create a task to complete the Quarterly Business Review deck. Assign the LT review prep task to Daniel. For more information, see how to create project tasks using Channel Agent. Status reports with Planner data: Channel Agent uses its knowledge to create status reports for channel members. These status reports are delivered as a Loop file within the channel, allowing team members to review, edit, collaborate, and share with others. Previously, the Channel Agent would generate status reports based on messages in its respective channel, as well as meeting summaries for any meetings the agent was added to. Now, status reports generated by the Channel Agent are enriched with Planner data to provide additional context, improve project visibility for all stakeholders, and enable better decision making by highlighting progress, risks, and blockers. Learn how to generate a status report using Channel Agent. Please note, these new capabilities in Teams channels are currently available in public preview. A Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required to create, interact with, and manage Channel Agent in Teams. Learn how to get started with Channel Agent for Teams channels. Support for Information Barriers: Microsoft Purview Information Barriers are policies in Microsoft 365 that a compliance admin can configure to prevent individuals or groups from communicating and collaborating with each other. Support for Information Barriers in Planner enables organizations to restrict access to plans and tasks based on user groups. This feature can help prevent data leaks, enforce internal policies, and support regulatory mandates by limiting plan visibility and collaboration to authorized segments. Support for Information Barriers is now generally available in basic plans only across: Planner for the web Planner in Teams (web, desktop, and mobile) Learn more about Information Barriers in Microsoft Planner. What’s coming soon to Planner Below is a list of additional compliance features that are currently rolling out or starting to roll out in Planner next month. Please note, these features are not being demoed at Ignite. Check the Microsoft 365 public roadmap for rollout status and additional details. Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) label support in Planner: Up until now, Planner has supported container labels for Microsoft 365 Group-backed and Roster plans, restricting access based on label permissions. This update will enable support for content labels, enforcing Data Loss Prevention controls, such as: Preventing users from copying task content, exporting plans to Excel or other formats, and forwarding tasks or plans to unauthorized users. Restricting users from printing plans or tasks when the content label includes a “block print” directive and restricting users from any form of hard copy generation of sensitive plans. Displaying watermarks on plans and tasks when required and ensuring watermark visibility across all supported clients (web, desktop, and mobile). Inheriting content labels from Loop Task List components or other linked containers, applying the same restriction to the Roster plan created from a Loop file, and respecting label changes. Informing users when label restrictions are in effect, preventing actions that violate label policies, and offering downgrade prompts if label changes would revoke access for certain users. With this rollout, users will be able to apply and modify content labels on Group-backed plans. Roster plans created from meetings will inherit the meeting label. eDiscovery support for Roster plans: Up until now, Planner has only provided eDiscovery support for modern Group-backed plans. This update will enable eDiscovery support for Roster plans as well. Once rolled out to your organization, admins will be able to pull the task data relevant to a user by selecting the individual’s mailbox. When the eDiscovery admin selects a user’s mailbox as the data source, they would see the task that the user was assigned to. Join our sessions at Ignite 2025! Whether you’re on site at the Moscone Center or joining us online, dive deeper with demos and Q&A. We’ll share additional details on the features above and announce some exciting updates coming soon to Planner. Theater session (THR761): Accelerating productivity with Planner and Project Manager agent in Microsoft Teams Time: Thursday, November 20 at 10:00 AM Pacific Speakers: George Bullock, Robyn Guarriello Duration: 25 minutes (in person, live Q&A) Breakout session (BRK287): Planner & agents: Driving work across Teams, Outlook, and Copilot Chat Time: Thursday, November 20 at 4:45 PM Pacific Speakers: Howard Crow, Robyn Guarriello Duration: 45 minutes (in person, streamed live, and on demand) Expert meetups: Visit the Copilot & Agents station for hands-on demos and unblocked Q&A with product experts. Learn more Watch the on-demand Breakout session from Ignite 2025. Sign up to receive future communication about Planner. Check out the Planner adoption page and Planner help & learning page to learn more about Planner. Visit the Microsoft 365 roadmap for feature descriptions and estimated release dates for Planner. Walk through the interactive demos for Project Manager Agent in Planner and Project Manager Agent skills in Teams meetings. Take these hands-on learning courses to enhance your AI business solutions with Copilot and agents at work.What’s new in Microsoft Planner – September 2025
This month, we introduced the Project Manager Agent in Microsoft Teams meetings and channels and enhanced Planner’s security. These features make collaborating with your team more effective while keeping your work secure. Project Manager Agent skills now available in Teams meetings and channels Project Manager Agent skills are now available in Microsoft Teams meetings and channels, meaning you can turn meeting conversations into actionable tasks, assign and update items right in the chat, and even generate polished documents with a simple prompt. Meeting tasks sync automatically to Planner for seamless follow-up, and you can filter or retrieve tasks based on due date, assignee, or topic, all without leaving Teams. In channels, each team gets a dedicated agent to create tasks, set due dates, answer plan-related questions, and keep projects moving. To get started, @mention the Facilitator during meetings or your channel agent to create or manage tasks as you go. Learn more about powering up project