What’s New in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Ignite 2023
Welcome to the November 2023 Special Edition of What’s New in Teams! We are publishing this month’s edition early to cover the announcements at the Microsoft Ignite conference, in addition to our typical What’s New in Teams features. Click here to see all the great sessions planned.Making Microsoft Teams more responsive, reliable, and ready for work
In our November 2025 update, we shared gains across video rendering, memory efficiency, and platform-level optimizations that improved the experience across devices and operating systems. Since then, we've continued to raise the bar. This blog highlights the latest performance improvements delivered during the first half of 2026, from faster chat switching and people search, to enhancements that make Teams feel more responsive, resilient, and reliable across desktop, web, and mobile.Introducing smarter bot protection in Microsoft Teams meetings
Organizations need confidence that the right people and tools are participating in their discussions. That's why we're introducing a new Teams admin policy designed to give organizations more visibility and control over external bots in their meetings. This new experience helps organizers identify bots, and adds safeguards before they're admitted, giving organizations greater confidence that only the intended participants and tools will be present.Turn conversations into code with GitHub Copilot in Microsoft Teams
Coding where context lives and collaboration happens The best prompt may be the conversation your team has already had or is currently having. Until now, using a coding agent often meant paying context and coordination taxes. Developers had to leave the discussion, open another tool, and reconstruct the problem in a lengthy prompt: what happened, what the team decided, which constraints matter, and what needs to be built. With GitHub Copilot in Teams, teams can move directly from conversation to action. @mention GitHub Copilot when the team is ready to act, and it can use the conversation alongside repository context to understand the request, implement the change, and create a pull request for review. This makes working with a coding agent more collaborative and visible. Instead of one developer privately reconstructing the request, teammates can contribute context, correct assumptions, refine the approach in real time, and review the resulting work together. Let’s explore the new GitHub Copilot in Teams experience to see how it can streamline development tasks: If the player doesn’t load, open the video in a new window: Open video GitHub Copilot in Teams is available in Teams channels, group chats, meeting chats, and 1:1 chats. Once the GitHub app is installed and added to the conversation, @-mention GitHub Copilot to bring it into the discussion and start a task. During public preview, users can complete the following scenarios with GitHub Copilot in Teams: Build a feature based on requirements discussed in Teams Implement a fix for a bug Expand test coverage or improve documentation Create and update a pull request No copying the discussion into a CLI. No rewriting it in a desktop app. No asking one developer to translate a team decision into the perfect prompt. GitHub Copilot works where the context already lives, and because that context is shared, working with GitHub Copilot becomes a team activity. Built around the controls teams already use GitHub Copilot in Teams works within existing GitHub permissions and repository policies. Branch protections and required reviews continue to apply, and people remain responsible for deciding what gets merged, ensuring that humans stay in the loop at every step. Availability GitHub Copilot in Teams is now available in Public Preview. To try it, install the GitHub app for Microsoft Teams and check out our documentation to get started! Less context reconstruction. More progress from the conversations already happening.Turn meetings into momentum with Microsoft 365 Copilot
Most people don't need more meetings—they need meetings that lead to action. At their best, meetings drive decisions and keep work moving forward. But poorly managed meetings can actually slow progress. In fact, our Work Trend Index report found that inefficient meetings are the biggest productivity disruptor at work. Common challenges include staying on track, catching up after joining late, and leaving without clear next steps. Microsoft 365 Copilot helps teams get more out of every meeting—from spending less time preparing to having more productive discussions and staying aligned on follow-up. The impact can be significant. Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact (TEI) study on Microsoft 365 Copilot in Teams. The study, New Technology: The Projected Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Teams With Microsoft 365 Copilot, projects that companies could realize a potential ROI of 400% over three years. Here are some of the latest Microsoft 365 Copilot innovations designed to make meetings and collaboration more effective. Before the meeting: Plan and prepare faster Planning a meeting often means juggling calendars, drafting agendas, and gathering context before the conversation even begins. Copilot helps simplify every step. Scheduling is often the first hurdle. In Copilot Chat, you can simply ask Copilot to set up a meeting, and it handles the coordination—checking availability, suggesting times, and preparing the invite