Create reusable plans faster with custom templates in Planner
Turn any basic plan in Microsoft Planner into a reusable, shareable template to speed up planning and ensure consistency across plans. Custom templates capture key plan elements such as tasks, goals, buckets, labels, notes, attachments, and checklists to help teams plan faster and stay consistent. To publish a template, create and customize a basic plan to fit your needs. When you're ready, select Share and choose Publish as Template. Enter a template name and description, pick the Microsoft 365 group to share it with, choose which parts of the plan to include, and select Publish. fields selected. Once published, the template can be reused to create new basic plans. To create a plan from a template, click Create a plan, then go to either Shared or Created by me and select a template to use. How teams use custom templates Standardized onboarding processes An HR team onboarding new hires each month can use a custom template to create plans with the right tasks, buckets, and checklists already in place, helping ensure each onboarding follows the same process. Fast project setup with templates A marketing team launches frequent campaigns and uses a custom template to spin up new plans instantly. With pre-filled tasks, attachments, and checklists built in, they save time and stay aligned on key details. Addressing your feedback Tell us what you think about custom templates by selecting the Feedback icon (person with a chat bubble) in the top right corner of the app, then select Feedback from the dropdown menu. 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. Learn more Learn how to use custom templates in Planner. Learn how to export and manage Planner custom template data. Visit planner.cloud.microsoft to access Planner directly from your browser. 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.What’s new in Microsoft Sentinel: October 2026
Welcome back to What's new in Microsoft Sentinel. In October, cross-tenant delegated access reaches general availability so you can run security operations across tenants with least privilege, the Advanced Security Information Model (ASIM) EmailEvent schema gives you one consistent structure for email events across sources, an SAP analytics rule helps you spot active use of custom apps with high or critical vulnerabilities, and Unified Data Management brings connectors, tables, and ingestion health together in the Microsoft Defender portal. Read on for the details, and don’t forget to register for our upcoming Microsoft Ignite conference below in additional resources. Sentinel innovations: Sentinel SIEM Sentinel data lake Sentinel SIEM Cross-tenant delegated access (Generally available) Cross-tenant delegated access in Defender lets you run security operations across tenants using the same governance relationship model as Microsoft Entra Tenant Governance. Whether you’re a managed security service provider (MSSP) or a central security team working across business units, regions, or subsidiaries, you sign in with your home-tenant account instead of maintaining local administrator or Microsoft Entra B2B guest accounts in every tenant. Delegated access also extends to Sentinel resources, with granular permissions assigned through Defender unified role-based access control (RBAC). Each governed tenant approves the relationship and decides exactly which roles and resource scopes to grant, while you keep access current by managing membership in your own security groups. This means you can scale cross-tenant security operations with least privilege and without separate access models for identity and security. Learn more. ASIM EmailEvent schema (Generally available) Email products often describe the same activity with different table names, fields, and values, which makes it harder to build detections and investigations that work consistently. The Advanced Security Information Model (ASIM) EmailEvent schema in Sentinel gives you a common structure for email delivery and inspection events across supported email data sources. EmailEvent normalizes the details you need to understand what happened to an email and why, including sender and recipient information, message subject, delivery location, URLs, file attachments, and email authentication results. This means you can write hunting queries, analytics rules, and workbooks against one consistent set of fields and compare delivery, authentication, and threat details without translating between data models. When another source adds an EmailEvent parser, your existing source-independent detections work with that source without being rewritten. Learn more about the EmailEvent schema and deploy ASIM parsers to get started. SAP Application Vulnerability Report Service (Public preview) The Sentinel solution for SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) includes an analytics rule that correlates SAP Application Vulnerability Report Service findings with SAP BTP audit logs to detect when custom apps with open high or critical vulnerabilities are being used. The rule looks for interactive logins and named-user application activity tied to a vulnerable app in the same subaccount, Cloud Foundry organization, and space, and only raises an alert when it observes app use. This means you can prioritize the vulnerabilities that represent active exposure rather than working through every open finding. By default, the rule uses a minimum CVSS score of 7.0 and a 14-day lookback that aligns with the weekly scan cadence, and it groups incidents by app and subaccount. When an alert fires, you can review the users involved, the observed app activity, and the vulnerability remediation recommendations. Learn more. Sentinel data lake Unified Data Management (Public preview) Unified Data Management brings Sentinel connectors, tables, and ingestion health together in the Data & connectors experience in the Microsoft Defender portal, so you can see your full data landscape and act on issues from one view. The Overview tab gives you a workspace-level snapshot of daily ingestion volume by tier, connectors that need attention, tables with unexpected spikes or drops, and ingestion latency, helping you catch data issues before they affect detections and investigations. The Connectors tab puts unified connectors and Sentinel classic connectors side by side, and the Tables tab shows Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender XDR tables with health signals, estimated ingestion cost, schema, transformations, and retention settings, with no KQL query required to explore schema. This means less context switching when you troubleshoot connector failures, track down cost spikes, or confirm that recently