Microsoft Roadmap, messagecenter and blogs updates from 02-07-2026

Updated July 1, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

[Introduction]

To support more effective in-person collaboration, Microsoft Teams is expanding AI-powered meeting notes with the Facilitator agent to Teams Rooms on Windows. This enhancement allows teams meeting in a physical room to capture real-time notes, decisions, and action items—without requiring a scheduled or hybrid meeting. The experience is designed to ensure notes are securely stored in your tenant while no data remains on the room device after the meeting ends.

This feature is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 560318.

[When this will happen]

General Availability

• Worldwide and GCC: We will begin rolling out in early August 2026 (previously early July) and expect to complete by late August 2026 (previously late July).
• GCC-H: We will begin rolling out in mid-August 2026 (previously mid-July) and expect to complete by mid-September 2026 (previously mid-August).
• DoD: We will begin rolling out in mid-September 2026 (previously mid-August) and expect to complete by mid-October 2026 (previously early September).

[How this affects your organization]

Who is affected

• Organizations using Teams Rooms on Windows
• Rooms licensed with Teams Rooms Pro

What will happen

• During an in-person meeting, users can start AI-powered notes by selecting the Take notes button on the Teams Rooms console.
• Notes appear on the front-of-room display or touch board during the meeting: 

  

• Notes are stored in tenant-owned SharePoint embedded storage.

• Access to notes requires adding your work account using the Access notes button on the Teams Rooms console: 

  

• After the meeting, notes can be viewed and edited by participants with access via the meeting recap in the meeting chat on the Teams desktop client.:
• If no participant was added during the note-taking session via Access notes, notes are deleted automatically.

Default state:

• The feature is available automatically once licensing and prerequisite configurations are met.
• No additional admin enablement is required beyond existing settings.

[What you can do to prepare]

No immediate action is required if your organization already meets the prerequisites.

To prepare:

• Confirm Teams Rooms Pro licenses are assigned to applicable rooms.
• Ensure Facilitator is enabled in your tenant.

• Verify Loop components are enabled:
  • IsLoopEnabled
  • IsCollabMeetingNotesFluidEnabled
• Ensure meeting transcription is enabled in Teams meeting policies.
• Consider notifying helpdesk staff and users about:
  • How to start notes in an in-person meeting
  • Where notes are stored and accessed after the meeting

Learn more:

• Allow Facilitator in the Teams admin center – Set up Facilitator in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
• Meetings – Admins- Manage transcription and captions for Teams meetings | Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
• Settings management for Loop functionality in Teams – Admin policies for Loop components and Loop workspaces | Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations]

Updated July 1, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

[Introduction]

To support more effective in-person collaboration, Microsoft Teams is expanding AI-powered meeting notes with the Facilitator agent to Teams Rooms on Android. This enhancement allows teams meeting in a physical room to capture real-time notes, decisions, and action items—without requiring a scheduled or hybrid meeting. The experience is designed to ensure notes are securely stored in your tenant while no data remains on the room device after the meeting ends.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 56700.

[When this will happen]

General Availability

• Worldwide and GCC: We will begin rolling out in early August 2026 (previously early July) and expect to complete by mid-August 2026 (previously mid-July).
• GCC-H: We will begin rolling out in mid-August 2026 (previously mid-July) and expect to complete by mid-September 2026 (previously mid-August).

[How this affects your organization]

Who is affected

• Organizations using Teams Rooms on Android
• Rooms licensed with Teams Rooms Pro

What will happen

• During an in-person meeting, users can start AI-powered notes by selecting the Take notes button on the Teams Rooms console.
• Notes appear on the front-of-room display or touch board during the meeting: 

  

• Notes are stored in tenant-owned SharePoint embedded storage.
• Access to notes requires adding your work account using the Access notes button on the Teams Rooms console.

  

• After the meeting, notes can be viewed and edited by participants with access via the meeting recap in the meeting chat on the Teams desktop client.

• If no participant was added during the note-taking session via Access notes, notes are deleted automatically.

Default state:

• The feature is available automatically once licensing and prerequisite configurations are met.
• No additional admin enablement is required beyond existing settings.

[What you can do to prepare]

No immediate action is required if your organization already meets the prerequisites.

To prepare:

• Confirm Teams Rooms Pro licenses are assigned to applicable rooms.
• Ensure Facilitator is enabled in your tenant.

