Microsoft Roadmap, messagecenter and blogs updates from 31-01-2026

Updated January 30, 2026: Updated January 30, 2026: No new updates on this feature rollout yet. We expect to share a status update by the end of March. In the meantime, we have updated the Conditional Access Policy and Office Deployment documentation with a note that Conditional Access Policies may block Microsoft 365 self-installs.

The My account portal will be replaced by a new modal dialog within the Microsoft 365 Copilot app (formerly Office.com) on web and desktop. The new modal will support end user self-installs that are currently available on the My account portal (Office, Project, Visio, and Skype for Business).

[When this will happen:]

Targeted Release: We will communicate via Message center when we are ready to proceed.

General Availability (Worldwide): We will communicate via Message center when we are ready to proceed.

[How this will affect your organization:]

End users will be able to download their apps by accessing the modal dialog in Apps > Install apps > Install Microsoft 365 apps in the Microsoft 365 Copilot web and desktop app. 

[What you need to do to prepare:]

If you allow users to self-install apps:

• Please remove direct links to the My account portal (https://portal.office.com/account) in your self-install communications. Instead, please refer your users to the official Microsoft documentation for installing Office (Download, install or reinstall Microsoft 365 or Office 2024 on PC or Mac). This article will be updated to describe the new self-installs experience when it is released.

If you do not allow users to install apps:

• You can continue to use the Microsoft 365 admin center installation options setting or the m365AppsInstallationOptions API to block self-installs. If you already configured these settings, users will still be blocked from installing apps in the new experience.

Blocking Microsoft Admin Portals using Conditional Access Policies will no longer block self-installs. If you have used this setting to block self-installations, you will need to use one of the settings listed above instead.

Updated January 30, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

Introduction

We’re introducing a new Workflows experience in Microsoft Teams that is rebuilt from the ground up based on feedback. 

The Workflows app helps you automate repetitive tasks and streamline everyday processes across Teams and Microsoft 365. Whether you’re scheduling messages, managing approvals, syncing updates across apps, or triggering actions from chat messages, Workflows makes it easy to build automations in just a few clicks. It’s powered by Power Automate and designed to help you stay focused on what matters most.

This new version addresses previous concerns around complexity and performance, delivering a faster, more intuitive, and streamlined interface. With the updated experience, users can now create powerful automations in three steps or fewer.

This release is part of our broader effort to make automation more accessible and impactful for every information worker. Whether you’re new to automation or a seasoned pro, the new Workflows app is designed to meet you where you work—and help you get more done with less effort. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 491632.

When this will happen

• Public Preview & Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out in September 2025.
• General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out in late February 2026 (previously late January).

How this affects your organization

The new Workflows experience is designed to reduce complexity and improve usability. It introduces:

• A streamlined, performant user interface that works across Teams chats, channels, and SharePoint lists and libraries.
• A redesigned template library for faster discovery of common workflows.
• Natural language-to-flow capabilities that allow users to describe what they want to automate.
• A Madlib-style editor that simplifies customization using plain language and dynamic placeholders.

Under the hood, the new Workflows experience is still powered by Power Automate—so you get the same enterprise-grade reliability, security, and extensibility you trust. This update does not impact existing workflows or internal compliance processes. The feature will be on by default and requires no admin configuration.

i. Workflows v2 Home Page Experience:

ii. Workflows v2 Template Catalog Experience:

What you can do to prepare

No admin action is required at this time, but you can:

• Inform users about the upcoming changes to the Workflows experience in Teams and SharePoint.
• Reassure users that existing workflows and policies will remain unaffected.

Learn more:

• Browse and add workflows in Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Support – will be updated before WW rollout
• Add or run a workflow from a message in Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Support – will be updated before WW rollout
• Add or run a workflow from the messaging area in Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Support – will be updated before WW rollout
• Add or run a workflow in chats, chat messages, channels, and channel posts in Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Support – will be updated before WW rollout
• Creating a workflow from a chat in Teams – Microsoft Support – will be updated before WW rollout

Compliance considerations

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

Updated January 30, 2026: We have updated the content. Thank you for your patience.

Introduction

Coming soon to Microsoft Teams: a new control for users to turn off Microsoft Copilot when it is active in a meeting. This control will also turn off recording, transcript, and Facilitator if they are active. Copilot will not have access to what was said in the meeting while it was turned off.  After the meeting ends, Copilot will have access to any recordings or transcripts created while it was active.