details. It also shows how each option fits into your Outlook calendar, making it easy to choose the best one. Copilot can also help manage scheduling conflicts proactively. Users can define which 1:1 meetings and personal events are flexible, and when conflicts arise, Copilot can automatically reschedule them and notify attendees of any changes. Every productive meeting starts with a clear objective. Copilot can create a personalized agenda based on meeting details, attendees, and relevant work. It can also recommend topics from your emails, chats, and recent meetings, giving you a strong starting point that you can easily review and refine before sending the invite. To help you arrive prepared, Copilot can proactively generate meeting insights directly in the invite. It surfaces relevant context, highlights important information, and suggests useful materials so you can contribute from the start. During the meeting: Turn discussions into action Great meetings stay focused, encourage participation, and lead to clear outcomes. Facilitator works alongside your team in real time to answer questions, track agenda progress, capture notes, and turn conversations into shared tasks and documents. For a more personal experience, Copilot gives you a private space to ask questions and get answers grounded in the meeting, your work, and the web. The best conversations happen when everyone can participate naturally. Interpreter provides real time speech-to-speech translation, helping teams communicate across languages without breaking the flow of conversation. Live translated captions make it easy for everyone to follow along. After the meeting: Keep work moving forward The real value of a meeting often comes from what happens next. Copilot helps ensure important decisions and action items don't get lost once the meeting ends. Meeting recap provides AI-generated notes, suggested action items, and personalized highlights, making it easy to catch up on what matters most. It also gives you new ways to revisit the conversation, including audio and video recaps and custom AI summary templates, so you can stay informed in the format that works best for you. After the meeting, Copilot remains available to help you follow up, explore ideas, and keep work moving forward. The Meeting Recaps app brings your intelligent recaps together in one convenient, pinned app in the Teams sidebar, making it easier to find and catch up across your meetings. Get more out of every meeting Microsoft 365 Copilot customers can start using Copilot in Outlook and Teams today to manage the mechanics of meetings before, during, and after—so they can spend more time moving work forward. Learn more about Microsoft 365 Copilot and explore the resources to dive deeper into each of the features highlighted above.Microsoft Teams at the Microsoft 365 Community Conference
Join Microsoft and community experts in-person, in one place, at the Microsoft 365 Community Conference in Orlando, FL, April 30 – May 2, 2024. The event is dedicated to Microsoft Copilot and AI, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Viva, Power Platform, and related Microsoft 365 apps and services, plus a full Transformation track for communicators, HR, and business stakeholders in workplace experience. Register today and use the MSCMTY discount code to save $100 USD.Focus on the Teams Phone calls that matter most with intelligent call delegation
We're excited to announce that intelligent call delegation can now help answer your incoming Teams calls and schedule follow-up appointments on your behalf. This experience helps users focus on engaging with the calls that matter most and is available through the Frontier program.What’s New in Microsoft Teams | July 2026
I hope everyone is having a great summer - July has flown by. As we head into the second half of the year, we're continuing to innovate in Teams to help people collaborate with people and AI to get work done more efficiently. This month's updates bring together new ways to stay informed, simplify everyday tasks, and put AI to work across more scenarios and roles. One highlight is the new Meeting Recaps app, which makes it easier to find, revisit, and catch up on important conversations across your meetings. We're also expanding how organizations manage apps and agents in Teams with improved request experiences that provide greater transparency for users and more control for admins. You'll also find updates that make collaboration more seamless, from accessing Viva Engage communities directly in Teams to improving calling experiences on mobile. Read on to see everything that's new in Microsoft Teams this month. Feature categories: (All features listed are generally available unless otherwise noted) Chat and Collaboration Meetings Teams Phone Workplace - Places and Teams Rooms Fundamentals and Security Platform Frontline Workers Certified for Teams Devices Chat and Collaboration Access Viva Engage communities in Teams Staying connected to your communities meant leaving Teams to check Viva Engage. Now you can open and interact with your organization's communities straight from the Teams left rail and get notified in Activity when something relevant happens. Keyboard Shortcut Dialog has search functionality. Long shortcut lists are hard to scan when you just need one. The keyboard shortcut dialog now lets you search by shortcut name or by the key combination itself. LinkedIn Hiring Assistant integration for Microsoft Teams Recruiting teams can now bring LinkedIn