Microsoft Roadmap, messagecenter and blogs updates from 24-10-2025

Updated September 11, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

Coming soon to Microsoft Teams: When users connect to their organization’s Wi-Fi, Teams can automatically set their work location to reflect the building they are working in. This feature is opt-in and requires you to take action to configure it.

This message applies to Teams for Windows desktop and Teams for Mac desktop.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 488800.

[When this will happen:]

General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling early December 2025 and expect to complete by mid-December 2025.

[How this will affect your organization:]

This feature allows you to map Wi-Fi networks and devices to buildings, which allows your users to have their work location automatically configured when they connect. This is a major improvement over the current experience which relies on end-users to manually set their work location. When this feature is configured and enabled, Teams can automatically update the work location of users who connect their laptop to your organization’s Wi-Fi network or peripherals. The feature can leverage the mapping between your building names and your Wi-Fi networks to set the work location of your users to the right building. It can also leverage mappings to specific peripherals, such as monitors. Teams uses the same policy to enable or disable automatic updates of work location for Wi-Fi and peripherals. Learn more: New-CsTeamsWorkLocationDetectionPolicy (MicrosoftTeamsPowerShell) | Microsoft Learn

Teams will not update the location of your users if they connect after their working hours (that they can configure in the Microsoft Outlook Calendar). Also, their work location will be cleared at the end of their working hours.

[What you need to do to prepare:]

Automatic update of work location is off by default, but it can greatly improve the experience of your users. We recommend turning it on and configuring it in your tenant.

Before rollout, we will update this post with new documentation.

Updated October 23, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

Introduction

To enhance workbook security, a new group policy is being introduced to expand File Block Settings to external workbook links. This policy allows administrators to control whether links to blocked file types can be refreshed.

If not configured, no changes will take effect immediately. However, starting November 2025, the default behavior will block external links to file types currently blocked by the Trust Center. When this policy is enabled, new references to blocked file types will return a #BLOCKED error. Existing links will display the last successfully refreshed values but will no longer refresh.

When this will happen

General Availability: We will begin rolling out the default change in early November 2025 (previously early October) and end in late July 2026.

How this affects your organization

• Policy not configured: No immediate change will occur.
• Build 2509 warning bar: Users will see a business bar when opening workbooks containing external links to blocked file types, alerting them to the upcoming change.
• Build 2510 enforcement: If the policy remains unconfigured, users will no longer be able to refresh or create new references to blocked file types.
• Existing links behavior: External links will retain the last successfully loaded value but will not refresh.
• New links behavior: Creating a new external link to a blocked file type will return a #BLOCKED error.
• Workbook Links pane: Will indicate which workbooks failed to refresh due to being blocked.

What you can do to prepare

Administrators who need to allow workbook links to blocked file types can revert to the previous behavior using the following methods:

• Registry setting: Set HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Excel\Security\FileBlock\FileBlockExternalLinks to 0.
• Group Policy setting: Set File Block Includes External Link Files to Disabled:
• Excel Group Policy Template > Excel Options > Security > Trust Center > File Block Settings > File Block includes external link files

We recommend reviewing existing workbooks and communicating this change to users who rely on external links to ensure continuity of workflows.

Learn more: Macros from the internet are blocked by default in Office

Learn more: External Workbook Links to Blocked File Types Will Be Disabled by Default

Compliance considerations

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.

Updated October 23, 2025: We have updated the timeline for Gov clouds. Thank you for your patience.

The new Outlook for Windows and Outlook for the Web now support email templates, enabling users to create, save, and reuse templates for faster, more consistent communication. This update also supports importing existing templates saved as .oft files, streamlining the transition from classic Outlook experiences.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 485757

Targeted Release (Worldwide): Rollout will begin in early September 2025 (previously late August) and is expected to complete by mid-September 2025 (previously early September).

General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout will begin in mid-October 2025 (previously early October) and is expected to complete by early November 2025 (previously late November).

General Availability (GCC, GCC High, DoD): Rollout will begin in mid-November 2025 (previously early November) and is expected to complete by mid-December 2025 (previously early December).

• Create, edit, and use templates directly from the compose window.
• Manage templates via the Settings page.
• Access saved templates across devices and between the new Outlook and Outlook on the web.

Templates are stored in the user’s account, allowing them to roam with the user for a consistent experience across devices. This feature is on by default and requires no admin configuration.

No action is required to prepare for this change. You may wish to inform your users about the new template functionality to help them take advantage of it once available.

#newoutlookforwindows

Updated October 23, 2025: We have moved up the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

Introduction

Surveys Agent is a new Copilot agent in Microsoft 365 that helps users build, run, and analyze surveys with ease. It streamlines the entire survey lifecycle—from creation to analysis—enabling faster, insight-driven decisions with less manual effort.

