Microsoft Roadmap, messagecenter and blogs updates from 13-03-2026

Updated March 12, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

Microsoft Teams Events invite emails will be separated based on the role of the participant. Event organizers will get an email explaining the specific roles of participants in the event. Similarly, each presenter will get a separate calendar invite, allowing the organizers of town halls to maintain separate invites for attendees. 

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 476488.

[When this will happen:]

Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out early July 2026 (previously mid-April) and expect to complete by mid-July 2026 (previously late April).

General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out mid-July 2026 (previously late April) and expect to complete by late July 2026 (previously early May).

General Availability (GCC, GCC High): We will begin rolling out late July 2026 (previously late April) and expect to complete by late August 2026 (previously late May).

[How this will affect your organization:]

This feature update allows the organizers of town halls to maintain separate invites for attendees.

[What you need to do to prepare:]

This rollout will happen automatically with no admin action required. You may want to notify your users about this change and update any relevant documentation as appropriate.

Updated March 12, 2026: We have updated the content and timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

[Introduction]

The Researcher Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot empowers users to create rich, detailed reports on any topic they choose whether from work or web content. We are introducing a new output formats in the Researcher Agent that will allow users to export generated reports into infographics. We are also updating the UX for previously existing output formats- Word and Pages.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 546246.

[When this will happen]

General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out in late March 2026 (previously late February) and expect to complete by late April 2026 (previously early April). 

[How this will affect your organization]

This update gives users greater control over their research reports as they will now be able to convert their reports into a new format for easier viewing, use and sharing. This feature is enabled by default and designed to enhance user productivity without requiring admin configuration.

[What you can do to prepare]

• No action is required at this time.
• Admins may wish to inform users of the new output format available in the Researcher Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Updated March 12, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

[Introduction]

We are updating the entry points for Copilot in Word to provide a clearer, more consistent, and more intuitive experience. These changes unify how users access Copilot and introduce Word Agent in the chat pane as the primary Copilot interface. This update improves discoverability, simplifies the user workflow, and creates consistency with other Microsoft 365 apps.

[When this will happen]

General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out in late March 2026 (previously early March) and expect to complete by late April 2026.

General Availability (GCC, GCCH and DoD): We will begin rolling out in October 2026 (previously late March) and expect to complete by late October 2026 (previously late April).

[How this affects your organization]

Who is affected

All users of Microsoft 365 apps for Word on Windows, macOS, and Web.

What will happen

• The existing Copilot entry point in the left margin will be replaced by a consolidated entry point positioned in a consistent corner location.
• Users will see contextual Copilot entry points when selecting content:
  • Windows and Web: inside the selection floatie
  • Mac: in the right‑click context menu
• Word Agent in the right-side chat pane becomes the primary Copilot experience for prompts and responses.
• All Copilot entry points—consolidated and contextual—will connect to Word Agent to ensure a unified experience.
• There is no change to admin configuration, policy behavior, or Copilot availability settings.

[What you can do to prepare]

No action is required.

You may optionally:

• Inform your users about the new Copilot access points and updated experience in Word.
• Update internal help content or training materials if you document Copilot entry points.

[Compliance considerations]

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

Updated March 12, 2026: We have updated the content. Thank you for your patience. 

[Introduction]

Exchange Online includes email‑sending limits based on three factors: recipient rate limit, recipient limit, and message rate limit. To support customers whose internal communication needs exceed these standard limits, we are introducing High Volume Email (HVE) for Microsoft 365. HVE is designed for large‑scale internal communications and integrates with business applications and devices to support operational and mass‑mailing scenarios. It uses a transactional pricing model based on the number of recipients.

HVE is available at no additional cost during Public Preview. Pricing for General Availability (GA) will be announced with the GA release, and billing will begin in June 2026 following a free promotional period after GA in March 2026.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 382633.

[When this will happen]

• Public Preview: Available now.
• General Availability (worldwide): Rollout begins in late March 2026 and is expected to complete early April 2026.

