Play of the Week

Microsoft is working to improve the Teams Web App to match features on the desktop version. This update, which is rolling out this month, will enable meeting participants using the Microsoft Teams web app to use the “Take control” function to request control while another person is screen-sharing. This update is for commercial and government cloud environments.

In Development

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Referenced sources are cited in drafted content

When drafting content that’s based on referenced sources, Copilot includes citations in the text it generates, indicating references to information in the content.

ID: 380841 Release: Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365), Word – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: January CY2025

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Referenced sources are cited in drafted content

When drafting content that’s based on referenced sources, Copilot includes citations in the text it generates, indicating references to information in the content.

ID: 380842 Release: Word, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: March CY2025

Outlook: First phase of PST support in new Outlook for Windows

The first phase PST (a.k.a. Outlook Data File) support in the new Outlook for Windows provides read-only access to Mail items within *.pst files. Users will be able to open *.pst files, read their emails within *.pst files, and search *.pst files for emails. All Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks data saved in the *.pst files are still there, but they cannot be accessed in this preview. Next releases will expand PST support capabilities.

ID: 399467 Release: Outlook – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: January CY2025

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Write a prompt for selected portions of text in Word

Writing a prompt to draft content based on your selection no longer expands your selection to the entire paragraph, table, or list. You can prompt based on a single sentence or item.

ID: 415418 Release: Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365), Word – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2025

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Write a prompt for selected portions of text in Word

Writing a prompt to draft content based on your selection no longer expands your selection to the entire paragraph, table, or list. You can prompt based on a single sentence or item.

ID: 415419 Release: Word, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: January CY2025

Microsoft Purview compliance portal: eDiscovery – Quick Summarization in eDiscovery

Introducing the Quick Summarization feature for eDiscovery, an embedded Security Copilot skill in Purview, designed to streamline case management with an intuitive, at-a-glance overview. This new capability allows users to quickly access a comprehensive summary of eDiscovery cases, holds, and searches, eliminating the need to navigate through multiple tabs to assess status, statistics of completed actions, pending tasks, and ongoing jobs. The Quick Summarization feature consolidates this information into a single, easy-to-understand summary. Additionally, similar summary views are available for both Search and Hold within the eDiscovery case. Powered by existing “contextual summary” skill, the system analyzes case/search/hold metadata and generates natural language summaries, providing users with a clear, actionable overview of key details in real time.

ID: 466741 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2024

Microsoft Viva: Viva Learning – Metrics reporting via Data Export

Enterprises can get aggregate metrics on Academy, Content consumption, and user clicks.

ID: 468889 Release: Microsoft Viva – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: March CY2025

Microsoft Purview compliance portal: Data Lifecycle separate retention policies for Copilots and AI Apps

Enable admins to configure retention policies for various Copilots and AI Apps.

ID: 470025 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: January CY2025

Bookings: New Queue experience in Bookings to manage appointments for the day with real time attendee wait status and SMS reminders

The new Queue experience in Bookings enables schedulers and Bookings users to view the status and monitor all scheduled in-person and virtual appointments. Users can quickly create or view an appointment and send staff and attendees email reminders and SMS text notifications.

ID: 470136 Release: Bookings – GCC, Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2025

Microsoft Viva: Keyword monitoring email notification enhancements

This revamps the existing content alert (keyword monitoring) emails that admins receive to include added context on the content being monitored and minor security enhancements.

ID: 470303 Release: Microsoft Viva – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: January CY2025

Microsoft Teams: Together Mode New Flow

Together mode will get a new simplified flow which will take the user from the beginning to the end through the steps of setting up the scene, assigning the seats and applying for everyone in the call in a transparent and easy-to-understand way. The function itself does not change but there will be more transparency thanks to the icons on the meeting toolbar for an easy access for each next step in the familiar Together mode flow.

ID: 470427 Release: Microsoft Teams – GCC, Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant), DoD, GCC High Tags: February CY2025

Microsoft Teams: Resize Teams window and left and right panes

Adjust the size of your Teams panes to prioritize what is currently most important for you, and/or snap and resize the Teams window with Windows 11 Snap layouts so you can view multiple applications side by side.

ID: 470431 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: January CY2025

Microsoft Teams: End the Session for Attendees and Presenters Return to Green Room

Organizers and presenters can now end the session with this new “End Event” button for town halls, webinars, and structured meetings. After selecting this button, attendees will see a message on stage stating that the session has concluded, and presenters will return to the Green Room.

ID: 470432 Release: Microsoft Teams – GCC, GCC High, DoD, Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2025

Excel: Post-migration Excel remediation

Enable the remediation of incompatible formulas and file links in formulas in Excel files after migration from other cloud platforms to Microsoft 365.

