January 2026
📂 Microsoft Teams: New capabilities in the "Shared" tab (formerly the "Files" tab)
What? As you may have noticed, the Files tab in Teams channels has been renamed to Shared. This change is more than just a new name. It also introduces several new features. All existing functionality from the Files tab is still available in the In library view. The In messages view shows all files and links that have been shared in channel conversations:
If you select In messages, you can order the files by date using the Recent view and then filter by Files or Links. In the near future, this functionality will also be available for In library.
When? Now available
📅 Microsoft Planner: Task chat will replace the comments
What? Tasks chats will allow team members to collaborate directly on tasks using rich text formatting and @mentions, making it easier to discuss work and notify teammates about what needs attention. The new chat feature only sends an email/Teams notification to a colleague that’s been @mentioned in the message. The old experience for viewing comments will no longer be directly visible on a task. Instead, the task details pane will show a link to open a page in Outlook where task comments can be seen.
When? Rollout planned between mid-January 2026 and mid-February 2026.
⏩ Microsoft Teams: Select multiple messages to forward
What? Multi-Select Forward will soon be available in Teams chats and channels. This feature lets you select up to five messages from a chat or channel and forward them together in one message, preserving context and order.
When? Microsoft will begin rolling out mid-January 2026 and expects to complete by late January 2026.
🦩 Microsoft Teams: Emojis in section names
What? Microsoft is introducing support for emojis in custom section names in Microsoft Teams. This update allows you to personalize and visually organize their workspace more expressively, aligning with familiar experiences from other collaboration platforms like Slack. You will be able to insert emojis directly into custom section names in Teams.
When? Now available
November 2025
🤙🏻 Microsoft Teams: view incoming calls in a small window
What? You’ll be able to view incoming calls in a small window, reducing interruptions and letting you keep working during a call. This feature will be available on Windows, Mac, Web, and mobile apps. You can choose your own preferences under the settings in Teams.
When? Now available
🔢 Microsoft Teams: Join by code requires owner approval for private teams
What? To improve team governance and reduce the risk of unintended access, Microsoft Teams is updating the join by code experience for private teams. Going forward, team owners will need to approve join requests when users attempt to join a private team using a code.
- Team owners can continue to generate join codes under Team settings > Team code.
- Users can enter a join code via the New items menu in the Chat or Channels app.
- Users will no longer be added immediately upon entering a join code.
- Instead, team owners will receive a join request they can approve or reject.
When? Rolling out in early December 2025 and expected to complete by mid-December 2025.
🖱️ Microsoft Teams: improvements to the jump list experience on Windows
Microsoft Teams on Windows has updated the jump list, adding quick actions like scheduling meetings and starting chats, showing meetings, and removing the "Quit" option from the jump list. You can view the updated jump list for Microsoft Teams on Windows by right-clicking the Teams icon on your taskbar.
When? Available now
October 2025
🔃 Microsoft 365: Visual refresh of app icons
What? Microsoft is introducing refreshed Microsoft 365 app icons for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and the rest of Microsoft 365 productivity tools. This is a visual-only change; there is no impact to app functionality, user settings, or workflows.
When? Rollout begins in early October 2025 and will roll out in phases across web, desktop, and mobile platforms.
⏲️ Countdown timer for Teams Meetings
What? Keep meetings efficient and on schedule with the new countdown timer in Microsoft Teams. This feature allows any meeting participant to add a visual timer (up to 100 minutes) directly within the meeting window, helping teams manage time effectively without external tools. A meeting participant can open the timer by navigating to the More (three-dot) menu at the top of the screen, can set the timer duration up to 100 minutes, and start the timer.
When? Now available
🎛️ Organizer controls now available in meeting toolbar
What? Organizers and co-organizers now see a new ‘Controls’ button on the meeting toolbar. This gives quick access to key settings like participant management and security options. Need more settings? Click ‘View more options’ at the bottom of the panel.
When? Now available
🎙️ Improved device selection on Microsoft Teams meeting join screen
What? To reduce confusion and last-minute device switching, Microsoft is introducing improved audio device selection on the Microsoft Teams join screen. Users can now confirm and change their microphone, speaker, or headset directly from the join screen, without navigating to separate settings menus.
When? Now available
🪟 Open Teams channels in dedicated windows
What? Microsoft is introducing a new productivity feature in Microsoft Teams: Open Channels in a New Window. This enhancement allows you to detach any channel from the main Teams client and view it in a separate window, supporting better multitasking and focus.
When? Rollout will begin in late October 2025 and is expected to complete by late November 2025.
September 2025
📝Reminder: OneNote for Windows 10 End of Support
What?
OneNote for Windows 10 will reach end of support on October 14, 2025. After this date, the app will enter read-only mode. We recommend transitioning to OneNote on Windows (OneNote for Microsoft 365), which is available to download at the following page: Download OneNote for Windows.
When?
OneNote for Windows 10 will end support on October 14, 2025.
📨Reminder: End of support for legacy Outlook for Mac
What?
Like we communicated before on this page, the legacy Outlook for Mac version is reaching end of support. Read more in the following news article: End of Support for Legacy Outlook on macOS.
When?
Support ends after October 2025
💬Microsoft Teams: Send messages to attendees in the meeting lobby
What?
Meeting organizers will be able to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby using the Lobby chat. The Lobby chat is intended to optimize the lobby experience for all participants, ensuring that organizers are better equipped to run external meetings and external attendees are well informed about the meeting when it begins.
When?
Now available
⏳Microsoft Project Online is retiring in 2026
What?