Hiring Assistant directly into Microsoft Teams to streamline candidate review and hiring manager collaboration. Recruiters can share candidates in Teams, collect structured feedback, and keep hiring decisions moving without requiring hiring managers to switch tools. The integration helps teams reduce feedback delays, improve alignment earlier in the hiring process, and collaborate where work is already happening. Available for LinkedIn Hiring Assistant customers. Learn more: Hiring Assistant for LinkedIn Recruiter & Jobs Meetings Meeting Recaps app Stop hunting through chats and calendars for the meeting notes you need. The Meeting Recaps app brings your intelligent recaps together in one convenient, pinned app in the Teams sidebar, making it easier to find and catch up across your meetings. Browse meetings with Recap from the past 30 days and use quick filters to instantly surface the meetings that matter most, like when you were mentioned in the discussion. You can also generate a podcast-style Audio Recap summary across multiple meetings so that you can conveniently catch up on the go. Teams Phone Queues app for Microsoft Teams in GCC High Government organizations need advanced collaborative call handling without leaving their compliance boundary. Now available in the GCC High environment, the Queues app brings advanced queue management, reporting, and supervisor tools directly into Teams, helping agencies deliver faster, more efficient service to constituents calling government offices and to internal customers, such as employees contacting an IT Help Desk. Queues app is available through Teams Premium. View the interactive Queues App demo for more details. Teams Phone user multi-line on Teams Mobile (iOS) Juggling separate devices or accounts for different roles is a hassle. Teams Phone multi-line now works on Teams mobile iOS: admins can assign up to 10 numbers to one user, each appearing as its own tab, so you can stay organized across roles or regions from a single Teams account. If the player doesn't load, open the video in a new window: Open video Speed dial on Teams mobile Finding the right person to call should not slow you down. A dedicated speed dial tab in Teams mobile now lets users more easily add, edit, and label key contacts by role or priority, with updates synced across devices for a consistent calling experience. For frontline workers such as nurses, that means reaching the right contact faster to help accelerate patient care. Workplace - Places and Teams Rooms AI-powered notes for in-person meetings with Facilitator in Teams Rooms on Android and Windows Avoid ending in-person meetings with no record of what was decided. In Teams Rooms on Android, the Facilitator agent captures notes, decisions, and actions for in-person meetings alongside scheduled and hybrid ones. Invite it with one tap of the room console; notes appear on the front of room display or touch board and are available in meeting recap when shared, then deleted if no one keeps them. Nothing stays in the room. Available with Teams Rooms Pro. Bulk application of app settings to Teams Rooms on Android devices in the Pro Management portal Configuring rooms one at a time eats up an IT Admins day. Admins can now apply Teams Rooms on Android app settings to multiple devices in bulk from the Pro Management portal. Available in Teams Rooms Pro. Digital signage support for Teams panels Screens sitting dark outside meetings are a missed opportunity. Idle Teams panels can now display digital signage, just like Teams Rooms front of room displays, with source and settings managed in the Pro Management portal. Available with Teams Rooms Pro or Shared space licenses. Human interpreter listening mode supported in Teams Rooms on Windows Multilingual meetings lose nuance when there's no live interpretation. Professional interpreters can now listen in and translate in real time in Teams Rooms on Windows, without disrupting the speaker. Organizers preset the languages, and participants choose and switch among them. Available with Teams Rooms Pro. Teams Phone devices support for Interpreter (VoIP calls) Don’t let language barriers impact calls. With AI Interpreter, Teams Phone devices provide real‑time language interpretation directly within the call experience. Users can participate naturally in multilingual conversations while the device interprets spoken audio, reducing language barriers and supporting clearer communication in everyday calling scenarios. Entra passwordless resource account support for Teams Rooms on Windows devices Shared room accounts with passwords are a security weak spot. Teams Rooms on Windows now support Entra resource accounts for secure, passwordless sign-in that separates device and user identities. A migration wizard and Pro Management portal dashboard make moving over and tracking progress straightforward. Individual settings page with 2-way settings sync between device and the Pro management portal for Teams rooms on Android and panels Not knowing how a device is configured makes troubleshooting slow. A new individual settings page in the Pro Management portal shows how each Android-based device is set up, with two-way sync so changes flow between the device and the portal, for Teams Rooms on Android and panels. Call quality feedback surveys for Teams Rooms on Android Organizations can't fix call quality problems they never hear about. Users can now rate calls and meetings and give feedback on audio, video, and screen-sharing in Teams Rooms