• Verify Loop components are enabled:
  • IsLoopEnabled
  • IsCollabMeetingNotesFluidEnabled
• Ensure meeting transcription is enabled in Teams meeting policies.
• Consider notifying helpdesk staff and users about:
  • How to start notes in an in-person meeting
  • Where notes are stored and accessed after the meeting

Learn more:

• Allow Facilitator in the Teams admin center – Set up Facilitator in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
• Meetings – Admins- Manage transcription and captions for Teams meetings | Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
• Settings management for Loop functionality in Teams – Admin policies for Loop components and Loop workspaces | Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations]

Updated July 1, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

[What and Why]

We are bringing desktop-style emoji shortcuts to Microsoft Teams on iOS and Android. Users can insert emojis directly in the compose box by typing a keyword between colons (for example, :smile: → 😊).

This update improves consistency across platforms and enhances user productivity by making emoji input faster and more intuitive on mobile devices.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 565370.

[Rollout Schedule]

• Targeted Release (Worldwide): We began rolling out in early August 2026 (previously late March) and expect to complete by mid-August 2026 (previously early July).
• General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out in mid-August 2026 (previously early July) and expect to complete by late August 2026 (previously late July).
• General Availability (GCC): We will begin rolling out in mid-August 2026 (previously mid-July) and expect to complete by early September 2026 (previously early August).
• General Availability (GCC High): We will begin rolling out in late August 2026 (previously late July) and expect to complete by mid-September 2026 (previously mid-August).
• General Availability (DoD): We will begin rolling out in early September 2026 (previously early August) and expect to complete by late September 2026 (previously late August).

[Impact on Your Organization]

Who is affected: All Microsoft Teams users on iOS and Android devices

Platforms/Services: Microsoft Teams (iOS and Android)

What will happen:

• Users can open the emoji suggestion menu by typing : followed by at least two characters (e.g., :sm)
• Users can insert emojis by typing a full name between colons (e.g., :smile: → 🙂)
• Common emoticons such as :), :D, and :P automatically convert into emojis
• Lowercase emoticons (e.g., :d, :p) are also supported
• Emoji search supports fuzzy matching and mid-string search
• Custom emojis are supported
• Parenthesis () shortcuts continue to work and will be retired later in alignment with desktop
• The feature is enabled by default with no admin controls

[Action Required / Recommendations]

No action is required.

To prepare your organization:

• Notify your help desk about the updated emoji shortcut experience.
• Update internal training or adoption materials to include emoji shortcuts triggered with :.
• Consider sharing a brief user communication highlighting the new mobile parity experience.

Learn more: 

• Send an emoji or GIF in Microsoft Teams Free | Microsoft Support
• Send an emoji, GIF, or sticker in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Support

[Compliance considerations]

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

We've released updates to the following update channel for Microsoft 365 Apps:

• Current Channel

[When this will happen:]

We'll be gradually rolling out this update of Microsoft 365 Apps to users on that update channel starting June 30th, 2026 (PST).

[How this will affect your organization:]

If your Microsoft 365 Apps clients are configured to automatically update from the Office Content Delivery Network (CDN), then no action is required.

If you manage updates directly you can now download this latest update and begin deployment.

[What you need to do to prepare:]

To get more details about this update view the following release notes:

• Current Channel

• Use canvas apps as the user interface for desktop flows: When the action runs, the selected canvas app opens on the user’s machine, providing a fully customizable UI built using the Power Apps designer.
• Pass inputs into the app: Desktop flows can send context, state, and values to prefill the app and guide user interaction.
• Capture outputs back into the flow: Data entered by the user in the app is returned to the desktop flow and can be used to drive subsequent automation steps.
• Trigger subflows from app events: App actions such as button clicks can invoke specific subflows, enabling event-driven patterns instead of strictly sequential execution.
• Works with all desktop flows: This capability is compatible with both Power Fx-enabled and non-Power Fx desktop flows.
• Reduce reliance on UI automation for form interaction: Instead of automating application UI to collect user input, makers can use structured data exchange between the flow and the app. This approach avoids selectors and screen scraping for form scenarios, improving reliability and resilience to UI changes.

• Integrate external sources quickly: Use Fabric shortcuts and mirroring to bring data from external systems into Customer Insights – Data.
• Ingest data quickly: OneLake-managed tables use the Delta data format, which enables incremental data ingestion, reducing the time required to ingest large sets of data when only a small fraction changes each day.