Are you using the online version of Microsoft Project? Microsoft has announced the retirement of Project Online. Only users with an active Project license within our organization are impacted. This retirement does not impact Project Desktop or Planner. As an alternative, Microsoft recommends switching to Microsoft Planner. More information can be found here: Get started with Microsoft Planner.
When?
Project Online will be retired by the end of September 2026.
June 2025
📆New calendar layout in Teams
What?
Microsoft is rolling out a new calendar experience in Teams. This update brings several improvements, including a unified calendar with Outlook, enhanced scheduling features, and customizable views, expanded calendar settings and more.
If you prefer the old calendar style, you can easily switch back by turning off the New Calendar toggle in the top-right corner of your calendar.
Check out this article for more information: Get started with the new calendar in Microsoft Teams.
When?
Microsoft will begin rolling out late June 2025 and expect to complete by early July 2025.
💬Pop out Chat and Notes panes in meetings
What?
You will now see a pop-out icon at the top of your Notes and Chat side panes.
Clicking the icon will pop out the pane into a separate window, which you can resize and drag to any position on your screen. This allows you to view multiple meeting elements simultaneously, ensuring you don't miss the chat while keeping an eye on meeting notes.
When?
Now available
📞Call Waiting Beep Enabled on Desktop and Mobile
What?
Call Waiting Beep is a phone feature that provides a less intrusive tone when a user is in a call and a second call comes in to let the user know there is an incoming call when they are busy. A beep tone will play every 5 seconds for the duration of an incoming call ringing.
To enable this experience on Desktop, you must turn on the Setting within the Teams Settings > Notifications and activity > Play sounds while I’m busy or in a meeting. On Teams Mobile app client, Call Waiting Beep is the default experience. When you are in a Teams Call and receive a second incoming call, you will receive this functionality. Call Waiting Beep is on IOS and Android devices.
When?
Now available
⌛Classic Teams End of Availability by July 1, 2025
What?
Starting July 1, 2025, Classic Teams will no longer be available. It's super unlikely you're still using it, but if you are, it's time to switch to the new Teams experience.
When?
July 1, 2025
May 2025
The new streamlined Chat and Channels experience
What?
If your Teams Layout is set to List instead of Grid, Microsoft Teams is introducing a new Chat and Channels experience. The biggest change is that the Teams and Chat tabs will be combined.
When?
Expected to release between mid-June and early July 2025.
Microsoft Teams: Enhanced spell checking will support multiple languages
What?
Microsoft has taken quite some time, but spell check is finally available in Teams chat for languages other than English!
When?
Now available 🎉
Microsoft OneDrive: Export files as PDF
What?
In OneDrive, you can now access the Export as PDF command in the three-dot menu or the command bar for files and shared libraries in OneDrive. The following filetypes are supported: Word, Excel, PowerPoint. The Export as PDF command will only appear for supported file types.
When a file is exported as a PDF, the resulting document will be saved in the same parent folder as the original file. For shared files, the new PDF will be created in the root of the user's OneDrive, facilitating easy access and organization.
When?
Now available 🎉
March 2025
Microsoft Teams: Updated retention policy for meeting attendance reports
What? As part of Microsoft’s updates to the attendance report service for Teams meetings, a one-year retention policy is implemented for meeting attendance reports. Meeting attendance reports will be stored for one year after meeting end date to align with the Microsoft privacy policy. Before this rollout, meeting attendance reports did not have a retention policy.
When? Available now
Resize Teams window and slots
What? Soon, you’ll be able to shrink the Teams window to a tiny size, about half of what it used to be. Plus, you can tweak the width of the side panels to suit your style. This update is like a superhero for accessibility, making Teams friendlier for people with low vision. And guess what? Multitasking just got a whole lot smoother, so you can juggle tasks and windows like a pro on Windows 11 and macOS.
When? Rollout will start at the end of March and expect to complete by mid-May 2025.
February 2025
💬Microsoft Teams: Access chats while sharing a screen
What? Coming soon to Teams: Microsoft will add a control to the meeting presenter toolbar so presenters can more easily access the meeting chat while sharing a window or a screen. This applies to Teams for Windows desktop and Teams for Mac desktop.
When? Expected to release in mid / late March 2025
📄Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for web: Enhanced File menu and easier file renaming
What? Microsoft 365 Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for the web now feature an enhanced File menu and more efficient file renaming. These updates aim to simplify file management and address user feedback for ease of use. This will make it easier to create, open, share, export, and manage files. Additionally, you can rename a file by selecting the file name in the title bar near the top of the browser window and entering the new file name.
When? Available now
⏳End of support for legacy Outlook for Mac
What? After October 2025, Microsoft 365 subscriptions associated with a Microsoft 365 account (personal, work, or school) will no longer be able to use legacy Microsoft Outlook for Mac. Make sure to switch to the latest version of Outlook for Mac.
When? Action required by the 31st of October 2025.
January 2025
Switch OneNote version before October 14, 2025
What? Are you using Microsoft OneNote on Windows? Then check which version you are using, because Microsoft OneNote for Windows 10 will reach the end of support on October 14, 2025. There’s a high chance you’re using this version, even if your computer has been upgraded to Windows 11. Download and install the right OneNote version to make sure you can keep using it.
When? October 14, 2025
Microsoft Teams: Updated Planner tab experience
What? The Microsoft Teams Planner tab is being updated to include built-in templates for creating plans. To access the built-in templates in the Planner tab in Teams, select Create new plan in the Planner tab. Templates will be below the options to create basic and premium plans from scratch.
When? Now available