on Android, helping your organization keep experiences consistent. Join Google Meet meetings in Teams Rooms on Windows for GCC and GCC-H Cross-platform meetings shouldn't be off-limits for government organizations. GCC and GCC-High now get two-way Direct Guest Join between Google Meet and Teams: Teams Rooms on Windows can join Google Meet, and Google Meet devices can join Teams, with one-click join from the calendar or by meeting ID. Fundamentals and Security Choose how Teams on the web handles sign-in Teams on the web now honors a user's sign-in preference, giving them the choice to stay signed in across browser sessions or be prompted to sign in again when the browser is reopened. This helps balance convenience on personal devices with security on shared computers. Platform Improved request flows for apps and agents blocked by admins We're making it easier for users to request access to apps and agents that aren't currently available to them in Teams. A simplified and more transparent request experience helps users understand what action is needed, track the status of their requests, and receive updates when decisions are made. For admins, enhanced request management capabilities in Teams Admin Center and new request notifications make it easier to review and act on requests, helping organizations accelerate access to approved apps and agents. Frontline Workers Get Started Faster with Improved Onboarding First impressions matter, and the new onboarding experience makes day one in Shifts a breeze. The app adapts to who you are — frontline manager or worker — and surfaces the right next step exactly when you need it. Managers can now spin up a brand-new team and its first schedule in a single action. One-click access to help articles and clear guidance on permissions means no one hits a dead end. Whether it's your team's first day in Shifts or your hundredth, you'll be productive in moments. Easily Restore Deleted Schedules Accidental deletions happen, but getting back on track should not slow your team down. With schedule restore, managers can quickly recover a previously deleted schedule right from the schedule creation flow. Simply choose the version you want to bring back, restore it in a few clicks, and pick up where you left off — no rebuilding from scratch, no lost momentum, and no extra support needed. It is a simple safety net that helps teams move confidently, even when plans change or mistakes happen. Reach the right people and close the loop with Follow Up Frontline managers often spend too much time chasing updates across chats, messages, and meetings. With Follow Up in Frontline Agent, a manager can send a single Teams request, automatically collect responses by a set deadline, and review a consolidated summary in one place. This helps teams quickly confirm task completion, shift coverage, handoffs, compliance requirements, and operational readiness. Managers can also track responses, follow up with non-responders, edit requests, and add recipients, with support for up to 20 people per request. Run hands-free inspections with voice-driven Site Walkthrough Site Walkthrough transforms inspections, audits, and compliance checks into a hands-free, voice-driven experience. Workers can start a walkthrough with or without a checklist, speak observations naturally, and let Frontline Agent capture and organize everything automatically. When complete, Frontline Agent generates a structured report, checks off completed tasks, flags follow-up items, and records timestamps for audits and compliance. This helps teams complete checklists faster, stay focused on their environment, and capture critical insights without manual data entry. Experience Teams for Frontline with a new interactive demo Curious what Microsoft Teams looks like for frontline workers? The new Teams for Frontline demo experience lets you step into the shoes of a retail associate, nurse, or warehouse worker and explore a fully functional frontline environment in just one click. No purchase, trial, or sign-up required. Immerse yourself in the day-to-day experience of frontline work and see how Teams helps employees stay connected, manage schedules, and get work done with AI-powered assistance. Check it out at aka.ms/FLWdemo! Certified for Teams Devices Q-SYS Scheduling Panel The Q-SYS Scheduling Panel is built on the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP), as a Microsoft Teams Panel. Displaying meeting details, availability, and allowing users to reserve meeting spaces on the spot. MAXHUB XT20-VB Kit The MAXHUB XT20-VB Kit integrates the XCore Kit Pro and XBar U50 to deliver a complete Microsoft Teams Rooms solution for small to medium meeting spaces. XCore Kit Pro includes an 11.6-inch touch console and a 12th gen Intel Core i5 mini-PC running Microsoft Teams Rooms for seamless collaboration, with 4K wired content sharing and dual-screen display capabilities. XBar U50 is a 100MP dual-lens USB videobar with 12 beamforming microphones, dual 15W speakers, AI video features including Auto Framing and Speaker Tracking, and FlexMount for easy installation. MAXHUB's Pivot Plus enables remote device management. The kit includes a 3-year warranty and local support. ThinkPad Dual-mode Wireless ANC Foldable Headset 8550 (USB-A & USB-C, Teams) Certified by Microsoft Teams for open office, ThinkPad Dual-Mode Wireless ANC Foldable Headset 8550 (Aura Edition) redefines best-in-class portable headset for hybrid work, featuring a foldable, lightweight design that’s effortless