• Targeted Release: Rollout complete and available to limited tenants only.
• General Availability: An updated and improved version of this capability will be released as part of roadmap item 501107 – see MC1156360 for more details.

How this affects your organization:

This feature will be available to users by default.

After rollout, users can turn off Copilot during a meeting using the following methods:

• Teams for desktop and web: Select the Copilot icon at the top of the screen to open Copilot, then select Turn off for everyone from the More options (three-dot) menu in the top-right corner of the Copilot panel.
• Teams for iOS/Android: Tap the meeting screen, tap the Copilot icon at the top, then tap the gear icon on the Copilot sheet.

• No admin action is required.
• We recommend reviewing your current meeting configurations and notifying users about this change.
• Update any relevant training materials or documentation to reflect the new Copilot controls.

Compliance considerations

Updated January 30, 2026: We have updated the content. Thank you for your patience. 

We’re excited to announce that we are making Copilot Chat available as a side-by-side experience in Teams. This will help users access the power of M365 and Web data in addition to current capabilities of Copilot in Chats, Channels, Calling, and Meeting. On Teams desktop (Windows and Mac) and web, users can open Copilot Chat from the Copilot icon located on the top right corner in these surfaces. Copilot Chat will be available in Teams for users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. 

This change is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 501107

Screenshot: Copilot Chat in Teams (Windows desktop) for users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. UI elements subject to change. 

[When this will happen:]

Chats, Channels, and Post Meeting + Calling Recaps:

• Public Preview: Rollout of this change starts in early October and completes in the weeks following.
• General Availability: Rollout of this change starts mid-November and completes in the weeks following.

In-Meeting and in-Calls:

• Public Preview: Rollout of this change starts in early December and completes in the weeks following.
• General Availability: Rollout of this change starts mid-January and completes in the weeks following. 

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected: Users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license using Teams on Windows desktop, Mac desktop, or web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari).

What will happen:

• You can now create new Copilot Chat sessions or access other sessions within any conversation window. When you reopen Copilot Chat, it will always default back to the latest used session that was within the conversation window.
• Upon completion of the migration, all prior Copilot history will not be migrated into the new Copilot Chat experience. However, you can still access prior history by clicking on the More Options menu (…) located on the top right corner of your conversation window. An entry point to access history will be available within the More Options menu (…) of channel thread summaries as well. Within the menu, you find and select the View Copilot history option to access prior history.
• In-Meeting: A new in‑meeting control lets users stop Teams from processing spoken audio during a meeting. When this control is on, Teams stops processing spoken audio — including transcription and recording — and Copilot will not use or reference anything said during this time. If Facilitator is active, it will also be turned off. Users will also be prevented from restarting recording, transcription, or Facilitator while this control is in effect.
• After the meeting: Copilot and Facilitator will only have access to recordings or transcripts from periods when audio processing was active.

Supported Platforms

Web 

• Chrome 
• Edge 
• Firefox 
• Safari 

Desktop 

• Windows 
• Mac 

[What you can do to prepare:]

No admin action is required. However, you may choose to update internal documentation that shows Copilot in Teams with updated screenshots and capabilities.

[Compliance considerations:]

Updated January 30 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

Introduction

We’re introducing support for Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels in OneNote. This update enables users to manually classify and protect OneNote sections using the same compliance standards available across Microsoft 365 apps. Labels can be applied to each OneNote Section, helping ensure sensitive content is encrypted, access-controlled, and aligned with organizational policies. This change supports consistent data protection across platforms and endpoints.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 500020.

When this will happen

General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCCH, and DoD): We expect to complete the rollout by late February 2026 (previously late January).

How this affects your organization

This update enhances data protection and compliance capabilities by introducing sensitivity labeling to OneNote sections. Admins will gain greater control over how sensitive information is handled within OneNote, aligning it with other Microsoft 365 apps. This is particularly beneficial for organizations in regulated industries, helping mitigate risk and enforce compliance policies across endpoints.

Who is affected:

All users of supported OneNote clients across platforms, including organizations in regulated industries and those with compliance requirements.