[How this affects your organization]

Who is affected

• Admins managing Exchange Online mail flow and reporting
• Organizations with large-scale internal email distribution needs

What will happen

• A new High Volume Email page will appear under Mail flow in the Exchange admin center.
• Admins can create and manage Mail User accounts enabled for HVE.
• HVE accounts use a dedicated SMTP endpoint for high-volume sending.
• A new High Volume Email report will appear under Reports > Mail flow to help admins monitor HVE usage per account.
• HVE is opt‑in; it does not modify default sending limits or existing mail flow behavior.

Screenshot 1 – Create new HVE specific accounts: 

Screenshot 2 – Manage HVE accounts, including assigned billing policies:

[What you can do to prepare]

No action is required to prepare for this change.

You may want to:

• Review and update any internal documentation that describes email‑sending processes.
• Learn more about setup and configuration: Manage high volume emails for Microsoft 365 Public preview | Mail flow best practices | Exchange Online | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations]

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

Updated March 10, 2026: We have updated the content. Thank you for your patience. 

Introduction

To reduce notification noise and improve signal quality, Microsoft will disable Teams Meeting Recording (TMR) expiration notification emails. Customer feedback indicates these emails generate high volume with minimal engagement. Only the email notifications are being removed; recording expiration and deletion behavior remains unchanged.

When this will happen

June 1, 2026

How this affects your organization

Who is affected:

• All Microsoft 365 tenants
• Users who receive Teams meeting recording expiration emails

What will happen:

• Users will no longer receive email notifications when a Teams meeting recording expires.
• Recording expiration and deletion policies remain unchanged.
• No admin action or policy updates are required.

What you can do to prepare

• No action is required.
• Optionally notify users and helpdesk teams of this change.
• Update internal documentation if it references expiration emails.
• Learn more and reply to our survey: Upcoming change: disabling Teams meeting recording expiration notification emails | Tech Community

Compliance considerations

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

[Introduction]

Microsoft Purview network data security now integrates with Island, extending protection to Island’s browser-based workflows at the point of user interaction. With this integration, new and existing Island customers can configure Microsoft Purview collection and data loss prevention policies to detect and protect data shared with unmanaged cloud apps through the Island Enterprise Browser, the Island Extension, and browser add ins via HTTP and HTTPS, using the same classifiers, sensitive information types, and sensitivity labels used in other Purview policies. Island provides visibility and control at the presentation layer, including typed and pasted input, file transfers, and extension activity, so data can be inspected before it ever leaves the browser.

This integration further enriches Purview Data Security Posture Management (DSPM), Insider Risk Management (IRM) risk score, enables data security and compliance for AI interactions, and more. 

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 558437.

[When this will happen:]

• Public Preview: Rollout will begin in late March 2026 and is expected to complete by late April 2026.
• General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout will begin in late June 2026 and is expected to complete by late July 2026.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

• Organizations using Microsoft Purview
• Customers using or planning to use the Island Enterprise Browser, Island Extension, or supported browser add-ins.
• Microsoft 365 administrators managing Purview collection and DLP policies.

What will happen:

• The Island integration will automatically appear in the Purview DLP Security Store as the feature rolls out.
• The integration is not enabled by default. Administrators must explicitly enable it before it can be used in policies.
• Once enabled, admins can use existing or new Purview collection and DLP policies to inspect and protect data shared through Island-managed browser activity.
• There is no impact to end users unless administrators enable the integration and configure network data security policies in Purview.
• Existing network data security collection and DLP policies will automatically apply if the integration is enabled.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• Confirm that Purview pay-as-you-go is enabled and configured for your tenant, as it is required to use this integration. Learn more: Enable pay-as-you-go billing for Microsoft Purview.
• Review your existing Purview collection and DLP policies to determine where network-based data inspection may be appropriate.
• Inform other data security and compliance administrators in your organization about this upcoming capability.
• After rollout, enable the Island integration from the Purview DLP Security Store when you are ready to use it.

Learn more:

• Microsoft Purview collection policies
• Microsoft Purview data loss prevention
• Microsoft Purview network data security
• Purview Security Store

[Compliance considerations:]

[Introduction]

We’re retiring the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel option from the Office Deployment Service in the Microsoft 365 apps admin center. This retirement supports our ongoing efforts to simplify update channel management for Microsoft 365 Apps and ensure customers benefit from the most secure, up-to-date experience. We will continue to invest in the Monthly Enterprise Channel and Current Channel, which offer more frequent security and feature updates.