to carry anywhere. Adaptive hybrid ANC and AI-powered ENC keep distractions at bay, letting you enjoy crystal-clear calls and immersive sound for next-level focus. Sound by Bose technology delivers expertly tuned audio for both calls and music. Connect with tap or via Bluetooth® Receiver- and experience how seamless productivity can be. Lenovo Wireless Speakerphone 6000 Equipped with eight beam forming microphones and advanced AI noise cancellation, it ensures crystal-clear communication-ideal for today’s hybrid work environments. Its high-fidelity speaker provides rich, immersive sound, while Microsoft Teams certification guarantees reliable audio quality and exceptional voice pickup performance for seamless collaboration. Extron Medium and Extra-large conference rooms This system accommodates up to ten people for the medium conference room, and 18+ people in the Extra-large conference room, and includes Microsoft Teams Rooms conferencing capabilities, enabling participants in remote locations to join meetings. Extron AEC – acoustic echo cancellation, ceiling speakers, control processors, and power amplifiers deliver enterprise level security, intelligible speech, and consistent sound levels across the entire meeting area in conjunction with a Audio‑Technica Engineered Sound Wireless systems. This Design Solution has been designed and meticulously tested for best-in-class performance and ease of use. Logitech Express Install: Logitech Rally Bar & Ashton Bentley AB One65 for Teams Rooms on Windows & Android Logitech, in partnership with Ashton Bentley and Samsung, is simplifying room installations with Express Install solutions for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows and Android, making high-quality meeting spaces more accessible and easier to deploy. Logitech's Express Install kit for Medium rooms can be installed in under an hour, with minimal labor and no specialist help needed. MAXHUB Panel SP10 The MAXHUB Panel SP10 is a room scheduling solution with native Microsoft Teams integration, empowered by the MDEP. This 11-inch panel delivers a crystal-clear, real-time view of room availability, enabling seamless calendar synchronization and effortless on-the-spot reservations for efficient workspace management. High-visibility LED bars indicate room occupancy at a glance, while one-tap booking enables ad hoc reservations with real-time schedule sync. The mounting bracket is included as standard—no extra purchase needed—along with an industry-leading 3-year warranty that reduces lifecycle costs for bulk deployments. Adapt to any architecture with 4-way installation options: standard wall mount, glass partition, slim door frame, or a flush embedded aesthetic. AudioCodes C456HD Touch Expansion Unit Gen2 The AudioCodes C456HD is a native Microsoft Teams desk phone built on MDEP and Android OS for robust security and simplified, enterprise-grade management. Featuring a vibrant 5” color touch screen (1280 x 720) and a dedicated programmable emergency call button, it can deliver a seamless and intuitive user calling experience. For enhanced productivity, an optional multi-purpose expansion module with a 5” color touch screen is also available. The C456HD also features support for an optional hardware-based Mic Off for secure locations. AudioCodes C456HD Microsoft Native Teams Touchscreen Desk Phone The AudioCodes C456HD is a native Microsoft Teams desk phone built on MDEP and Android OS for robust security and simplified, enterprise-grade management. Featuring a vibrant 5” color touch screen (1280 x 720) and a dedicated programmable emergency call button, it delivers a seamless and intuitive user calling experience. For enhanced productivity, an optional multi-purpose expansion module with a 5” color touch screen is also available. The C456HD also features support for an optional hardware-based Mic Off for secure locations.Microsoft Teams events: A new unified experience makes it easier to discover, create, and manage events
Today’s organizational challenges and growing complexity can make it difficult to create meaningful connections with audiences, whether engaging employees or reaching a dispersed customer base. Having the right tools to navigate the demands of large-scale communication for digital and hybrid events is critical to achieving business objectives. We are excited to introduce the new Teams events experience designed to simplify how events are discovered, created, and managed. Now in public preview, Teams events represents the next step in delivering professional, high-quality events, featuring flexible customization options to empower event organizers and better engage the audiences that matter most. Unified event creation flow At the heart of this Teams events update is greater choice and control for organizers. The Meet app becomes the dedicated home for events in Teams, featuring a new event creation flow that gives organizers more flexibility and control when setting up their events. Organizers can customize experiences such as audience interaction (attendee camera feeds, raise hands, polls, etc.), registration control, and event scale. The new event creation experience no longer constrains individual features to a particular event type, replaced by a dynamic scheduling flow that gives organizers increased flexibility to tailor the event experience to specific audiences and goals. Centralized event discovery and tracking Busy schedules make it impractical, and sometimes impossible, for people to be aware