What will happen:

• Sensitivity labels will be available in supported OneNote clients:
  • OneNote Win32 (Desktop)
  • OneNote for Web
  • OneNote for iOS
  • OneNote for Android
  • OneNote for Mac
• OneNote for Windows 10 (UWP) will not support this feature.
• Users will be able to manually apply sensitivity labels directly to OneNote sections.
• Labeled sections will be encrypted and access-controlled based on organizational policies.
• Admins can enforce labeling policies and monitor usage via Microsoft Purview.
• Label policies can be scoped using Entra ID group membership.
• Manual Labeling capability will be supported with this rollout. Other Sensitivity Label capabilities such as auto labeling, mandatory labels, default labeling and user defined permissions (UDP) labels will be rolled out at a future date.

What you can do to prepare

To prepare for this rollout:

• Ensure endpoints are using supported OneNote clients: Win32, Web, iOS, Android, and Mac.
• Transition away from OneNote for Windows 10 (UWP), which will not support sensitivity labels.
• No additional setup is required beyond maintaining updated builds.
• Admins may want to validate readiness and communicate expected changes to users.
• Review and update internal documentation to reflect supported platforms.

Learn more: Learn about sensitivity labels | Microsoft Purview | Microsoft Learn

Compliance considerations

Updated January 30, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

[Introduction]

We’re improving the panel which shows your Activity in other accounts and orgs in Microsoft Teams to streamline how users triage and respond to cross‑tenant activity. This update reduces the need to switch tenants, helping users stay in context and collaborate more efficiently across organizations.

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

[When this will happen:]

• Targeted Release: Begins rolling out November 16, 2025; expected to complete by November 20, 2025.
• General Availability (Worldwide): Begins rolling out mid-March 2026 (previously late January); expected to complete by late March 2026 (previously late February).
• General Availability (GCC, GCC High): Begins rolling out mid-March 2026 (previously early February); expected to complete by late March 2026 (previously late February).
• General Availability (DoD): Begins rolling out late March 2026 (previously mid-February); expected to complete by mid-April 2026 (previously mid-March).

[How this affects your organization:]

• Who is affected: All Microsoft Teams users with multi‑tenant, multi‑account configurations.
• What will happen:
  • Users gain an improved centralized panel for viewing cross‑organization and cross-account activity notifications, eliminating the need to manually switch organizations or accounts to check notification and activity details. This improves responsiveness and reduces context switching.
  • The entry point for the panel that shows Activity in other accounts and orgs will move from the top-right corner to the bottom-left sidebar in Teams. The entry point icon will appear only when you have more than one account or tenant available to you. 

  

  • The entry point icon will display a count of total missed cross‑org and cross‑account activity notifications.
  • Selecting the icon will open a panel which will show missed activity notifications across all orgs and accounts, grouped by each tenant. If there is no missed activity in a tenant, it will not appear in the panel.
  • Selecting an activity inside the panel opens it in a child window, preserving the context in the main window.
  • Users can pin up to 3 tenants to the sidebar to stay updated. Pinned tenants remain in the sidebar even if there is no missed activity.
  • Selecting a pinned tenant shows a panel with missed activity notifications from that tenant only. Notifications from pinned tenants do not appear in the main panel for activity in other accounts and orgs.

  

  • The feature is enabled by default for tenants where multi‑tenant or multi-accounts are supported and available.
  • No admin configuration is required, the updated panel respects existing tenant and account policies.

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

[What you can do to prepare:]

• Communicate this change to users, including the new location of the Activity in other accounts and orgs panel and the ability to pin tenants to the sidebar.
• Monitor adoption and gather feedback for future iterations.
• No admin action is required for rollout.

Known issue: Cross-cloud notifications do not appear in the Activity in other accounts and orgs panel at this time. This capability is actively being worked on and is expected to be available by the end of November 2025.

[Compliance considerations:]

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

Updated January 30, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

Copilot is making it easier to manage scheduling conflicts by automatically rescheduling 1:1 meetings and personal events. Within the meeting event form, users can indicate which events are more flexible and allow Copilot to reschedule them if conflicts arise. Users can also set preferences for when rescheduled events should occur. Copilot will detect double-bookings and automatically move these flexible events to a better time—saving users time and reducing manual coordination.

A Microsoft Copilot license is required to utilize this functionality.

[When this will happen:]

Targeted Release: Rollout begins mid-February 2026 (previously mid-November 2025) and expected to complete by end of February 2026 (previously mid-January).

[How this affects your organization:]

Copilot users will gain the ability to automatically resolve scheduling conflicts for 1:1 meetings and personal events. This feature is especially useful for users with recurring 1:1 series that do not need to occur at a specific time each week, helping automatically reschedule those meetings if a conflict arises. The feature is available for Copilot-licensed users and can be enabled through the meeting form.

