Microsoft Roadmap, messagecenter and blogs updates from 12-12-2025

Updated December 11, 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

• Targeted Release: 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 end of January 2026 (previously mid-November 2025).

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

[Introduction:]

To help users quickly identify external participants in Microsoft Teams and reduce the risk of oversharing sensitive information, we’re introducing Trust Indicators—visual labels (badges or icons) next to people’s names. These indicators signal whether someone is external to your organization, a guest, or an anonymous meeting participant.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 515169.

[When this will happen:]

Public Preview: Begins rolling out late September 2025; expected completion by late November 2025.

General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): Begins rolling out mid-February 2026 (previously mid-January); expected completion by early March 2026 (previously early February).

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected: All Microsoft Teams users across commercial, GCC, GCC High, and DoD environments.

What will happen:

• Users will see badges or icons next to names of external participants in Teams:





• The visual indicator will vary depending on the relationship (guest, external, anonymous):



• These indicators will appear across multiple Teams surfaces.
• No admin action is required to enable this feature; it will be ON by default.

[What you can do to prepare:]

No action is required to enable the feature.

Admins can:

• Review the documentation to understand the types of Trust Indicators and their behavior: Representation of users outside your organization | Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
• Communicate this change to helpdesk or support teams.
• Update internal documentation if you reference user identity indicators in Teams.

[Compliance considerations:]

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

Updated December 11, 2025: We have updated the content and timelines. Thank you for your patience. 

[Introduction]

We’re improving the reliability of Copilot chat by ensuring that conversations are preserved even when users navigate away from a chat. With this update, a session entry is created in the navigation pane as soon as a prompt is submitted. This allows users to return to the conversation later without losing context or progress.

This capability will be available to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot users.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 500638.

[When this will happen:]

• Worldwide (General Availability): Rolling out from December 12, 2025 (previously December 3), to January 12, 2026 (previously December 18, 2025)
• GCC: Rolling out from January 19, 2026 (previously January 3), to February 2, 2026 (previously January 30)
• GCC High: Rolling out from January 19, 2026 (previously January 3), to February 2, 2026 (previously January 30)
• DoD: Rolling out from January 19, 2026 (previously January 3), to February 2, 2026 (previously January 30)

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected: All Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot users in commercial, GCC, GCC High, and DoD environments.

What will happen:

• A session entry will now appear in the navigation pane immediately after a prompt is submitted.
• Users can navigate away from a chat and return later without losing the conversation.
• This update improves continuity and reduces the risk of session loss.
• No changes to admin settings or policies are required.

[What you can do to prepare:]

No admin action is required at this time. You may wish to:

• Inform helpdesk staff of this behavior change.
• Update internal documentation if you describe Copilot chat behavior.

[Compliance considerations:]

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

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

Custom engine agents (CEA) are specialized agentic solutions that can be built using any large language model (LLM), toolchain, or orchestration framework, and are tailored to specific domain or tenant workflows. These agents can be created using either Microsoft Copilot Studio or the Agents Toolkit. File upload support is already available in Microsoft 365 Copilot Business Chat.

We’re now extending this capability to Custom engine agents, enabling users to upload files stored locally or in OneDrive directly to agents. Once uploaded, agents can access the file for a short duration and respond to user queries based on its contents. This update aligns with customer feedback requesting more flexible input options for agent interactions.

[When this will happen:]

General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout will begin in early February 2026 (previously mid-December 2025) and is expected to complete by late February 2026 (previously late December 2025).

[How this affects your organization:]

• Who is affected: All users of Custom engine agents, whether built using Copilot Studio or the Agents Toolkit. This includes users on free, metered, and paid Copilot plans.
• What will happen:
  • Users will be able to upload files directly to Custom engine agents.
  • Supported file types will match those supported by Copilot.
  • Image file support will be added in a future update.
  • The feature will be ON by default once available.
  • No changes to existing admin policies are required.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• Communicate this change to helpdesk staff.
• Update internal documentation if you reference CEA capabilities.
• Review the documentation for details on agent configuration and supported capabilities.

