Microsoft Roadmap, messagecenter and blogs updates from 17-10-2025

Updated October 16, 2025: We have updated the timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

In new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web, the hover actions in the message list will be moved to the Sender/From column to be more space-efficient and minimize unnecessary mouse travel for users with their Reading Pane set to Hide or Bottom. The large width occupied by the DateTime Received column will thus be reduced. For all users, a one-time shortcut to change/set your hover actions will be provided. After the changes to the hover actions, the first action will be replaced by a quick button (gear button) to change/set your hover actions. After that button has been triggered once, it will disappear, and your hover action settings will kick in fully.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 429868.

[When this will happen:]

Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out mid-July 2025 (previously late June) and expect to complete by mid-August 2025 (previously late July).

General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): We will begin rolling out mid-September 2025 (previously late July) and expect to complete by early November 2025 (previously late September).

[How this will affect your organization:]

For new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web, hover actions in the message list will be moved to the Sender/From column to reduce the large width occupied by the DateTime Received column.

[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.

#newoutlookforwindows

Updated October 16, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

We’re introducing Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) in Microsoft Places to help IT administrators securely delegate management responsibilities to centralized Places administrators or local stakeholders such as building or desk managers. This update enhances operational efficiency and aligns access with real-world roles.

This change is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 488103

[When this will happen:]

General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout is expected to begin in September 2025 (previously August) and is expected to complete in mid-October 2025 (previously September).

[How this will affect your organization:]

With this update, Microsoft Places will support RBAC through Exchange Online and Microsoft Entra. This enables:

• Places administrator role (available in Entra): A centralized IT role responsible for onboarding, enabling/disabling features, and assigning local admin roles.
• Building administrators: Can manage one or more buildings and associated spaces (floors, sections, rooms, desks, workspaces).
• Desk administrators: Can manage desks within specific building sections, including desk modes, metadata, and assignments.

Building and desk administrator roles are managed via the Exchange admin center. This change decentralizes Places management, reduces IT overhead, and ensures only authorized users manage specific resources.

[What you can do to prepare:]

If your organization is using or planning to onboard to Microsoft Places, review the updated documentation (to be published at rollout) and plan for role assignments to support onboarding and daily operations.

[Compliance considerations:]

• Does the change alter how existing customer data is processed, stored, or accessed? Maybe – access to room and desk metadata is delegated, but no change to data storage.

1. Go to the Copilot Service workspace > Workspaces > Experience profiles
1. Select an editable experience profile (no lock symbol)
2. Scroll down to configuration
3. There are two situations that may be encountered due to delayed uptake of solutions:
1. Intent-based suggestions shows false.
1. Simply enable and save, the feature will become available on CSW refresh.
2. Intent-based suggestions shows true but is not showing up in the AICopilot pane of the CSW page.
1. Toggle the feature to off, then toggle it back on to “On”.
2. Feature will now display again in the AICopilotPane.

[Introduction]

We are introducing two new Microsoft Graph APIs that enable admins to programmatically access and manage agents and apps within their organization. These APIs provide greater flexibility for reporting and integration scenarios without relying on manual UI workflows.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 502875.

[When this will happen:]

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

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected: Admins managing Copilot agents and apps within Microsoft 365 environments.

What will happen:

• New Graph API endpoints will be available:
  • GET graph.microsoft.com/copilot/admin/catalog/packages – Retrieves a complete inventory of all agents and apps (Microsoft, External, Shared, and Custom).
  • GET graph.microsoft.com/copilot/admin/catalog/packages/{id} – Fetches detailed metadata for a specific agent or app, including properties and manifest details.

• These APIs allow for automated reporting and integration workflows.
• No changes to existing UI workflows or admin policies.
• These Graph API endpoints are available to users with an existing Microsoft 365 license; no additional license or add-on is required.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• Review the Microsoft Graph API documentation to familiarize yourself with usage and capabilities at this time.

[Compliance considerations:]

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

[Introduction]

To streamline the process of drafting emails from Copilot prompts, we’re introducing an Edit in Outlook button. When a user’s prompt indicates a strong intent to draft an email (such as “Draft an email to my team thanking them for their hard work on Project K”), the button will appear. Clicking it will open Outlook with a pre-populated draft email, including subject and body fields.

This feature is available to all users licensed with Microsoft 365 Copilot, with no need for additional licenses or add-ons.

It works across a broad range of platforms, including Windows Desktop, Mobile, Mac, Web, Teams and Surface Devices, and Linux.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 494510.