Main form with new toggle control for automatic rescheduling:

Users can specify their rescheduling preferences (if not set, Copilot will pick intelligent defaults):

This post will be updated with a link to the support article once published.

[What you can do to prepare:]

No admin action is required. However, you may want to:

• Inform users about this new capability and how to set their rescheduling preferences in the meeting form.
• Review any internal guidance on calendar management or Copilot usage to ensure alignment.

[Compliance considerations:]

• Does the change alter how existing customer data is processed, stored, or accessed? Yes – Calendar data is used to identify and reschedule events.
• Does the change introduce or significantly modify AI/ML or agent capabilities that interact with or provide access to customer data? Yes – Copilot uses AI to analyze and reschedule events.
• Does the change provide end users any new way of interacting with generative AI? Yes – Users interact with Copilot to manage scheduling.

Updated January 30, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

[Introduction]

We’re introducing automatic installation and updates for the Network Device Interface (NDI) in Microsoft Teams on macOS devices. NDI allows organizations to broadcast audio and video streams from Teams meetings to local networks, enabling advanced production scenarios such as live streaming or integrating with professional video systems. This enhancement eliminates manual steps, making it easier to use NDI in Teams.

[When this will happen:]

General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCCH, DoD): Rollout will begin early January 2026 and is expected to complete by mid-February 2026 (previously mid-January).

[How this affects your organization:]

• Who is affected: All Microsoft Teams users on macOS devices.
• What will happen:
  • NDI binaries will now install and update automatically on macOS devices.
  • No manual intervention is required for setup or updates.
  • This feature is enabled by default and respects existing Teams policies.
  • Users can broadcast audio and video streams from Teams to their local network without additional configuration.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• No action is required from admins or users.

[Compliance considerations:]

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

Updated January 30, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

Copilot readiness in the Microsoft 365 admin center provides a centralized experience for applying Microsoft’s recommended settings, policies, and actions for Copilot. It organizes these into predefined packages so admins can quickly deploy Copilot securely and confidently.

To support IT admins in navigating the fast-paced AI landscape, Microsoft is introducing Copilot Readiness Packages in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. These packages offer a centralized experience to discover Microsoft’s recommended admin presets, grouped by key administrative outcomes. Each package includes a personalized readiness assessment, contextual insights, and step-by-step guidance—helping admins deploy Copilot securely, confidently, and efficiently.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 526793.

[When this will happen]

• Targeted Release: Begins mid-February 2026 (previously mid-December 2025); completes mid-February 2026 (previously mid-January).
• General Availability (Worldwide): Begins mid-March 2026 (previously mid-January); completes by end of March 2026 (previously late February).

[How this affects your organization]

Who is affected: Admins managing Microsoft 365 tenants with Copilot capabilities. What will happen:

• A new Readiness pivot will appear under Copilot > Settings in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
• Admins will see grouped configuration sets aligned to key administrative outcomes.
• Each package includes Microsoft’s recommended presets, a personalized readiness assessment, and contextual insights.
• No changes will be made automatically; admins can review and apply configurations as needed.
• The experience is designed to reduce setup complexity and improve governance and security alignment.
• No Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required to use this feature. Admins can configure both Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot settings without needing a license.

[What you can do to prepare]

No special preparation is required. To get the most out of the experience, admins should:

• Visit the Microsoft 365 admin center and navigate to Copilot > Settings > Readiness
• Review the suggested presets and readiness assessments
• Follow the provided guidance to complete any missing actions or policy updates
• Share feedback directly in the admin center to help improve clarity and completeness

[Compliance considerations]

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

Updated January 29, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

With this release, users can discover and add SharePoint agents directly within Microsoft Teams chats on Desktop and Mac. Agents can be added via the Add Agents and Bots option in the chat roster dropdown, which opens the in-context store for discovery and selection. This enables users to quickly bring SharePoint agents into conversations to support collaboration.

Additionally, SharePoint agents are available in the Teams Store under the Agents category, making them easier to find and deploy across Teams experiences.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 515465.

[When this will happen]

• Targeted Release: Rolling out in early March 2026 (previously January) and expected to complete in early March 2026 (previously January).
• General Availability: Rolling out in mid-March 2026 (previously January) and expected to complete by end of March 2026 (previously January).