• Get data quickly by eliminating the need to build and wait for special data flows to export behavioral data from Dataverse to Fabric, and then into Customer Insights – Data.
• Use the behavioral data to refine segments for precise targeting of customers that includes how they responded (or did not respond) to previous campaigns.
• Combine Customer Insights – Journeys interaction data with other external data sources to create powerful customer measures for scoring and targeting customers with greater precision.
• Identify customers who were not responsive to a campaign and retarget them using external systems like Google and Meta by exporting segments.
• Use unification to identify customers with multiple emails and see how they interact with your brand across different contact points, so you can see the customer and not just the email address.

• Organizations can deploy Dynamics 365 Contact Center on Windows 365 virtual PCs with confidence.
• Customer service representatives can securely access the Contact Center solution from a managed, cloud-hosted Windows environment without requiring physical devices.
• IT teams benefit from centralized device management, improved security posture, and streamlined provisioning and offboarding.

• Customer-first direct callback that introduces a configurable, AI-powered experience managed through “callback profiles” in the Copilot Service admin center.>/li>
• Administrators define a callback profile, including greeting message, alternate number capture, callback offering window, retry logic, and AI agent selection, and associate it with queues under overflow handling. For each queue where direct callback is chosen as an overflow action, administrators also select a callback profile to ensure a customized callback experience for the queue.

[What and Why:]

Microsoft Purview is introducing the ability to assign a time limit when adding users or security groups to role groups. Administrators can specify a duration from 1 day to 2 years, enabling temporary administrative access and supporting least-privilege security practices. This enhancement helps organizations improve governance and compliance while reducing the risk of unnecessary long-term privileged access.

[Rollout Schedule:]

• General Availability (Worldwide): Beginning late July 2026; expected to complete by late August 2026
• General Availability (GCC, GCC High, DoD): Beginning late August 2026; expected to complete by late September 2026

[Impact on Your Organization:]

Who is affected:

• Microsoft Purview administrators
• Security and compliance administrators
• Organizations using Purview role groups in Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, and DoD environments

Platforms/Services:

• Microsoft Purview compliance portal
• Microsoft Purview RBAC

What will happen:

• Administrators can assign users or security groups to role groups with a defined expiration period.
• Assignment durations can range from 1 day to 2 years.
• The capability applies to existing and new assignments.
• Existing assignments are not modified automatically.
• No impact to user workflows.
• The feature is available by default after rollout.
• No policy or configuration changes are required.

[Action Required/Recommendations:]

No action is required.

We recommend that you:

• Review privileged access management processes.
• Consider using assignment expiration periods for temporary access scenarios.
• Update internal documentation where appropriate.
• Inform Purview administrators of the new capability.

[Compliance Considerations:]

[What and Why:]

We are updating the post creation experience in Viva Engage with a simpler, more intuitive layout. This change helps users create and publish posts with fewer distractions, clearer organization of tools, and improved accessibility. The update supports personal and team productivity by making it easier for employees to share updates, start conversations, and engage with their communities in Viva Engage.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 558935.

[Rollout Schedule:]

General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout will begin in mid-July 2026 and is expected to complete by mid-August 2026.

[Impact on Your Organization:]

Who is affected: Users who create posts in Viva Engage.

Platforms/Services: Viva Engage

What will happen:

• Users will see a refreshed post creation experience in Viva Engage.
• The layout for creating posts will be updated to make publishing clearer and easier.
• Tools used to create posts will be organized more intuitively.
• Accessibility improvements will be included in the updated experience.
• Existing post creation capabilities will remain the same.
• No admin configuration is required.
• This experience will be available by default as it rolls out.

The following screenshots highlight the updated experience:

Screenshot 1: Post on behalf of selection is now at the top of the Publisher:



Screenshot 2: Destination (Storyline and Community) selection is at the top of the Publisher:



Screenshot 3: Simplified toolbar at the bottom of the Publisher shows the most used options by default. Additional options can be accessed by selecting the + (plus) icon:



Screenshot 4: You can change the post type using the menu at the top of the Publisher

[Action Required/Recommendations:]

No admin action is required.

We recommend that you:

• Inform users that the Viva Engage post creation experience is being updated.
• Update internal training or support materials that show the current post creation layout.
• Notify help desk or support teams so they can answer questions about the new layout.

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

[What and Why:]

Viva Engage is updating how reply notifications are delivered in the mobile app to reduce notification overload and improve notification relevance. Users will continue receiving notifications for conversations that directly involve them while unnecessary notifications from high-volume community discussions are reduced. This improves productivity by helping users focus on the notifications that matter most.