[When this will happen:]

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

MSIT Deployment: Began in late September 2025.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected: All users of Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat integrated with Outlook.

What will happen:

• Users will see an Edit in Outlook button when Copilot detects email drafting intent:

 

• Clicking the button opens Outlook with a draft email pre-filled with subject and body.
• No changes to existing admin policies or configurations.
• Feature is enabled by default.
• No additional licensing or add-on is required.
• Supported platforms include:
  • Desktop
  • Developer
  • Linux
  • Mac
  • Teams and Surface Devices
  • Web

[What you can do to prepare:] 

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

• Communicate this change to helpdesk staff.
• Update internal documentation if you detail this feature.

Learn more: What’s new in Microsoft 365 Copilot | September 2025 | Microsoft Community Hub

[Compliance considerations:]

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

[Introduction]

Reminder: Support for the mobile Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint) ended on October 14, 2025. No further updates, security fixes, or technical support will be available for these applications.

We communicated this retirement in MC921113 Support for the Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and PowerPoint Mobile UWP applications will end on October 14, 2025 (published October 2024).

[When this will happen:]

This retirement occurred on October 14, 2025.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

Organizations with users running Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, or PowerPoint Mobile on Windows-based devices.

What will happen:

If Microsoft Windows-based devices within your organization are running Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, or PowerPoint Mobile, we recommend that the applications be removed. While they may continue to function, using unsupported software could lead to potential security risks and other issues.

If you’re using Microsoft Intune, you can run a report to identify devices running these applications. In the Microsoft Intune admin center, go to All services > Apps | Monitor > Discovered apps and search for "office.word", “office.excel”, or “office.powerpoint”. The application version will start with "16001.14326.xxxxx.x".

[What you can do to prepare:]

To mitigate these risks and ensure your organization remains secure and compliant, we recommend removing these three UWP applications and switching to alternatives:

• Microsoft 365 Copilot app for Windows, iOS, or Android devices.
• Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on the web.
• Windows desktop versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in a Microsoft 365 plan. Compare Microsoft 365 Enterprise Plans.

Learn more about the end of support for the OneNote UWP application (OneNote for Windows 10): Moving to OneNote on Windows – Microsoft Support.

[Compliance considerations:]

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

[Introduction]

We’re introducing a new pay-as-you-go feature usage report in Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management. This report provides detailed insights into billed processing unit usage across data source categories and activity indicators. It’s designed to help Insider Risk Management (IRM) admins improve budget planning, identify cost-saving opportunities, and fine-tune policy configurations.

This message is associated with Roadmap ID 511816.

[When this will happen:]

• Public Preview (Worldwide): Begins mid-November 2025 and completes by mid-November 2025.
• General Availability (Worldwide): Begins mid-February 2026 and completes by mid-February 2026.

[How this affects your organization:]

• Who is affected: Admins managing Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management in tenants using pay-as-you-go billing.
• What will happen:
  • A new report will be available in the Reports section of Insider Risk Management.
  • The report provides a granular breakdown of billed processing unit usage by data source and activity indicator.
  • Admins can use this report to identify high-cost areas and optimize policy configurations.
  • The report is available by default; no configuration is required to enable it.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• No action is required to enable the report.
• To access the report go to the Reports section in Insider Risk Management.
• Learn more: Use reports in Insider Risk Management

[Compliance considerations:]

[Introduction]

This message is associated with Roadmap ID 510105.

[When this will happen:]

[How this affects your organization:]

• Who is affected: Organizations with 13–17 year-old users (e.g., students) who have Microsoft 365 Copilot plans and Entra ID accounts.
• What will happen:
  • Copilot Notebooks will become available to eligible 13–17 year-old users.
  • The feature will be accessible in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app and OneNote app across Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and Android.
  • By default, the feature will be ON for all eligible users.
  • Existing admin policies will continue to apply.
  • Admins can restrict access using Cloud Policy.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• Review and configure your organization’s Cloud Policy settings to manage access for younger users: Configure Copilot Notebooks access.
• Communicate this change to helpdesk and education support staff.
• Update internal documentation if you include guidance on Copilot Notebooks.

[Compliance considerations:]

[Introduction:]

To support deeper analysis of Copilot adoption, Microsoft is introducing a new export capability in the Copilot Dashboard. This feature allows dashboard users with company-level access to download de-identified Copilot usage metrics, aggregated by user and week, from the past six months. Organizations can use this data to track adoption trends, optimize licensing, and support AI transformation strategies.