[How this affects your organization]

• Who is affected: All users of Microsoft Teams on Desktop and Mac.
• What will happen:
  • Users will be able to discover and add SharePoint agents from the in-context store in Teams chats.
  • SharePoint agents will be available in the Teams Store under the Agents category.
  • Agents can be added via the Add Agents and Bots option in the chat roster dropdown.
  • No admin action is required; the feature is enabled by default.
  • Existing policies are respected; no changes to admin controls are needed.

[What you can do to prepare]

• Ensure that intended users have E3 or E5 (with Teams) licensing, and one of the following options: 
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot license OR
  • Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) separately setup for SharePoint agents on MAC.

• Inform helpdesk staff in case users have questions about accessing or using SharePoint agents.
• Share this update with users to highlight new collaboration opportunities.
• Update internal documentation if you maintain guidance on Teams agents or bots.

Learn more: Share an agent from SharePoint in Teams | Microsoft Support

[Compliance considerations]

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

Updated January 30, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

[Introduction]

As AI agents become deeply embedded in enterprise ecosystems, they are evolving beyond simple tools or workflows into an autonomous digital workforce. These agents can interpret user intent, access and manipulate enterprise data, execute actions on behalf of users, and even make real-time decisions. In many ways, they operate like human insiders only with machine-speed data processing capabilities.

To govern and protect these agents effectively, organizations require visibility into their activities, contextual understanding of their actions, and the ability to flag or block risky behavior. Now, Insider Risk Management can be extended to detect and remediate potentially risky agent activities.

Features:

• Copilot Studio & Azure AI Foundry Integration: Detect potentially risky activities of agents hosted on Copilot Studio, Azure AI Foundry, and Agent 365 platforms
• Risky AI Usage Policies: Define and enforce policies specific to AI agents accessing sensitive data or performing high-risk actions.
• IRM for Agent Users: Extend IRM in Purview to govern agent-driven workflows and protect organizational data.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 516032.

[When this will happen:]

• Public Preview: We will begin rolling out early December 2025 and expect to complete by mid-January 2026.
• General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out late March 2026 (previously early December) and expect to complete by late April 2026 (previously late December).

[How this affects your organization:]

On the Overview page in the Insider Risk Management solution, you will be able to access the overall risk profile of agents deployed in your organization.

The Risky Agents policy will be automatically deployed for all agents hosted on Copilot Studio and Azure AI Foundry across your organization. Alerts from this policy will be generated when an agent’s activity exceeds the thresholds configured in this automatically deployed Risky Agents policy. These alerts can be found under Agents > Alerts on the left pane.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• Review the public facing documentation to learn more about this exciting new offering: Learn about Insider Risk Management policy templates | Microsoft Learn
• Review the new Insider Risk Management interface in the Microsoft Purview portal, which now includes separate sections for Users and Agents.
• Review and tune the Risky Agents policy based on your organization’s requirements.
• If you don’t wish to track agent activities, you can delete the automatically deployed Risky Agents policy. 

Learn more:

• Help dynamically mitigate risks with Adaptive Protection | Microsoft Learn
• Create and manage Insider Risk Management policies | Microsoft Learn
• Learn about Insider Risk Management policy templates | Microsoft Learn

Updated January 30, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

[Introduction]

We’re excited to announce the rollout of a new built-in role-based access control (RBAC) role in the Microsoft Teams admin center called Teams External Collaboration Administrator. This role provides targeted administrative capabilities for managing external collaboration settings (Federation) in Teams, enabling organizations to delegate responsibilities securely without granting full Teams admin permissions.

[When this will happen:]

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

[How this will affect your organization:]

• Who is affected: Admins who manage external collaboration settings in Microsoft Teams.
• What will happen:
  • A new RBAC role, Teams External Collaboration Administrator, will be available.
  • Key capabilities include:
    • Manage external access settings for federated domains.
    • Manage External Access Policies to allow or disallow external domains.
  • Role limitations:
    • No access to the Teams admin center portal; management is only through PowerShell.
    • Assignment to Administrative Units is not supported.
  • Global admins can assign or unassign this new RBAC role from the Microsoft Entra admin center or Microsoft 365 admin center.