added connectors are flowing. Learn more. Additional resources Blogs and documentation: Configure delegated access with governance relationships for multitenant organizations Manage unified role-based access control in multitenant management Create custom roles with Microsoft Defender unified RBAC Deploy the Microsoft Sentinel solution for SAP BTP Manage data in Microsoft Sentinel and Defender Configure data connectors Upcoming webinars: Nov 24: Microsoft Security Immersion Event: Agent Hackathon Create and publish a security agent to enhance security operations with Copilot, data lake, and MCP server. Upcoming events: Nov 17–20: Microsoft Ignite online and in-person at Moscone Center in San Francisco. Register here. Featured Ignite 2026 sessions: o KEY01: Microsoft Ignite opening keynote o BRK324: The Alert Is Dead. The Blueprint for the Agentic SOC o BRKSP626: You can't defend an AI-powered enterprise with yesterday's SOC o LTG1230: Fuel the agentic SOC with comprehensive security data o TT1787: Boosting Your SOC with Microsoft Sentinel Data Lake & Security Copilot o ODSP2178: From concept to containment, see the agentic SOC in practice Stay connected Check back each month for the latest innovations, updates, and events to ensure you’re getting the most out of Microsoft Sentinel. We’ll see you in the next edition!What's New in Microsoft EDU webinars - October 2026
Join the Microsoft Education Product team on Wednesday, October 28 at 8am Pacific Time or 4pm Pacific time for a webinar exploring the latest updates in Microsoft Education! Discover new tools and exciting features designed to save educators time, personalize learning, and boost student engagement. We'll share demos, practical tips, and ways to get started with these powerful tools. You'll also have time to ask the team any questions that are top of mind. Agenda: ✅ Teach module in Copilot ✅ Study & Learn agent ✅ Microsoft Learning Zone ✅ Copilot Notebooks ✅ Teams for EDU ✅ OneNote Class Notebook ✅ Learning Activities Register for Wednesday, October 28th at 8am Pacific time: https://aka.ms/WNIEDUOct28Option1 Register for Wednesday, October 28th at 4pm Pacific time: https://aka.ms/WNIEDUOct28Option2 Whether you're an educator, school leader, or IT professional, come discover what's new and what's possible with Microsoft EDU! Mike Tholfsen Group Product Manager Microsoft EducationWhat'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.Introducing a refreshed design, task chat, and more in Microsoft Planner
We’re excited to announce that a modernized user interface and new features are now rolling out to basic plans in both Planner in Teams and Planner for the web. The updated design offers enhanced navigation, responsive layouts, a new goals view for setting objectives and priorities, and task chat—one of your most requested features—to enable real-time collaboration and @ mentioning team members. This release aims to make planning easier for everyday users while preparing for future AI-powered capabilities. Our goal is to streamline planning by making it more intelligent and connected, so teams can concentrate on achieving results rather than managing tasks. What's new in Planner A refreshed design: With this rollout, users will be able to manage their plans in a cleaner, more modern interface that brings a more consistent planning experience across work. Planner’s new look was designed to feel simpler, allowing users to find what they need. It reduces visual clutter, improves layout and spacing, and creates a more focused workspace. Task chat with @ mentions: A new task chat is coming to basic plans, bringing real-time, threaded conversations directly into tasks, including @ mentions, rich formatting, emojis, and notifications to help keep decisions tied to the specific task at hand. Plan members who are @ mentioned in a task will receive a notification in their Teams Activity feed and via email and can select the notification which takes them directly to the task card for additional context. Note that previously, users received notifications for every task comment, but as a result of customer feedback, we now only send notifications to mentioned users. The ability to @ mention team members directly in a task has been a top request, and we’re excited to roll this out in a familiar, chat-based experience. Please note, premium plans will continue to utilize the existing task conversation experience. This will converge into the new experience at a later point in time. Goals view: Basic plans will now include a dedicated Goals view, allowing teams to set clear, well-defined objectives to help prioritize work. By connecting tasks to shared goals, teams achieve greater alignment, gain clarity on priorities, and track progress and outcomes—driving the plan forward together. Access to Goals view in basic plans requires either a Planner premium license or a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Notes on availability Please note that not all users will see the new Planner interface at the same time. This refreshed interface, along with Task chat and Goals view, begins rolling out to basic plans today and will continue to roll out over the coming weeks. This is only the beginning This redesign lays the groundwork for many more improvements coming to Planner in the next few weeks and months, including: Project Manager agent in basic plans – to help with task execution and the creation of status reports. Custom templates. Planner in Outlook. Stay tuned for announcements regarding these updates and more aligned to our long-term vision for integrated work management. Feature availability, naming, and timelines are subject to change. Please refer to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap for the latest status. Addressing your feedback We heard your feedback about inconsistencies between basic and premium plans. This refresh starts closing those gaps, so features appear consistently across plans based on your license. For example, users with a Planner premium license will now see Goals in basic plans, and users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license will soon have access to Project Manager Agent in basic plans as well. Tell us what you think about the new Planner interface, Task chat, and Goals view by selecting More (circled question mark icon) in the top right corner of the app, then selecting Feedback from the dropdown menu. 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. Learn more Visit planner.cloud.microsoft to access Planner directly from your browser. Sign up to receive future communication about Planner. Learn more about Planner in our Frequently asked questions. 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.