management in Teams with the Project Manager Agent. Enhancing task assignment security in Planner Planner now supports Information Barrier (IB) policies. If your compliance admin has configured IB policies to restrict communication and collaboration between user segments, these restrictions (already supported in Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive) will now extend to Planner as well. Users from one segment will not be able to share plans with users in another. This security improvement came as a result of customer feedback. Thank you for your continued input in making Planner better! Share your feedback Tell us what you think about the new Planner using the Feedback button in the top right corner of the app. You can also leave thumbs up/thumbs down feedback any time you try a Project Manager Agent-enabled capability. We encourage you to share any feature requests by adding your ideas to the Planner Feedback Portal. Your feedback helps inform our feature updates, and we look forward to hearing from you as you try Planner’s new and existing capabilities. Resources Check out the Planner adoption page. Sign up to receive future communication about Planner. Check out the Microsoft 365 roadmap for feature descriptions and estimated release dates for Planner. Watch Planner demos for inspiration on how to get the most out of Planner in Teams. Visit the Planner help page to learn more about the new Planner.Power up project management in Teams with the Project Manager Agent
New Project Manager Agent capabilities make it easier than ever for teams to stay organized, track progress, and work efficiently—wherever collaboration happens. Project Manager Agent skills are now in public preview for Teams meetings and Teams channels, unlocking new ways to streamline workflows and boost productivity right inside your conversations. Read on to learn more. Launch Demo Project Manager Agent skills in Teams meetings: Capture, assign, summarize, and kick off tasks Facilitator agent helps keep Teams meetings on track and remain productive, and thanks to its new integration with Project Manager Agent’s meeting skills, you can turn conversations into execution without leaving Teams. Facilitator pulls tasks from transcripts, so nothing gets missed, and meeting tasks automatically sync to Planner for advanced tracking beyond meetings. It can even generate documents from the meeting, helping to overcome the "cold start" problem. Just @mention Facilitator to create, assign, or retrieve tasks, or generate documents. Create tasks by simply @mentioning Facilitator during the meeting. Assign tasks with due dates and assignees right from the chat. Retrieve tasks based on criteria such as due date, assignee, or topic. Create documents: Create a Loop file or Word document with a simple prompt, and specify format and structure as needed. Sample prompts: @Facilitator create a task to circulate the meeting summary to all attendees. Quote the above created task and @Facilitator assign this task to me and set the due date to tomorrow at 10 AM. @Facilitator list all tasks from this meeting that are unassigned. @Facilitator create a Word document highlighting key decisions and rationale. @Facilitator create a proposal doc based on our discussion with sections: Overview, Recommendation, Approach, Appendix. Launch Demo Project Manager Agent skills in Teams channels: Task generation, progress tracking, and more Every standard and shared channel in Teams can now have its own dedicated agent, scoped to the conversations and context of that channel. Now, Project Manager Agent’s skills can be used by these channel agents, bringing powerful project management tools to your collaboration space. Ask the agent to create tasks, set due dates, or answer questions about plans and tasks, all within your team’s channel to keep everyone aligned and projects on track. To start, just @mention the channel’s agent (which takes on the name of the channel itself). Sample prompts (agent name varies by channel): @ProjectPlutoAgent, add a task “Draft customer email” in <plan>; assign to <owner>; due next Wednesday. @FinanceDepartmentAgent summarize tasks completed this week and those due next week in <plan>. @MarketingEventsAgent list blockers or tasks marked “at risk” in <plan>. Getting started with Project Manager Agent and Planner With the enhanced Project Manager Agent, enjoy smarter plan and task generation that turns ideas into actionable steps, along with enhanced tools for confident progress tracking. With support for 40 languages in meetings (and English US support only for channels), global teams can collaborate seamlessly, and a new on-canvas chat entry point makes interactions faster and more intuitive. All these features are included with both existing and new premium plans. Take the steps below to get started. Confirm licensing and access You’ll need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license to enable the public preview of Project Manager Agent. Project Manager Agent is available in new plans created with Project Manager Agent and all existing premium plans. Make sure Loop is enabled in your tenant for full functionality. Join Public preview for Microsoft Teams to get started with Project Manager Agent skills in Teams meetings and channels. Learn more Sign up to receive future communication about Planner. Listen to the recent episode of the Microsoft podcast, Low Code Approach, about the latest updates to Project Manager Agent. Check out the Planner adoption page and Planner help & learning page. Visit the Microsoft 365 roadmap for feature descriptions and estimated release dates for Planner. Watch Planner demos for ideas on how to get the most out of Planner in Teams. Share your feedback Tell us what you think using the Feedback button in the top right corner of the Planner app. Leave thumbs up/thumbs down feedback any time you try a Project Manager Agent-enabled capability. Share feature requests by adding your ideas to the Planner Feedback Portal. The latest Project Manager Agent enhancements in Planner, plus expanded integration in Teams meetings and channels, help your team achieve goals faster. From capturing tasks in real time to generating plans and managing deliverables across platforms, these updates put powerful project management tools at your fingertips. Explore the public preview today and discover how Project Manager Agent can help your team stay organized, aligned, and ready to succeed.