[What you need to do to prepare:]

This rollout will happen automatically by the specified dates with no admin action required before the rollout.
To prepare:

• Notify your Global admins about the availability of this new role.
• Update internal documentation and training materials to reflect the new role and its capabilities.
• Learn more:
  • Use Microsoft Teams administrator roles to manage Teams – Microsoft Learn
  • Microsoft Entra built-in roles – Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations:]

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

[Introduction]

We’re updating the feedback experience in Microsoft Planner to align with the broader Microsoft 365 feedback policy model. When the Allow users to include screenshots when they submit feedback policy is set to Not Configured, Planner will treat it the same as Enabled. This ensures consistent behavior across Microsoft 365 and gives users clearer, more predictable feedback options.

[When this will happen:]

General Availability: Rollout will begin in early February 2026 and complete by mid-February 2026.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

• Organizations using Microsoft Planner with Microsoft 365 in-product feedback not configured.
• Admins managing feedback policies in the Microsoft 365 Apps Admin Center or via Group Policy.

What will happen:

• When the feedback policy is Enabled or Not Configured, users will be able to include screenshots and file attachments in their in-product feedback.
• Explicitly Disabled policies will continue to block attachments.
• No changes will be made to other feedback functionality.
• No admin action is required for this update.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• To configure these policy settings, use the Cloud Policy service for Microsoft 365. For more information, refer to Overview of Cloud Policy service for Microsoft 365 and search for feedback or survey within Cloud Policy UI to find the policy settings to configure them.
• No action is required.
• If you want to prevent screenshot or file uploads, explicitly set the related feedback policy to Disabled.

Learn more: Manage Microsoft feedback for your organization | Microsoft Learn

[Compliance considerations:]

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

[Introduction]

Action might be required to avoid service disruption. To maintain secure and uninterrupted mail flow with Exchange Online, organizations must ensure their servers and clients trust the DigiCert Global Root G2 Certificate Authority (CA) and its subordinate CAs. 

Organizations that rely on custom certificate trust stores, disabled Windows CTL updates, or older runtime environments might be impacted and may need to update their trusted certificate chains.

[When this will happen:]

Organizations must complete required certificate trust updates before April 30, 2026.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

This change applies to all organizations (Worldwide, GCC, GCC‑High, DoD) that:

• Send or receive email with Exchange Online and
• Either:
• Your organization has disabled the Windows CTL Updater feature that by default downloads the Certificate Trust List (CTL).
  • The CTL contains trusted and untrusted root certificates. Learn more: Certificates and trust in Windows.
  • This scenario may apply if your organization maintains its own set of trusted Root and Intermediate Certificates via Group Policy or via a redirected Microsoft Automatic Update URL. Learn more: Configure trusted roots and disallowed certificates in Windows.
  • You can determine whether the Windows CTL Updater feature is disabled by reviewing the Who needs to take action section of this Microsoft guidance: Trust DigiCert Global Root G2 Certificate Authority to Avoid Exchange Online Email Disruption.
• You use older or custom application environments such as:
• Legacy Java/JDK/JRE runtimes
• Embedded systems and appliances
• Custom or outdated Linux images
• Air‑gapped systems
• Third‑party email gateways or security appliances that perform certificate chain validation

This change applies to any system performing full certificate chain validation against Exchange Online, including Exchange Server, security appliances, and third-party email gateways. If you use third-party email appliances, please contact the vendor directly for support.

Windows systems with the CTL Updater enabled (default) do not require action.

What will happen:

If the DigiCert Global Root G2 certificate or required intermediates are missing or cannot be retrieved during TLS negotiation:

• Outbound email clients may:
• Refuse to send email when strict certificate validation is enforced
• Fall back to unencrypted SMTP if allowed
• Inbound SMTP connections from Exchange Online may fail or be delayed
• Email flow reliability may be reduced
• Systems not using up‑to‑date certificate chains may be unable to validate TLS certificates presented by Exchange Online

If your organization already maintains the current Office 365 certificate chains, no impact is expected.

[What you can do to prepare:]

Required actions:

If your environment has disabled Windows CTL updates or relies on older/custom runtimes, complete the actions outlined in the What you must do section of: Trust DigiCert Global Root G2 Certificate Authority to Avoid Exchange Online Email Disruption

Specific actions include:

• Review whether Windows CTL Updater is disabled in your organization.
• Confirm whether SMTP servers, security appliances, and gateways fully trust the DigiCert Global Root G2 CA and subordinate CAs.
• Ensure outdated or custom runtimes (Java, Linux, embedded systems, etc.) include the required certificates.
• Contact your third‑party email appliance vendor if they manage certificate chains.
• Update internal documentation and inform helpdesk teams as required.