Learn more: Custom engine agents for Microsoft 365 overview | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations:]

Question	Answer	Explanation
Does this change store new customer data, and if so, where is it stored and is the data cached or permanently stored?	Yes	Uploaded files are temporarily accessible to the agent for a few minutes
Does this change introduce or significantly modify AI/ML or agent capabilities that interact with or provide access to customer data?	Yes	Custom engine agents will be able to access uploaded files and respond to user queries based on the file contents.
Does this change provide end users any new way of interacting with generative AI, and if so, how?	Yes	Users can now upload files to agents, expanding interaction beyond text input.

Updated December 11, 2025: We are pausing rollout of this feature at this time due to an unexpected issue. We expect to resume rolling out in February 2026. Thank you for your patience. 

[Introduction:]

We’re rolling out a refreshed “See All” experience for the SharePoint News web part (News.aspx page), bringing a modernized layout, improved visual rhythm, and new AI-powered capabilities to help users engage with news more effectively.  A Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required to access the AI capabilities. 

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 499654.

[When this will happen:]

Targeted Release: Rollout will begin in early November 2025 and completed in late November 2025.

General Availability:

• Worldwide: Rollout will begin in February 2026 (previously mid-November 2025) and is expected to complete in February 2026 (previously mid-December 2025).
• GCC, GCCH and DoD: Rollout will begin in February 2026 (previously late November 2025) and is expected to complete in February 2026 (previously late December 2025).

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected: Users of SharePoint sites with the News web part enabled.

What will happen:

• When users click the “See all” button in the News web part, they will see a refreshed dynamic mosaic grid layout.
• The update enhances hierarchy, legibility, and editorial rhythm.
• Core interaction patterns remain unchanged.
• AI-powered capabilities will be available to users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
• Some users may see the new experience before others in your organization.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• No admin action is required.
• The new experience will apply automatically when using the News web part.
• There is no impact to existing News web part functionality.
• If needed, communicate this change to your helpdesk or internal support teams.

Learn more: Use the News web part on a SharePoint page | Microsoft Support

[Compliance considerations:]

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

[Introduction]

The Rate My Call survey is a feedback screen that the Teams client will occasionally present to users after their Teams call or meeting has completed. Currently, the rating presents 1-5 stars on the first page and a list of potential issues (called problem tokens) on the second page.

We will be rolling out a new streamlined feedback experience for Teams on Windows, Mac, and Web that presents the feedback on a single screen with a thumbs up / thumbs down rating system and problem tokens for the user to select, plus an area to provide details. In testing, we found higher feedback returns with this new design, and clearer insights into call quality issues.

Screenshot 1: New Rate My Call User Interface

[When this will happen:]

• General Availability/Targeted Release: Rollout begins late January 2026 (previously early December 2025), completes by late January 2026 (previously mid-December 2025).

Who is affected: Users of Microsoft Teams on Windows desktop, Mac, and Web clients

What will happen:

• Users will see a new Rate My Call screen after calls and meetings
• The new screen includes:
  • Thumbs up / thumbs down rating
  • Optional problem tokens
  • Optional free-text field for additional details
• Feedback Rating values in Call Quality Dashboard (CQD) will change:
  • 5: Thumbs up / Good
  • 1: Thumbs down / Had issues
  • 0: Survey shown but not submitted
  • Null: Survey not shown
• Problem tokens will still be recorded even if a rating (thumbs up or down) is not submitted
• Admins may notice an increase in poor feedback metrics due to the new rating method; this does not reflect a decline in service quality

• Communicate this change to helpdesk and support staff
• Update internal documentation to reflect the new feedback format
• Monitor PCR (Poor Call Rate) telemetry until it stabilizes, then set your own threshold

[Compliance considerations:]

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

Q: Will a higher PCR mean calls are worse?
A: No. The new design captures more dissatisfied users by reporting a higher willingness to report poor calls. The increase is a measurement effect, not a quality regression.