This feature requires at least 50 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses and applies to the Viva Insights web app.

[When this will happen:]

• Public Preview: Begins in late November 2025, completes by late December 2025.
• General Availability (Worldwide): Begins in early February 2026, completes by late February 2026.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

Copilot Dashboard users with full company-level data access, including senior leaders (as identified in Entra ID), admin-assigned company-level users, delegates with company-level access, as well as global analysts and admins. 

Note: Group managers with data access limited to their own teams will not have access to this feature.

What will happen:

• Users will be able to export de-identified, row-level Copilot usage metrics from the dashboard.
• The dataset includes weekly, user-level metrics from the past six months.
• The export supports Copilot usage analysis across apps (such as Word, Excel, Teams), and includes two attributes: Organization, and Job function.
• Organizations can use the data to track usage patterns, generate insights to inform adoption strategies, optimize licensing, and measure ROI.
• The feature is enabled by default for eligible users.
• Admins can manage access via Viva Feature Access Management (VFAM) settings, under Module: Viva Insights; Feature: Copilot Metrics Export.
• No impact to user workflow unless accessed by eligible users.

Screenshot 1 – View of the new Microsoft Copilot dashboard: 

Screenshot 2 – Example of output: 

[What you can do to prepare:]

• Review the assignment of the Copilot dashboard users with full company-wide data access and adjust VFAM policies as needed.
• Communicate the upcoming feature to eligible users so they know what to expect.
• No admin setup is required to start using the export.
• Admins can disable the feature at the tenant or group level at any time using VFAM settings.

Learn more: 

Microsoft Viva Feature access management | Microsoft Learn

Connect to the Microsoft Copilot Dashboard for Microsoft 365 customers | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations:]

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

[Introduction]

We’re launching a new Viva Insights experience focused solely on Microsoft Copilot and AI agent analytics in the Copilot Analytics Viva Insights web app. By default, Behavioral insights will be disabled for all new customers, and existing customers who haven’t previously accessed them. Behavioral insights do not measure Copilot or AI agent usage but provide a deeper understanding of how an organization gets work done such as focus, learning, network, collaboration, and meetings etc. The AI or Viva Insights (VI) admin can enable Behavioral insights via Viva Feature Access Management (VFAM) User Experience or PowerShell. More details about what’s included in Behavioral insights are provided in the table below.

[When this will happen:]

• Mid-October 2025: VFAM policy and PowerShell cmdlet available to all customers.
• Mid-November 2025: Experience changes begin rolling out to all customers.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected: All Copilot Analytics – Viva insights customers

What will happen:

• For existing Viva Insights web app users prior to October 15th, 2025: Behavioral insights will be disabled if one of the following criteria is met. For others, there will be no change.
  • No Analyst assigned since May 2025 and no reports or queries were ever created or published by analyst on Advanced Insights.
• For new customers post October 15th, 2025: Behavioral insights will be disabled by default.
• There may be slight delay between the availability of the VFAM control and the disable policy being set. 
• For all customers, this change will begin to have an impact on the experience in mid-November 2025. Until then, the AI or VI admin can enable or disable Behavioral insights as needed. When experience changes roll out in mid-November 2025, updates to the policy will be honored. 
• Note: This change does not impact data sent to Insights from Viva Skills, Learning, Glint, Organizational data in Microsoft 365. To leverage Insights from these data sets, an Analyst must be assigned in Viva Insights.
• The AI Admin or VI Admin can enable or disable behavioral insights at any time at the tenant level using the Behavioral insights policy in VFAM UX or using PowerShell:
• The following table details what’s visible and to whom, when behavioral data is enabled and disabled.   

[What you can do to prepare:]

• Review your privacy and compliance requirements to determine if behavioral insights should be enabled for your organization.
• Use the available VFAM control to enable behavioral insights if that is needed for your organization. 
• Inform your admins, analysts, and leaders about the new control and its impact on available reports and metrics. 
• Update internal documentation and training materials to reflect the new Copilot-only experience if Behavioral insights is turned off. 

[Compliance considerations]

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• The case owner will be updated.
• The WorkedBy field will be set to the assigned representative.
• The representative capacity will be consumed.
• The representative presence will be updated to reflect the new assignment.
• All downstream routing rules and policies are honored.

• Prompt the supervisor with a confirmation dialog.
• Allow them to proceed or cancel the assignment.