[Rollout Schedule:]

• General Availability (Worldwide): Beginning in early July 2026; expected to complete by late August 2026

[Impact on Your Organization:]

Who is affected:

• Viva Engage mobile app users.
• Organizations using Viva Engage communities.
• Community members receiving discussion notifications.

Platforms/Services:

• Viva Engage
• Viva Engage Mobile (iOS and Android)

What will happen:

• Users will receive reply notifications when:
  • They start a conversation.
  • Someone directly replies to their post or comment.
  • They are @mentioned.
• Users will no longer be automatically subscribed to all future replies in a thread simply because they:
  • Read a conversation.
  • Commented on a conversation.
  • Reacted to a conversation.
• Community subscribers will continue to receive notifications for new posts (thread starts).
• Community announcements will continue to generate notifications.
• @mentions and direct replies will continue to generate notifications.
• The change is enabled automatically as part of the service update.
• There are no new tenant settings, policies, or administrative controls.
• Existing admin controls and notification settings remain unchanged.

[Action Required/Recommendations:]

No action is required.

We recommend that you: 

• Review and update internal help documentation describing Viva Engage notifications.
• Update user training materials if they reference automatic thread subscriptions.
• Inform help desk teams that users may see fewer reply notifications after rollout.
• Monitor rollout feedback from users.

Compliance Considerations:

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

[What and why]

Microsoft is introducing Domain Exclusion for Microsoft 365 Copilot, now generally available. This feature enables administrators to exclude specific domains from web grounding so that Copilot responses align with organizational policies and trusted sources. This capability gives admins greater control over how external web content is used in Copilot experiences.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 503144.

[Rollout schedule]

• General Availability (Worldwide): Beginning mid-July 2026 and expected to complete late July 2026
• PowerShell script available: July 16, 2026

[Impact on your organization]

Who is affected

• Microsoft 365 administrators managing Copilot configuration

Platforms and services

• Microsoft 365 Copilot
• Copilot Chat
• Web grounding scenarios

What will happen

• Admins can define up to 1,000 domains to exclude from Copilot web grounding.
• Excluded domains will not be used in Copilot responses that rely on web grounding.
• The feature is not enabled by default and requires admin action.
• There is no change to the user experience unless configured by admins.

[Action required and recommendations]

No action is required for this feature to become available in your tenant.

Learn more: Learn documentation and PowerShell script will be available upon GA at: https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/copilot/microsoft-365-copilot-domain-exclusion

[Compliance considerations]

• July 1, 2026: ESR management finished transitioning to Windows Backup for Organizations. This is now the only management option.
• May-June 2026: During this transition, you could manage ESR settings through both the Microsoft Entra portal and Windows Backup for Organizations policies.

• To continue syncing users’ settings, configure the Windows Backup for Organizations backup policy in Microsoft Intune or another mobile device management (MDM) provider.
• If you take no action, Windows will honor both ESR and Group Policy (GPO) or MDM roaming controls for one year (prioritizing GPO/MDM). After that, ESR will no longer work, and you’ll have to manage roaming through Windows Backup for Organizations policies.

• Differences between Enterprise State Roaming and Windows Backup for Organizations
• How to configure backup and restore policies in Microsoft Intune

[What and Why]

As announced in the What’s New (June Edition), we have been rolling out first-factor system-preferred authentication in the Microsoft-managed state.

System-preferred authentication in Microsoft Entra ID now applies to both first-factor and second-factor authentication when the setting is in the Microsoft managed state.

The system evaluates which credentials are registered for the user and selects the highest-ranked method for each authentication step, prompting the user to sign in with the most secure available method.

[Rollout schedule]

• General Availability (Worldwide): Beginning late June 2026 and expected to complete by late July 2026

[Impact on your organization]

Who is affected

• Organizations whose system-preferred authentication setting is in the Microsoft managed state.
• If your setting is in the Enabled or Disabled state, first-factor sign-in behavior remains unchanged and there is no impact from this update.

Platforms and services

• Microsoft Entra ID
• System-preferred authentication
• User sign-in experiences

What will happen

• For tenants in the Microsoft managed state, the system applies credential ranking to both first-factor and second-factor authentication.
• When a user signs in, the authentication process checks which authentication methods are registered and prompts the user with the most secure method according to the system-defined order.
• The method order is dynamic and can update when users register more secure authentication methods, such as a passkey, or as Microsoft updates credential rankings based on evolving security guidance. For example, if a user has both a password and a passkey registered, Microsoft Entra may prompt the user to use the passkey at their next first-factor sign-in instead of the password.
• To sign in using a different option, users can always cancel and choose another available sign-in method.