When this will happen

• Public Preview (Frontier): Beginning mid-August 2025
• General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout is expected to begin in mid-October 2025 (previously late September) and complete by early November 2025 (previously late November).

How this affects your organization

Surveys Agent enables users to create and manage surveys directly through chat in Microsoft 365 Copilot. It simplifies survey creation, distribution, and analysis, reducing time spent on manual tasks. Surveys are powered by Microsoft Forms and adhere to existing admin policies for the Forms service.

This feature is off by default. Users can choose to install the agent from the Microsoft 365 Copilot Agent Store under the “Built by Microsoft” section.

What you can do to prepare

To ensure users can access Surveys Agent in the Frontier preview program, admins can take the following steps:

• Verify users or user groups have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
• Ensure the setting “Allow the following users access to Copilot agents” is configured.
• Ensure the tenant-level setting “Let users access Microsoft apps” is configured.
• (Recommended/optional) Deploy Surveys Agent automatically to users or groups via the Deploy action in Integrated Apps.

Learn more: Manage agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot in the Microsoft 365 admin center

Surveys Agent creates surveys via Microsoft Forms. Admins should review Microsoft Forms policies to ensure they align with organizational standards.

Once installed, users can:

• Create and send surveys via chat
• Monitor responses and send reminders
• Analyze results in chat or export to Excel

Compliance considerations

Updated October 23, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

Introduction

We’re introducing enhancements to the focus area experience in Viva Glint to improve how organizations track and act on employee feedback. With this update, focus areas will now be tied to survey cycles, and goal periods will be retired. This change simplifies reporting and aligns focus areas more closely with survey insights.

This update is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 498922.

General availability: We will begin rolling out mid-January 2026 (previously mid-November 2025) and expect to complete by late January 2026 (previously late November 2025).

After the update, focus areas will be organized by survey cycle instead of goal periods. Glint users will be able to create and report on focus areas based on survey cycles. Goal periods will be retired. Focus areas not linked to a survey cycle (for example, if the cycle has been deleted) will be labeled No survey cycle and remain accessible in the platform. No focus areas will be deleted as part of this change. This update will be enabled by default. 

• No admin action is required for the transition, but we recommend communicating this change to Glint users in your organization.
• Review and update any internal documentation or training materials that reference goal periods. 

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.

Updated October 22, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

Introduction

We’re introducing Teams Collaborative Notes (powered by Loop) in group chats across desktop and web experiences. This feature enables users to co-create and edit notes, agendas, and action items directly within the Teams chat interface, enhancing real-time collaboration without switching contexts.

This message is associated with Roadmap ID 498159.

When this will happen

• Public Preview: Rollout begins late September (previously early September) and completes by late October 2025 (previously early October).  
• General Availability: Rollout begins early November 2025 (previously early October) and completes by mid November 2025 (previously late October).

How this affects your organization

Users will see a new Notes tab in group chats, allowing them to create and collaborate on Loop components such as agendas and action items. These components are editable inline, supporting synchronous collaboration directly within Teams.  

This feature is on by default for all tenants. Users do not need to install anything to begin using it.

What you can do to prepare

• You can manage this feature via the Teams Admin Center. If desired, Collaborative Notes can be disabled at the tenant level.
• Review internal documentation and training materials to ensure users are aware of the new Notes tab and its capabilities.
• Admins can manage the feature via the Teams Admin Center under: Messaging → Messaging Settings → Messaging Notes
  • Alternatively, it can be configured using the PowerShell cmdlet: Set-CsTeamsMessagingConfiguration

Compliance considerations

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.

Updated October 22, 2025: To ensure an optimal experience for our customers we have determined that we won’t be proceeding with this change at this time. We will communicate future updates via Message center.

[Introduction:]

The Skills agent is now available in Frontier, a program that provides early access to experimental Microsoft 365 Copilot innovations. The Skills agent helps individuals and leaders discover people with specific skills, make informed decisions about skill development, and build dynamic, skill-based teams. It is available across Microsoft Teams, Surface devices, and Web experiences.

The Skills agent is powered by the People Skills service, which infers skills from user activity mapped to a customizable built-in skill taxonomy. People Skills enhances Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Viva experiences with contextualized information about the people in your organization.

Frontier agents and AI features are previews, built for evaluation and feedback purposes. These features are still in development, and their availability and capabilities may change at any time.

Users must have an active Microsoft 365 Copilot license to access Frontier features. 

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 489823.