Q: What is the new PCR target or threshold for your workstreams?
A: We cannot provide a fixed PCR threshold. Your action is to monitor your own PCR telemetry until it stabilizes (both volume and value relatively flat), then set your threshold. Stabilization may take weeks and once the data converges, you can then set your own.

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

You can now adjust the length of your presentation, the tone of your narrative, the style of your slides, and leverage AI-generated images when creating with Copilot. These enhancements are designed to give users more creative control and flexibility when building presentations, helping them tailor content to suit different audiences and contexts.

A Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required to use this feature.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 513430 and 513431.

General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout will begin December 15, 2025.

• Who is affected: All users with access to Copilot in Microsoft 365 on Desktop, Web and Mac platforms.
• What will happen:
  • Users will see new options to adjust presentation length, tone, and style:

   

   

  • Users can incorporate AI-generated images into presentations:

  

  • Features will be available by default.
  • No changes to existing admin policies are required.

No action is required. These improvements will roll out automatically.

Learn more: Create a new presentation with Copilot in PowerPoint | Copilot in PowerPoint | Copilot | Microsoft Support

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

Updated December 11, 2025: We have updated the content. Thank you for your patience. 

We’re introducing federated Copilot connectors in Microsoft 365 Copilot, enabling users to securely connect external apps such as Notion, Canva, or Hubspot directly within Copilot experiences like Researcher. Unlike traditional indexed connectors, federated connectors use the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to access data in real time. This allows users to fetch and read information from connected sources using their own credentials, while maintaining admin-level visibility, control, and governance in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

This feature will be available on the web platform.

A Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required to use this feature.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 501585.

Public Preview: Rollout will begin by January 12, 2026 (previously November 15, 2025).

• Who is affected: All tenants using Microsoft 365 Copilot with access to the Microsoft 365 admin center.
• What will happen:
  • End users will be able to connect to Microsoft-published federated connectors (such as Canva, HubSpot, Linear, Intercom, Google calendar, Google contacts, Notion) directly within Copilot experiences to search or fetch live data.
  • Admins will have visibility and control from the Copilot > Connectors section, where they can
    • View all default Federated copilot connectors enabled by Microsoft.
    • Disable any connectors that are not relevant or compliant for their organization.
    • Use staged rollout to enable these connectors for a limited group of users
  • Admin can also create and manage custom MCP based federated copilot connectors for internal or specialized data sources using an MCP endpoint.

Screenshot 1 – Admin experience:

Screenshot 2 – User experience:

• Review the list of default connectors that will appear in your tenant under Copilot > Connectors > Your Connections. List includes: Canva, HubSpot, Linear, Intercom, Google calendar, Google contacts, Notion and more. You can find them with type ‘MCP’
• Ensure all available connectors align with your organization’s data and compliance policies. Disable any that do not meet requirements directly from the admin center.
• For custom connectors, configure your MCP endpoints with the required tools (search and fetch) and proper authentication (OAuth2).
• Communicate this change to helpdesk staff and update internal documentation as needed.

[Introduction]

As part of ongoing infrastructure and security improvements, Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI) v2.x sensors will begin using new IP addresses to communicate with the MDI cloud. These IPs will come exclusively from the published range associated with the service tag AzureAdvancedThreatProtection. This change improves reliability and aligns with Azure networking standards.

[When this will happen:]

General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCCH, DoD): Gradual rollout begins mid-December 2025.

[How this affects your organization:]

• Who is affected: Organizations using Microsoft Defender for Identity v2.x sensors and restricting outbound traffic by IP address.
• What will happen:
  • MDI sensors will start using new IP addresses from the published AzureAdvancedThreatProtection range.
  • No addresses outside the published range will be used.
  • Organizations that already allow the full published range will not experience any disruption.
  • If IP restrictions exist and are not updated, sensors may lose connectivity to the MDI cloud.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• If your organization already allows the full published range, no action is needed.
• Otherwise:
  • Review any firewall or network policies that restrict traffic to MDI by IP address.
  • Update policies to allow the full published IP range for the service tag AzureAdvancedThreatProtection. Learn more: Azure IP Ranges and Service Tags.