[When this will happen]

We will begin retiring this option on April 6, 2026, and expect to complete the retirement by April 11, 2026.

[How this affects your organization]

Who is affected

• Organizations that use the Office Deployment Service or Office Customization Service to create deployment configurations for Microsoft 365 Apps.

What will happen

• The Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel will be removed from the list of available update channel options when creating new deployment configurations.
• Deployment configurations you have already created that use Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel will continue to retain that value when viewed or edited; however, it will not be available as a selectable option for new configurations.
• Only Current Channel and Monthly Enterprise Channel will be available for new configuration creation.
• There is no impact to devices currently configured for Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel.

[What you can do to prepare]

No admin action is required for this retirement. You may choose to:

• Notify relevant admins or deployment teams of this upcoming change.
• Update internal documentation if it references the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel as a selectable option.
• Review your existing configurations in the Office Deployment Service if you plan to transition to a different update channel going forward.
• If desired, use this Microsoft Learn resource to plan channel migration: Change the Microsoft 365 Apps update channel for devices in your organization | Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn.

[Compliance considerations]

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

[Introduction]

Starting in April 2026, Microsoft will retire the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel installation option for unmanaged devices in the Microsoft 365 admin center. We are making this change to streamline installation choices and help organizations move toward more predictable, secure, and up-to-date release channels.

This retirement only affects the installation option for unmanaged devices. It does not change the update channel of any existing unmanaged device already assigned to the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel.

For more details on which devices are affected, review Manage Microsoft 365 installation options in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

[When this will happen]

• Worldwide and GCC: We will begin retiring this option on April 6, 2026, and expect to complete the retirement by April 11, 2026.

[How this affects your organization]

Who is affected

• Admins who manage Microsoft 365 Apps installation options for unmanaged devices through the Microsoft 365 admin center.
• Tenants currently using the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel only for unmanaged installation scenarios.

What will happen

• The Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel installation option will be retired for unmanaged devices starting on April 6, 2026.
• If your tenant currently has this channel selected:
  • Your existing selection will remain but will appear grayed out.
  • If you switch to a different update channel, you cannot reselect the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel for unmanaged installations.
• Existing unmanaged devices configured for this channel will continue to use it until you manually change the update channel.
• Devices managed through Intune, Configuration Manager, Cloud Update, or other management tools are not affected by this retirement.

[What you can do to prepare]

No action is required at this time.

Optionally, you may:

• Review your current installation channel selection for unmanaged devices.
• Evaluate alternative update management approaches, such as Cloud Update, Microsoft Intune, or Configuration Manager.
• Use Microsoft Learn guidance to change the update channel when appropriate: Change the Microsoft 365 Apps update channel for devices in your organization | Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn.

[Compliance considerations]

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

[Introduction]

We’re adding a new soft purge mitigation action in Data Security Investigations (DSI) to help administrators quickly remove sensitive or overshared items during an investigation. Soft purge allows items to be deleted while remaining recoverable until their deleted item retention period expires. This addition builds on DSI’s AI-powered content analysis capabilities—such as categorization, AI search, and risk examination—to help organizations identify and respond to data security risks more efficiently.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 558109.

[When this will happen]

General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout will begin in early April 2026 and is expected to complete by late May 2026.

[How this affects your organization]

Who is affected

• Admins using Data Security Investigations (DSI) in the Microsoft Purview compliance portal

What will happen:

• A new soft purge mitigation action will be available in DSI:

  

• Admins can use soft purge to remove items that match an investigation query while still preserving the ability to recover those items until their retention period expires.
• The feature is enabled by default and requires no configuration.
• Existing Data Loss Prevention (DLP), labeling, and retention policies continue to apply; no policy changes are required.
• This feature does not affect user workflows.
• This capability appears automatically for eligible tenants when the rollout completes.

[What you can do to prepare]

No action is required before rollout.

To prepare, you may want to:

• Review how soft purge works in DSI.
• Update internal documentation for investigation processes, if applicable.
• Inform security teams or admins who use DSI about the new action.