[When this will happen:]

Frontier Availability (Worldwide): Rollout begins week of September 15, 2025, and is expected to complete by the week of September 22, 2025.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

• Admins managing Microsoft 365 Copilot deployments
• Users with Microsoft 365 Copilot and the “Microsoft 365 Copilot in Productivity Apps” service plan (excluding faculty and student SKUs) will see the Skills agent available to deploy in the Copilot Control center within Microsoft 365 admin center.

What will happen:

• Skills agent (Frontier) will be available for installation and use within Microsoft 365 Copilot and Teams
• Admins can manage deployment and access via the Copilot Control center in Microsoft 365 admin center
• Available deployment controls include:
  • Deploy the agent: Install on behalf of users by accepting Microsoft Entra permissions
  • Restrict access: Limit availability to specific users or groups
  • Remove/block: Disable or remove the agent entirely from your tenant
• Additional People Skills capabilities now generally available:
  • Skills landscape reports via Viva Insights
  • Skills for Leaders in Viva Insights

[What you can do to prepare:]

To prepare for rollout:

• Set up People Skills in your tenant. – This is a required prerequisite for the Skills agent to function. Without it, the agent will not operate as expected.
• If you are planning to use the leader experiences in Skills agent, there are additional prerequisite conditions to be aware of when setting up leader roles. Review and configure manager settings.
• Identify users for early access and add them to a Microsoft Entra ID group.
• Review and configure deployment controls.
• Review privacy and sharing settings. Admins and individuals can manage their own visibility settings for People Skills.
• Access adoption resources.

Learn more: 

• Announcing People Skills general availability and new Skills agent | Microsoft Community Hub
• Configure manager settings – Viva Insights | Microsoft Viva | Microsoft Learn
• Manage agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot in the Microsoft 365 admin center – Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn
• Manage privacy and sharing controls in People Skills – Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn
• Overview of People Skills – Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn
• People Skills adoption site

[Compliance considerations:]

Updated October 23, 2025: We have updated the timeline for GA rollout. Thank you for your patience. 

[Introduction:]

We’re updating Memory in Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve personalization and enhance the user experience. With this update, Copilot will personalize responses using chat history, helping users receive more relevant and contextual replies. We’re also introducing refreshed user controls in Copilot settings to make it easier to view and manage Saved Memory.

Control over personalization using chat history is also available, with details for users via the settings screen. 

[When this will happen:]

• Targeted Release: Begins rolling out early October 2025 and expected to complete by mid-October 2025.
• General Availability: Begins early November 2025 (previously mid-October) 2025 and expected to complete by mid November (previously late October).

[How this affects your organization:]

All users of Microsoft 365 Copilot in tenants where Memory is enabled.

What will happen:

• Copilot will use chat history to personalize responses, making interactions more tailored and helpful:

 

• Users will see a redesigned Memory settings page that improves visibility and control over what Copilot remembers.
• Existing admin and user-level Memory settings are respected. If Memory is toggled off, it will remain off.
• No changes to admin controls or policy enforcement.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• Review the updated Memory settings experience with your users once available.
• No admin action is required unless you wish to update internal documentation or training materials.

Learn more:

• Enhanced personalization control overview | Microsoft Graph | Microsoft Learn 
• enhancedPersonalizationSetting resource type | Microsoft Graph | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations:]

• Research prospects deeply.
• Send hyper-personalized emails to leads.
• Send outreach emails to a list of prospects from CRM or a CSV file.
• Follow up with leads if it doesn’t receive a response.
• Respond to questions, handle objections, and ask qualification questions
• Hand-off leads to sales reps.

Updated October 22, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

[Introduction:]

Microsoft is enhancing Copilot (Microsoft 365) with Context IQ (CIQ), a set of AI capabilities that allows users to search for, select, and insert relevant enterprise or personal data directly into their prompts or conversations. When writing Copilot prompts in the chat box, users will be able to use Context IQ to search for and select Teams channels. This helps ground prompts in contextually relevant data, improving the accuracy and usefulness of Copilot responses.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 429645.

[When this will happen:]

General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout begins early November 2025 (previously mid-October 2025) and is expected to complete by late November 2025 (previously late October 2025).

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected: All users of Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) with access to Teams channels.

What will happen:

• Users will begin seeing their recent Teams channels in Context IQ (only the channels they have access to) when writing Copilot prompts: 



• This feature is enabled by default.
• Only channels the user has access to will be surfaced.
• No impact to tenant admins or existing configurations.

[What you can do to prepare:]

No admin action is required before or after rollout. However, you may want to:

• Notify users about this change.
• Update internal documentation if you reference Copilot or Context IQ capabilities

Learn more: Using Context IQ to refer to specific files, people, and more in Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat | Microsoft Support

[Compliance considerations:]

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.