No action required if:

• You are using Windows systems with CTL Updater enabled (default behavior), and
• Your organization already trusts the latest Office 365 certificate chains.

[Compliance considerations:]

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

[Introduction]

We’re adding new output formats to the Researcher agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot to give users more flexibility in how they create, share, and use AI‑generated research reports. Based on customer feedback, users will now be able to export Researcher reports to additional formats and benefit from an updated experience for existing options.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 546246.

[When this will happen]

General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout will begin in early February 2026 and is expected to complete by late December 2027.

[How this will affect your organization]

Who is affected: All users with access to the Researcher agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

What will happen:

Users will see new and updated export options, including:

• New output formats:
  • PowerPoint
  • PDF
  • Infographic
  • Audio overview
• Updated UX:
  • Improved export experience for existing Word and Pages formats

Additional details:

• These features are on by default; no admin configuration is required.
• There is no impact to existing workflows. Users can begin using the new formats as soon as they appear in their tenant.

[What you can do to prepare]

No action is required.

Admins may choose to:

• Inform users about the expanded export options in the Researcher agent.
• Update internal documentation if your organization references Researcher agent capabilities.

[Compliance considerations]

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

• Optimized Call Performance: Reduces call latency and improves connection stability by leveraging the native DCA framework instead of relying solely on browser‑based telephony.
• Enhanced Reliability: Provides a more robust and resilient voice experience, minimizing disruptions caused by browser variations, session timeouts, or client‑side environmental inconsistencies.
• Scalable Deployment: Allows organizations to standardize their voice experience across supported third-party CRMs, enabling broader adoption and easier operational management.

[Introduction]

We’re introducing a new tenant-level process report in Microsoft Purview eDiscovery. This report gives eDiscovery administrators and managers a centralized view of all eDiscovery processes across cases in their tenant. This enhancement improves oversight of long‑running processes and helps organizations better manage and monitor eDiscovery processes in the tenant. 

This message is associated with roadmap ID ​551164​.  

[When this will happen:]

• General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout begins mid-February 2026 and is expected to complete by late February 2026.
• General Availability (GCC, GCCH, DoD): Rollout begins late February 2026 and is expected to complete by early March 2026.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

• eDiscovery administrators and managers using Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium).

What will happen:

• A new tenant-level process report will be available in the Microsoft Purview portal.
• Administrators and managers will be able to view process activity across eDiscovery cases in the tenant.
• They can monitor all processes across cases.
• The feature is enabled by default; no configuration is required.
• Only authorized users with eDiscovery administrator or manager roles will see the report.

[What you can do to prepare:]

No action is required; the report will appear automatically when available.

Optional preparation steps:

• Review existing role assignments to ensure the correct users have access to tenant-level eDiscovery reporting.
• Share Microsoft Learn documentation with your eDiscovery operations team: Use the Process report in eDiscovery
• Update internal documentation if you maintain detailed eDiscovery workflows or reporting guidance.

[Compliance considerations:]

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

Introduction

Beginning January 30, 2026, Microsoft Entra ID Governance will require all tenants to have a linked Azure subscription to continue using Identity Governance features for guest users. This change ensures accurate billing for governance actions performed by guests and supports continued access to advanced governance capabilities. 

When this will happen:

General availability and enforcement begin on January 30, 2026.

How this will affect your organization:

Who is affected:

• Organizations using Microsoft Entra ID Governance features for guest users (userType = Guest).
• Admins managing lifecycle workflows or Entra ID Governance features in entitlement management for external or guest identities. Access reviews will be included by March 31, 2026.

What will happen:

• If your tenant does not have a linked Azure subscription, creation or updates of policies scoped to guest users using premium Entra ID Governance capabilities will be blocked. 
• The following actions will be unavailable:
• Creating access reviews scoped to guest users (inactive user reviews, user-to-group affiliation helper)
• Creating or updating entitlement management policies involving guests, sponsor approvers, custom extensions, Verified ID, or auto-assignment rules
• Marking a guest as governed in entitlement management
• Directly assigning a guest user to an access package in entitlement management
• Creating or updating lifecycle workflows scoped to guest users.
• Existing policies will continue to run, but no new guest-governance actions can be authored without billing enabled.
• Once a subscription is linked, normal guest governance usage and billing will begin under the Monthly Active User (MAU) model.