[Compliance considerations:]

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

• Get ready for Windows quality updates out of the box 
• AllowOOBEUpdates System Policy CSP 
• KB5071430: Out of Box Experience update for Windows 11, version 24H2 and 25H2, and Windows Server 2025: November 21, 2025 
• KB5071892: Out of Box Experience update for Windows 11, version 22H2 and 23H2: November 20, 2025 
• Windows Autopilot Enrollment Status Page 

We’re improving the way Microsoft Teams updates are delivered to make collaboration smoother and reduce network load. Teams will now use peer-to-peer (P2P) update distribution through Delivery Optimization (DO), enabling devices on the same network to share update files. This reduces reliance on CDN bandwidth and speeds up update completion.

General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout begins in early December 2025 and is expected to complete by late December 2025.

Who is affected: All organizations using Microsoft Teams desktop clients.

What will happen

• Teams updates will use Delivery Optimization (DO) for peer-to-peer sharing.
• Devices on the same network can share update files, reducing internet bandwidth usage.
• Delivery Optimization will combine HTTP sources and peers to ensure updates complete successfully.
• Update packages will now download from these sources instead of CDN:
  • sb.teams.static.microsoft (non-China clients)
  • msteams.sb.dl.delivery.mp.microsoft.com (China clients)
• Organizations can expect up to 30% bandwidth savings from P2P sharing.

• No admin action is required before rollout.
• Ensure your network policies allow Delivery Optimization and P2P sharing.
• Review configuration guidance for Delivery Optimization: Configure Delivery Optimization (DO) for Windows | Microsoft Learn
• Learn more about Teams P2P update distribution: Making Teams Updates Seamless: Smarter Delivery with Peer-to-Peer download and Scattered Rollouts | Microsoft Teams Blog

No compliance considerations identified. Review as appropriate for your organization.

Microsoft 365 Copilot declarative agents are upgrading to the GPT-5.1 model, which uses an “auto” architecture. The orchestrator will automatically select the best model for each scenario, either the fast “chat” model or the advanced reasoning model, based on the user prompt.

General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout will begin mid-December 2025 and is expected to complete by mid-January 2026.

Who is affected: All tenants using Microsoft 365 Copilot declarative agents.

What will happen:

• Declarative agents will upgrade to GPT-5.1.
• The advanced reasoning model will be available for complex queries.
• No admin configuration changes are required.
• Feature will be enabled by default for all applicable tenants.

No action is required.

No compliance considerations identified. Review as appropriate for your organization.

[Introduction]

IT admins can customize the message and privacy link shown in Teams notifications when recording or transcription is used. These notifications inform participants implicitly or request explicit consent, depending on your meeting policy.

These notifications are displayed as strings—the text shown in the banner (implicit scenario) or dialog (explicit consent scenario). Customizing these strings helps organizations align consent language with internal policies and local requirements while retaining the default notice for compliance.

Screenshot 1: Implicit scenario – banner string

Screenshot 2: Explicit consent – dialogue string

This update is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 536570.

[When this will happen:]

General Availability (Worldwide, GCC): Rollout will begin early January 2026 and is expected to complete by late January 2026.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

• IT admins managing Teams meeting policies.
• Meeting participants in organizations where custom recording/transcription notifications are enabled.

What will happen:

• Meeting participants will see your organization’s custom message and privacy link in the recording/transcription notification, alongside Teams’ fixed text (such as initiator name and default privacy link).
• If no custom message is provided for a language or scenario, Teams will display the default message.
• Custom strings apply only to users assigned to the meeting policy where the setting is enabled. All participants in those meetings will see the organizer’s custom settings (subject to language availability).
• This capability is available for all enterprise Teams SKUs. There is no change to the default experience unless you configure custom messages.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• Review and update your meeting policies to include custom messages for recording and transcription notifications.
• Ensure custom messages comply with your organization’s privacy and consent requirements.
• Note the following limitations:
  • 200-character limit: Custom messages cannot exceed 200 characters per language/scenario.
  • Explicit vs. implicit consent: Custom strings for explicit consent scenarios are supported and visible when explicit consent policy is turned ON. For explicit consent, custom text is appended to the default message. You can leave a scenario empty to retain default text.
  • Language coverage: If a participant’s client language has no custom string for a scenario, Teams falls back to the default message.
• Support for Calling and Mobile clients will be added after general availability. No action is required at this time.