To streamline integration options and align with partner offerings, Microsoft is retiring the managed connectors for UKG and Blue Yonder in Microsoft Teams Shifts. This change supports a transition to more flexible and scalable integration methods, including partner apps and custom APIs.

When this will happen:

• The retirement will take effect on November 14, 2025.

How this affects your organization:

Who is affected:

• Organizations currently using the UKG or Blue Yonder managed connectors in Teams Shifts.
• Admins planning to deploy these managed connectors.

What will happen:

• The UKG and Blue Yonder managed connectors will no longer be available in Teams Shifts after November 2025.
• Existing users will need to transition to alternate solutions before the retirement date.
• New customers will not be able to deploy these managed connectors going forward.

What you can do to prepare:

• Work with your Microsoft account team to complete your transition plan.
• UKG customers can adopt the UKG Flow app available in Teams. Learn about UKG Flow for Microsoft Teams.
• Other customers can build custom integrations using Create a custom integration to sync your workforce management system with Shifts | Microsoft Learn.
• Communicate this change to helpdesk and operations teams managing workforce scheduling.
• Update internal documentation to reflect the retirement and new integration paths.
• For questions, contact your Microsoft account representative.

• Landing Page Redesign:
  1. Revamp the landing page to prominently display key operational metrics.
  2. Ensure these metrics are available in real-time with auto-refresh capabilities.
• Ongoing Conversation Report:
  1. Redesign the report to incorporate Line of Business (LOB), Intent Group, and Agent Group concepts.
  2. Provide a comprehensive view of ongoing conversations with these new categorizations.
• Agent Report:
  1. Display key metrics for each agent, allowing users to focus on individual agents.
  2. b. Provide insights into the performance of each agent and the specific intent groups they support.
• Intent Group Report:
  1. Display key metrics for each intent group, allowing users to drill down into individual intent groups.
  2. Provide insights into the performance of each intent and the agents supporting those groups.

Updated October 23, 2025: We have updated language surrounding who is impacted for clarity. Thank you for your patience. 

We’re introducing a new Copilot experience in Classic Outlook to help users get more value from their search results. After executing a search, users will see an entry point to the Copilot side pane, where they can view a large language model (LLM)-based summary of their results. This includes content from documents, Teams messages, and more. Users can also ask follow-up questions and interact with the content directly in the Copilot pane.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 510107.

General Availability: We will begin rolling out mid-December 2025 and expect to complete rollout by mid-February 2026.

Who is affected: Commercial accounts with access to M365 Copilot Licenses.

What will happen:

• Users will see an entry point to the Copilot side pane after they execute a search.
• The pane will display an LLM-generated summary of search results, including content from documents and Teams messages.
• Users will be able to ask follow-up questions and interact with the summarized content.
• The feature will be enabled by default; no admin action will be required to turn it on.
• AI generation of content within the pane will be opt-in.

Screenshot – Copilot pane showing AI-generated summary in Classic Outlook:

• Confirm that affected users have the required Microsoft 365 AI SKU.
• Communicate this change to helpdesk staff.
• Update internal documentation if you detail Outlook search functionality.
• No admin controls are available to disable the feature; however, users must opt in to AI-generated content.

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.

• Display live events for a configured web application in a responsive grid layout
• Search events by name or description
• View detailed information about each event
• Embed the Customer Insights-Journeys registration form

Updated October 23, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

Coming soon for Microsoft Purview | Data Lifecycle Management: Admins will be able to apply a retention policy or retention label in Microsoft OneDrive and Microsoft SharePoint for files that have not been accessed by anyone in your organization for a specified period of time. This message applies to retention for Microsoft 365 file types. We will support other file types (non-Microsoft 365) in a future rollout.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 472030.

[When this will happen:]

Preview: We will begin rolling out late January 2026 (previously mid-December 2025) and expect to complete by late February 2026 (previously late December 2025)

General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out late June 2026 (previously mid-January 2026) and expect to complete by mid-July 2026 (previously late January 2026)

[How this will affect your organization:]

This feature will help delete obsolete data, which will improve the quality and relevance of Microsoft 365 Copilot responses.

This feature will be available by default.

After the rollout, admins can use the retention control When items were last accessed when configuring labels and policies.

Retention settings page in Purview with the new “last accessed” option for retention policies:

[What you need to do to prepare:]

This rollout will happen automatically by the specified date with no admin action required before the rollout. Review your current configuration to determine the impact for your organization. You may want to notify your users about this change and update any relevant documentation.

Before rollout, we will update this post with new documentation.