of important events an organization hosts. The new Discover tab in the Meet app helps organizers promote events and drive interest by making them easier for audiences to find and access. The Discover tab is where organizers and attendees can find and track events, without relying solely on calendar invitations. Users can view events they’re registered for, find and register for new events, and catch up on recordings of past events. The Discover tab gives organizers, registrants, and attendees a single place to stay connected to their events. Simplified event management Managing events in Teams is easier than ever with the new Manage tab. No more searching through calendars or hidden menus to update presenter bios, adjust sharing functions, or track registrations. Teams events brings everything into one place for streamlined management. Event pages are created automatically when an event is saved, and serve as the central location for settings, customization, and branding. After an event concludes, Teams events makes it easy to send attendees follow-up emails and recording notifications. Event organizers also have a single place to access registration data and recap tools designed for insights and continued engagement. New capabilities give event organizers more control and flexibility In addition to the new unified experience, Teams events is adding capabilities to streamline setup and drive attendance: New delegate and shared mailbox support enables authorized users to schedule and manage events on behalf of the principal organizer. This helps teams collaborate more naturally when coordinating large or recurring events. Dedicated event details pages make it easy for organizers to view all elements related to the event, including built-in Q&A, and the ability to save customizations as templates for future use. Support for custom domains for event emails improves deliverability and helps invitations and reminders avoid spam filters, while offering additional event branding. Enhanced co-organizer editing and management controls make it easier to share responsibilities throughout the event lifecycle, ensuring a consistent management experience even as teams grow and roles evolve. Expanded access to events with new licensing Starting April 1 st , 2026, Teams events capabilities such as town hall and webinar, including advanced features, are available to all users licensed for Teams Enterprise and no longer require Teams Premium. This expanded access to Teams events enables more people in your organization to create high-quality, professional events. Along with these licensing changes, we also announced Attendee Capacity Pack licenses would be available to scale digital and hybrid events up to 100,000. For more information, please read our recent licensing announcement. Teams live events retirement Teams events will continue to be the experience where we invest in bringing new features and capabilities to support high-quality, professional digital and hybrid events at scale. With this launch, we will be retiring Teams live events fully on June 30, 2026. Users with events already scheduled through February 28, 2027, will be able to carry out these instances as planned through that date to avoid disruption. For more information, please refer to our recent retirement announcement. Create events that connect It’s never been more important to make meaningful connections with the audiences that matter to your organization, and your ability to deliver highly engaging events can play a critical role. The new Teams events experience streamlines your events, from discovering what’s happening across your organization, to creating tailored formats, to managing professional engagements at scale, all in one place. This new chapter brings greater simplicity, flexibility, and power to every event organizer, manager, presenter, and attendee. With expanded access through licensing updates, Teams events provide the foundation to deliver memorable, high-quality experiences, and enables even more people across your organization to confidently bring their events to life.From Threads to Workflows: Microsoft Teams Features That Boost Everyone’s Productivity
Organizations are looking to achieve more—and need tools that help them work faster, simpler, and smarter. Guided by customer feedback, Microsoft Teams continues to evolve. Earlier this year, we launched the new chat and channels experience: a unified, streamlined interface that brings simplicity by default, with powerful capabilities just a click away. We’re introducing the next wave of innovations in Teams, with features like threads, multiple emoji reactions, and emoji-triggered workflows. These updates help make collaboration more open and organized, bringing together people and, increasingly, AI agents. They also boost personal productivity by automating routine tasks and enabling you to adapt Teams to your work style. Threads in channels, something many users will be familiar with, are a key part of this evolution. It combines the simplicity of chat-like conversations with the structure, durability, and manageability of channels—helping you stay on top of the information that matters most without getting overwhelmed. Let’s take a look. Enhance group collaboration Efficient collaboration moves work forward—and seamless communication is key. Teams need to share knowledge, brainstorm ideas, and resolve challenges quickly. But in today’s fast-paced, always-on-work environment, the workday can feel like a blur. The