Learn more:

• Learn about Data Security Investigations | Microsoft Purview | Microsoft Learn
• Take mitigation actions in Data Security Investigations | Microsoft Purview | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations]

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

[Introduction]

We are introducing new auto-labeling actions for SharePoint and OneDrive in Microsoft Purview as part of the convergence of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps (MDA) into Purview. These enhancements allow administrators to automatically override manually applied sensitivity labels or remove existing labels at scale when content no longer meets labeling criteria.

This update helps organizations maintain accurate and consistent data classification as policies, label taxonomies, and business requirements evolve—without relying on end users to manually update labels. It also improves governance and control for data at rest across Microsoft 365.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 558342.

[When this will happen:]

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

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

• Microsoft 365 administrators who manage Microsoft Purview Information Protection.
• Organizations using auto-labeling policies for SharePoint and OneDrive.

What will happen:

• Admins can configure new auto-labeling actions in the Microsoft Purview portal.
• Auto-labeling policies can now:
  • Override existing sensitivity labels, including labels applied manually by users.
  • Remove a specific sensitivity label from files that no longer meet policy conditions.
• These actions apply to files at rest in SharePoint Online and OneDrive.
• The feature is not enabled by default and only takes effect when configured by an admin.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• No immediate action is required.
• If you use auto-labeling for SharePoint or OneDrive, review existing policies to understand where labels may be overridden or removed automatically.
• Inform relevant stakeholders that sensitivity labels on existing files may change automatically when these policies are enabled.
• Update internal governance or compliance documentation if you reference sensitivity label behavior.
• Learn more about configuring auto-labeling policies:
  • Microsoft Purview auto-labeling
  • Creating an auto-labeling policy | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations:]

[Introduction]

We’re adding live transcription capabilities to Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android. This update allows room participants to view real-time transcription—including speaker attribution and timestamps—directly on the device. If configured, translated transcripts can also display on the front-of-room screen. This enhancement supports accessibility, hybrid collaboration, and meeting clarity. A Teams Rooms Pro license is required.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 555234.

[When this will happen]

• General Availability (Worldwide and GCCH): Rollout begins in late April 2026 and completes in late May 2026.

[How this affects your organization]

Who is affected

• Organizations using Teams Rooms on Android devices
• Only customers with Teams Rooms Pro licenses will receive this feature

What will happen

• Users can start transcription from the room console via More > Record and transcribe or Transcribe (based on tenant settings).
• When transcription begins, room users will be prompted to confirm the meeting’s spoken language.
• Participants will see a notification that transcription is active, including a link to privacy details at aka.ms/privacy:

   

• Icons will update based on activity:
  • Transcription icon appears when only transcription is running.
  • Recording icon appears when the meeting is being recorded (with or without transcription).
• If translation is enabled, both original and translated transcripts will display on the front-of-room screen (original on top, translation below).
• Devices without a Teams Rooms Pro license will not receive this capability.
• This feature is on by default for licensed devices and respects existing admin policies.

[What you can do to prepare]

No action is required to enable this feature.

Recommended steps:

• Confirm that impacted Teams Rooms on Android devices are assigned Teams Rooms Pro licenses.
• Review your meeting transcription settings in the Teams admin center if you want to allow/block transcription for users and resource accounts.
• Notify helpdesk or support teams as needed.
• Update internal guidance for meeting room usage to reflect new transcription options.

Learn more: Admins- Manage transcription and captions for Teams meetings | Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations]

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

[Introduction]

We are improving how users find their files on the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint app home pages by adding a Search box in the page header. This change helps users locate files more quickly with file suggestions shown as users click or type in the box.

[When this will happen:]

• General Availability (Worldwide, GCC): Rollout began in late December 2025 and is expected to complete by March 2026.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

• Users of the Word (word.cloud.microsoft.com), Excel (excel.cloud.microsoft.com) and PowerPoint (powerpoint.cloud.microsoft.com) app home pages.  

What will happen:

• Users will see a Search box in the page header on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint app home pages.



• Clicking into the search box will show file suggestions in a drop down list.
• File suggestions will update dynamically as users type in the box.
• The feature is enabled by default.
• Existing Microsoft 365 permissions and access controls are respected.
• No admin policy changes are required.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• No action is required.
• Optionally notify users and update internal documentation.

[Compliance considerations:]