Teams pinned resources are about to get a serious upgrade, and if you manage a busy channel, this is one Microsoft 365 change worth reading before the end of September. Microsoft announced (MC1473153) that it is replacing the ‘In this chat’ and ‘In this channel’ panes with a single, centralized way to find, pin, and organize the files, links, and messages your team actually needs.
If you have ever watched a new hire scroll through three weeks of chat history looking for the onboarding document someone pinned once, you already know why this change matters.
What Is Changing With Teams Pinned Resources
Right now, Microsoft Teams splits important content across two separate panes: ‘In this chat’ and ‘In this channel’. Both are getting removed. In their place, Teams pinned resources will live directly below the chat or channel header, in one consistent location across desktop, web, Mac, and mobile.
Here is what the update actually changes:
- Users can pin resources directly below the chat or channel header instead of digging through a separate pane.
- Multiple pinned items can now be grouped into folders, so a project channel can organize resources by topic instead of one long flat list.
- On mobile, people access the same shared resources and folders simply by tapping the chat or channel header, closing the gap between desktop and phone.
- Anything already pinned today carries over automatically. Nobody has to re-pin their files when the update lands.
This is a platform-wide change across Android, Desktop, iOS, Mac, and Web, which is unusual for a Teams update. Most feature rollouts hit desktop first and mobile months later. Here, Microsoft is shipping Teams pinned resources everywhere at once.
Teams Pinned Resources Rollout Schedule
Microsoft is rolling this out in two phases, and the dates matter if you run a Targeted Release ring for early testing.
| Phase | Audience | Start | Expected Completion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Targeted Release | Worldwide | Late September 2026 | Early October 2026 |
| General Availability | Worldwide | Early October 2026 | Mid-October 2026 |
This should be rolling out in late September 2026 (Targeted Release) and early October 2026 (General Availability) according to Microsoft. If your organization is on Targeted Release, expect to see the new Teams pinned resources experience first, with everyone else catching up over the following two to three weeks.
How To Prepare Your Teams Pinned Resources Before The Old Panes Disappear
Microsoft is clear that no administrative action is required for this change. That said, ‘no action required’ is not the same as ‘nothing to do’. A silent UI change is exactly the kind of thing that generates help desk tickets if nobody warns your users first.
Step 1: Audit your current Teams pinned resources
Before the panes disappear, open your busiest channels and chats and check what is currently pinned. Anything pinned today will migrate automatically, but this is a good moment to clean out stale links, retired SharePoint pages, or files nobody has opened in a year. A messy pin list survives the migration just as well as a clean one, so use this window to tidy up.
Step 2: Communicate the change before it lands
Send a short heads-up to your Teams power users, especially channel owners who rely on pinned files for onboarding or reference material. Tell them the ‘In this chat’ and ‘In this channel’ panes are going away, and that pinned items now live below the header with folder support. A two-line Teams announcement post avoids a wave of ‘where did my pinned file go’ tickets in October.
Step 3: Update internal training material
If your onboarding documentation, SharePoint intranet pages, or IT knowledge base references the old panes by name, update those screenshots and instructions now. Nothing undermines trust in your internal documentation faster than a screenshot that no longer matches what users see on screen.
Step 4: Try the folder structure on one pilot channel
Rather than rolling this out cold to the whole organization, pick one active project channel and experiment with grouping Teams pinned resources into folders. Use that pilot to figure out a naming convention (by project phase, by document type, by team) before your other channel owners start improvising their own systems.
Admin Tips For Managing Teams Pinned Resources
A few practical notes for the admins and Teams champions who will field questions about this change:
- Do not expect a toggle. This is a client-side experience update tied to the Teams roadmap (ID 570646), not a setting in the Teams admin center. You cannot delay or disable it at the tenant level.
- Check your change management calendar. Because this affects every platform simultaneously, it is a good candidate for your monthly ‘what changed in Teams’ communication rather than a one-off email.
- Watch the Message center for the promised follow-up documentation. The original MC post notes Microsoft will update it with new documentation once it is available, so it is worth bookmarking MC1473153 and checking back before General Availability.
- Pair this with your existing Teams governance review. If you already run a quarterly check on channel sprawl or file organization, this is a natural moment to fold in a review of how pinned resources are used across your busiest teams.
License Requirements For Teams Pinned Resources
Good news on the budget side: Teams pinned resources are included in your existing Microsoft Teams license. There is no add-on, no premium SKU, and no additional cost to unlock folders or the centralized resource view. If your organization already uses Microsoft Teams, this update simply arrives as part of the standard client experience once the rollout reaches your tenant.
The Paul-Take: Are Teams Pinned Resources Finally Getting It Right?
I have lost count of how many client calls start with ‘where did that file go’ after someone pinned it in a chat that nobody scrolls back into. The old ‘In this chat’ and ‘In this channel’ panes were functional but easy to forget, which meant pinned content quietly became invisible content. Teams pinned resources fix a real, everyday annoyance rather than chasing a flashy new feature nobody asked for.
What I like most is the folder support. A flat pin list works for five items and falls apart at fifteen. Letting channel owners group Teams pinned resources by project or topic is a small change that will save a lot of scrolling.
My one concern is adoption, not technology. Microsoft says no admin action is required, and that is true from a configuration standpoint. But if you do not tell your users the panes are gone, they will assume something broke rather than realizing it moved. A two-minute heads-up in your next Teams channel post will save your help desk a busy October.
If you want a second opinion on how this fits into your broader Teams governance strategy, or you are curious how it compares to the recent Teams mobile dashboard update and the SharePoint hero link sharing update, those are worth a read alongside this one. Both point in the same direction: Microsoft is quietly making it easier to find shared content without digging through chat history.
MVP Reference List
- Message center post: MC1473153, published September 16, 2026
- Roadmap ID: 570646
- Microsoft Learn: Overview of teams and channels in Microsoft Teams
- Microsoft Learn: Track new and changed features in the Microsoft 365 Message center