What you can do to prepare:

• Before January 30, 2026, link a valid Azure subscription to your tenant:
• Navigate to Entra ID → ID Governance → Dashboard
• In the Guest Access Governance panel, select Get Started
• Choose a subscription and resource group, then select Turn on 
• Confirm your account has at least the Contributor role to enable subscription linking.
• Review any guest-scoped workflows, reviews, or entitlement policies that may require updates after subscription linking.
• Communicate this change to support teams or internal governance admins.
• Update internal documentation regarding:
• Guest governance prerequisites
• Subscription dependency
• Billing behavior for governance actions

Learn more: Microsoft Entra ID Governance licensing for guest users | Microsoft Learn

Compliance considerations:

[Introduction]

Microsoft is updating the Copilot Studio service‑specific terms within the Microsoft Power Platform Product Terms. This update adds new commitments describing how Query Data from Entra ID–authenticated use of Copilot Studio is handled when sent to Bing Search and Bing Custom Search. These updates are additive and no other products or terms are affected.

[When this will happen]

General Availability (Worldwide): Early February 2026

[How this will affect your organization]

Who is affected: All commercial tenants using Copilot Studio with Entra ID authentication.

What will happen:

The Copilot Studio section of the Power Platform Product Terms will be updated with additional commitments governing Query Data sent to Bing for grounding via Bing Search and Bing Custom Search, including:

• Microsoft has no rights in Query Data other than what is required to provide the service.
• Query Data is not used to improve Bing.
• Query Data is not used to create advertising profiles or track user behavior.
• Query Data is not shared with advertisers and is not shared outside Microsoft and contracted suppliers operating under equivalent protections.
• Query Data is not used to train generative AI foundation models.
• Query Data is treated as customer confidential information and is protected with appropriate technical and organizational controls.

There is no impact to the user experience in Copilot Studio or Bing. No configuration or admin settings are changing, and no new settings are introduced.

[What you need to do to prepare]

No action is required from admins or users.

If useful for your organization’s internal processes, you may choose to share these updated commitments with privacy, security, or legal stakeholders beginning February 1, 2026.

You can review the updated resources when available. Both resources are expected to be updated in early February 2026:

• Data, privacy, and security for web search | Microsoft Copilot Studio | Microsoft Learn
• Product Terms – Microsoft Power Platform

[Compliance considerations]

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

[Introduction]

We’re adding a new option that allows users to draw their electronic signature when signing PDFs in eSignature for Microsoft 365. This provides a more natural signing experience and expands the existing typed signature option.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 548670.

[When this will happen]

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

[How this affects your organization]

Who is affected: All users in Microsoft 365 tenants who use eSignature for Microsoft 365 to sign PDF documents.

What will happen:

• Users will see a new option to draw their signature:

   

• Drawn signatures will be created with a stylus, touch, or mouse.
• Users can switch between drawn and typed signatures during signing.
• The feature will be enabled by default for all tenants.
• No admin configuration changes or policy updates will be required.

[What you can do to prepare]

No action is required. Organizations may choose to update internal documentation or training materials to reflect the new signing option.

[Compliance considerations]

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

[Introduction]

We are updating the file-opening experience in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. When users click on cited Word, Excel, or PowerPoint content in Copilot Chat, the file currently opens in a new browser tab. With this update, supported files can open directly within Copilot chat to streamline viewing. This change does not apply to Copilot Mobile, Copilot in Edge, Copilot in Excel, Copilot in Word, or Copilot in PowerPoint.

[When this will happen:]

General Availability (Worldwide): rollout will begin in early February 2026 and is expected to complete by mid-February 2026.

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

• Users who access and open Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file citations within Copilot Chat in the web experience.
• A Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required to use this feature.

What will happen:

• Supported Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files will open directly inside Copilot Chat instead of opening in a new browser tab.
• This enhancement does not change permissions, data access, or existing configuration.
• The feature will be enabled by default.
• There is no change to Copilot Mobile, Copilot in Edge, Copilot in Excel, Copilot in Word, or Copilot in PowerPoint.

[What you can do to prepare:]

No admin action is required for this update.

• Notify helpdesk or training teams about the streamlined in-Copilot Chat file-opening experience.
• Update internal documentation if it describes file citation behavior.

[Compliance considerations:]

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