Steps to configure:

1. Go to Teams admin center → Meetings → Meeting policies, then scroll to Recording & transcription and enable Show customized in-meeting notification for recording and transcription.
2. Select Customize notification.
3. Download the CSV template from the customization panel.
4. Fill in your custom strings per scenario and language. Use <empty> to keep the default text for a specific cell. Remember: 200-character max.
5. Upload the completed CSV, use Preview to validate the look, and click Apply.
6. Turn on explicit consent if your policy requires it—custom strings for explicit consent dialogs will then be shown to participants.

Learn more:

• Manage Teams recording policies for meetings and events – Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
• Set a custom privacy policy URL

[Compliance considerations:]

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

We’re introducing new opt-in cmdlet parameters in Microsoft Purview Data lifecycle management that help administrators remove retention holds from inactive mailboxes. The new ExcludeFromAllHolds parameter removes all applicable holds except eDiscovery holds, litigation hold, and restrictive retention policies, enabling permanent deletion of mailboxes while continuing to respect compliance requirements.  

The RemoveComplianceTagHold switch, in contrast, removes only the Compliance Tag–based hold (ComplianceTagHoldApplied) from a mailbox. This gives administrators more granular control when they want to adjust Compliance Tag enforcement without excluding the mailbox from other holds.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 537204.

General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC-High, DoD): Rollout begins in early December 2025 and completes by late December 2025.

Who is affected: Admins managing inactive mailboxes in Exchange Online and on-premises Exchange.

What will happen:

• Admins can use the new cmdlet to remove multiple types of retention holds from inactive mailboxes in a single operation.
• Mailboxes can be permanently deleted after holds are removed, provided no legal or restrictive retention policies remain.
• This feature is opt-in and requires explicit execution of the cmdlet.

• Review compliance requirements before using the cmdlet.
• Obtain approval from your compliance team prior to execution.
• Update internal documentation to reflect this new capability.

[Introduction]

We’re introducing the Restart Event feature in Microsoft Teams Events to improve resiliency for live events. This feature lets organizers restart a live event that encounters an unrecoverable failure, minimizing disruption and ensuring continuity for Town Halls and other large meetings.  

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 523214.  

[When this will happen]

• General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out in early January 2026 and expect to complete by late January 2026.
• General Availability (GCC and GCCH): We will begin rolling out in late January 2026 and expect to complete by early February 2026.
• General Availability (DoD): We will begin rolling out in early February 2026 and expect to complete by early February 2026.

[How this affects your organization]

Who is affected: Organizers and admins managing Microsoft Teams live events.  

What will happen:  

• Organizers will see a new Restart Event button in the Teams UI for live events.  
• The feature is enabled by default; no admin configuration is required.  
• Attendees may experience a brief interruption while the event restarts but can rejoin seamlessly.  
• No impact on existing policies or tenant-level settings.  

[What you can do to prepare]

• Communicate this new capability to event organizers and support teams.  
• Update internal training and documentation for large event management.  
• No policy or tenant-level changes are needed.

[Compliance considerations]

No compliance considerations identified. Review as appropriate for your organization.

• Copilot Studio product list page (Preview) – Tenant and environment admins can view operational health metrics for conversational and autonomous agents created in Copilot Studio that are under their purview.
• Agent Alerts (preview) – They can also configure alert rules to proactively detect health issues for agents in Managed Environments.

• Metrics and recommendations for Copilot Studio – Power Platform | Microsoft Learn
• Create alerts for your resources (preview) – Power Platform | Microsoft Learn