Work Trend Index calls this the “infinite workday”—where the workday is stretched and attention is constantly under pressure. To help with this challenge, we’re introducing threads in channels—to make collaboration more efficient and focused. With threads, you can reply directly to specific messages, keeping related conversations grouped together without disrupting the main flow. This preserves context and order, making it easier to stay up to date, while allowing for in-depth discussions. You can follow the threads that matter most to you, and when an important update or decision is made, you can send it back to the main conversation, so everyone stays aligned without requiring them to sift through every reply. The Followed Threads view brings all your followed conversations into one interactive list. You can quickly access all your threads, triage and respond—without jumping between channels. And when you're done with a thread, unfollow it to stop receiving future updates. By default, you’ll only follow threads you’ve started, replied to, been mentioned in, or explicitly chosen to follow. ‘Follow’ helps you stay engaged with key conversations, without unnecessary interruptions. The new threads layout complements the existing post layout. While posts are ideal for announcements and broad updates, threads are a better fit with dynamic, scaled collaboration. When creating a new channel, select between threads or posts layout, and don’t worry, this can be changed later without loss of fidelity. By setting up dedicated channels for each project, you can keep stakeholders, files, and updates all in one place—making teamwork more connected, transparent, and efficient. Apps are supported in the threads layout. Bots can start new threads, read messages and respond within a thread, just like a teammate. Channel meetings and ‘meet now’ are supported too, with each meeting getting its own thread to keep content grouped together and easy to find. Threads in channels are now in public preview. Your work isn't limited to just a desktop, so we will bring threads in channels to all devices for seamless productivity, including desktop, mobile, iOS, and Android. Threads in channels is now in public preview. Threads help you keep context while reducing clutter, and emojis help build meaningful connection. In a hybrid workforce, being able to express yourself on Teams helps strengthen team culture. You can now react with multiple reactions per message, enhancing your ability to express a wide range of emotions effectively. For example, react with✅ and 🙏 to convey appreciation and alignment without extra replies. And with custom emojis, introduced last year, your team can reflect its unique identity, from inside jokes to branded visuals, making interactions more personal and fun. Multiple emojis per message is now in public preview. Boost personal productivity Staying productive and meeting deadlines is critical. With the right tools, you can spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time driving impact. These new features let you tailor Teams to your needs, helping you make meaningful progress where it counts. You can now trigger workflows with emojis by reacting to messages in a chat or channel—streamlining tasks, reducing manual follow-ups, and speeding up responses. For example, reacting with ❗️can escalate a support issue by creating a helpdesk ticket, while 👀 can forward a message to the right channel. This helps ensure urgent items are addressed quickly and without a manual follow-up. Use emojis to automate DevOps, incident response, team collaboration, and more with the Workflows app. This is now available in public preview. Slash commands in Teams are getting more powerful. With support for multi-step inputs, you can now complete more complex tasks—like searching for a GIF, or jumping directly to a channel using /goto—without ever leaving your chat. These enhancements help you move faster and stay in the flow. Slash commands enhancements are now in public preview. Customize your keyboard shortcuts in Teams to work the way that’s most intuitive to you. Whether you're used to shortcuts from other tools or have your own workflow preferences, you can now set commands that match your habits—helping you work efficiently. To set it, open Keyboard shortcuts from the top bar menu (•••), and enter your own custom commands. Customize your keyboard shortcut is available in public preview. What’s next These latest Teams updates help you spend less time managing work and more time making progress. By cutting distractions, streamlining communication, and automating tasks, we’re helping you reclaim focus in a world where the workday often feels infinite. Teams enables people and agents to work together through secure, collaborative AI — from Copilot integration to agents created with Teams AI library, Copilot Studio, SharePoint, and more. The new threads layout helps bring together the right mix of people and agents for every step of the project, while keeping discussions focused and organized. We recently announced Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent to Agent Communication (A2A) support which allows developers to build more comprehensive agents that can talk to one another. These updates are just the beginning of enhancing human and agent interaction in Teams and there’s much more to come. Ready to try it out? Visit Microsoft adoption to learn more, or head to the Teams app to start using these features in public preview today.