Behavior by setting state:

• Microsoft managed: The system applies credential ranking to both first-factor and second-factor authentication.
• Enabled: Credential ranking applies only to second-factor authentication. First-factor sign-in behavior remains unchanged.
• Disabled: System-preferred authentication is not applied.

Note: This prompt does not mean the user is being asked to complete multifactor authentication (MFA) when MFA is not required. With this update, Microsoft Entra can prompt users to use their most secure available credential at first-factor sign-in instead of defaulting to a password. Some methods, such as passkeys, certificate-based authentication, or Microsoft Authenticator, can satisfy first-factor sign-in requirements and may also satisfy MFA requirements when MFA is required. The goal is to use the strongest available credential consistently, not to add an extra MFA prompt.

[What you need to do to prepare:] 

Review whether you want system-preferred authentication to apply to first-factor authentication in your tenant: 

• If you want the credential ranking applied to both first-factor and second-factor authentication, leave the setting in the Microsoft managed state. No action is required.
• If you do not want system-preferred authentication to apply to first-factor authentication, change the setting from Microsoft managed to Enabled. The Enabled state applies system-preferred logic only to second-factor authentication and leaves first-factor sign-in behavior unchanged.
• Consider notifying users that they may be prompted with a different, more secure sign-in method at first-factor sign-in and remind them that they can always cancel and choose another available sign-in method.
• Update internal sign-in documentation and support guidance accordingly.

Learn more

• General Availability – System-preferred authentication expanded to first-factor in Microsoft Entra ID – What’s New (June 2026 Microsoft Entra Blog) | Microsoft Entra releases and announcements | Microsoft Learn
• System-preferred authentication | Authentication | Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft Entra | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations]

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

[What and Why]

As of September 1, 2026, automated investigation and response (AIR) will no longer run as a separate investigation experience or be available for manual triggering in Microsoft Defender.

The protection capabilities of AIR are already embedded within Microsoft Defender’s always-on antivirus protection stack today. Detection and response run automatically as part of default protection, without requiring a separate investigation workflow.

This change is part of our ongoing “shift left” effort to lift the onus of protection from customers by automating detection and response processes, helping ensure consistent outcomes across endpoints without reliance on a separate, manually initiated investigation experience.

With this update, the standalone AIR investigation experience is removed. For on-demand investigations, teams can run full antivirus scans as needed.

[Rollout Schedule]

• Transition (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): Beginning and completing in early September 2026

[Impact on Your Organization]

Who is affected

• Admins and security teams using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Microsoft Defender XDR

Platforms/Services

• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint across supported platforms

What will happen

• Manual triggering of automated investigation and response (AIR) will no longer be available.
• AIR will no longer run as a separate investigation experience.
• Detection and response will occur automatically as part of always-on antivirus protection.
• Full antivirus scans replace manual AIR investigations for on-demand analysis.
• Any playbooks, scripts, or integrations that initiate AIR will stop working after September 1, 2026, and must be updated before that date.
• Protection remains enabled by default.

[Action Required / Recommendations]

If you are not using AIR manually or through automation, no action is required to maintain protection.

Action is required for organizations using AIR in playbooks, scripts, or integrations, as these will no longer function after September 1, 2026.

• Review and update any playbooks, scripts, or integrations that initiate AIR before September 1, 2026.
• Replace AIR-based workflows with full antivirus scan workflows for on-demand investigations.
• Update internal documentation that references AIR investigations.
• Inform security and helpdesk teams of this change.

Learn more: 

• Microsoft Defender Antivirus full scan considerations and best practices | Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Microsoft Defender | Microsoft Learn
  
• Overview of automated investigations | Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Microsoft Defender | Microsoft Learn
  

[Compliance considerations]

• Get data quickly by eliminating the need to build and wait for special data flows to export behavioral data from Dataverse to Fabric, and then into Customer Insights – Data.
• Use the behavioral data to refine segments for precise targeting of customers that includes how they responded (or didn’t respond) to previous campaigns.
• Combine Customer Insights – Journeys interaction data with other external data sources to create powerful customer measures for scoring and targeting customers with greater precision.
• Identify customers who weren’t responsive to a campaign and retarget them using external systems like Google and Meta by exporting segments.
• Use unification to identify customers with multiple emails and see how they interact with your brand across different contact points, so you can see the customer and not just the email address.

• Target right audience based on signals from earlier campaigns
• Use Customer Insights – Journeys interaction data in segments and measures (preview)