ID: 470436 Release: Excel – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: January CY2025

Microsoft Teams: Enhanced spell check with multi-language support

Enhanced spell check will help ensure that your messages are clear and professional. When you type your message in the Teams compose box, any issue found will be marked. You can then choose to correct them from options suggested in a dropdown menu, ignore them or add to dictionary. With multi-language support, you can switch between up to three languages.

ID: 470600 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2025

Outlook: Account descriptions

Outlook users can now set custom descriptions for their accounts, making them easier to tell apart in the folder list and various lists and menus across the application. The description can be set in the account settings. #newoutlookforwindows

ID: 470602 Release: Outlook – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: January CY2025

SharePoint: Pages authoring accessibility checker

SharePoint Accessibility Assistant empowers content creators to ensure their SharePoint Pages meet accessibility standards.

ID: 470603 Release: SharePoint – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant), GCC High, DoD, GCC Tags: March CY2025

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Create the perfect banner for your document with Copilot and Designer

Chat with Copilot in Word, and let Designer help your document stand out by producing eye-catching visuals that fill the width of the page.

ID: 470986 Release: Word, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2024

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Create the perfect banner for your document with Copilot and Designer

Chat with Copilot in Word, and let Designer help your document stand out by producing eye-catching visuals that fill the width of the page.

ID: 470988 Release: Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365), Word – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2024

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Read Aloud support added to Copilot chat responses

Read Aloud capability lets you listen to Copilot responses in the chat pane.

ID: 470990 Release: Word, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2024

Microsoft Teams: Navigate meetings and messages hands-free with Teams in CarPlay

Stay connected on the move with Teams in CarPlay. Use Siri to respond to notifications and send messages in Teams. Easily join meetings and engage in discussions with quick actions like raising your hand.

ID: 470998 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2025

Microsoft Teams: SMS for Microsoft Teams Calling Plans

Enabling the ability to send and receive SMS messages directly from the Teams app on desktop or mobile, making it easy to connect with users outside of your organization who are not using Teams. This feature will be available for Microsoft Teams Calling Plan users in the United States and Canada.

ID: 470999 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2025

Microsoft Teams: Open file links preference to extend across M365 apps

When it comes to how links to cloud-hosted Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files should open, you may prefer they open in a browser, desktop apps, or directly in Teams. Now, your Teams file open preference will extend to across Microsoft 365 apps, creating a consistent ‘open file’ experience. If you prefer, you will still be able to choose your Teams file open preference separately.

ID: 471000 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2025

Excel: Python in Excel for the web

Python in Excel allows you to bring the capabilities of Python directly into the Excel grid. As a part of this feature update, eligible users will now be able to add Python formulas directly into their workbooks in Excel for the web. These Python formulas will be run by Excel in a secure container on the Microsoft Cloud with enterprise-level security as a compliant Microsoft 365 connected experience.

ID: 471001 Release: Excel – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2025

Microsoft Purview compliance portal: Insider Risk Management – New email scoring capabilities

Insider risk management (IRM) email scoring logic is being updated. With current logic, a single email to multiple recipients (say “n”) is counted multiple times (n times), and this is creating noise by increasing the risk score. In the new logic, a single email to multiple recipients is counted once, and this new principle is applicable to the email containing multiple unallowed domains or priority content. Once this is rolled out, all the email insights in alerts will display the new count and score. Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management correlates various signals to identify potential malicious or inadvertent insider risks, such as IP theft, data leakage, and security violations. Insider Risk Management enables customers to create policies based on their own internal policies, governance, and organizational requirements. Built with privacy by design, users are pseudonymized by default, and role-based access controls and audit logs are in place to help ensure user-level privacy.

ID: 471010 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – DoD, GCC High, GCC Tags: February CY2025

Microsoft Teams: Cross Cloud collaboration in VDI

VDI users can join meetings with people in other Microsoft 365 cloud environments (e.g., a user in GCCH joining a meeting in commercial, GCC or DOD) through three options: authenticated access via cross-cloud meeting connection, authenticated access using a guest account, or anonymous access. These scenarios require Slimcore-based optimization, as WebRTC-based optimization does not support meetings across different cloud environments.

ID: 471434 Release: Microsoft Teams – GCC, Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2025

Outlook: Choose save location when saving to a cloud account in the Outlook app for iOS and Android

When you save a document to a cloud account, you will be able to browse through the folders of that account to find the place you would like to save your file.

ID: 471442 Release: Outlook – GCC, GCC High, Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: January CY2025

Outlook: Easily start a new email from document previewer in the Outlook app for Android

From the document previewer, there will now be an option to start a new mail with the document being viewed added to that new email

ID: 471443 Release: Outlook – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant), GCC High, GCC Tags: January CY2025

Rolling Out

Microsoft Viva: Viva Pulse – Viva Pulse templates to measure Copilot readiness, adoption & impact as part of Microsoft 365 Copilot

Viva Pulse authors can now use new templates specific to M365 Copilot Readiness, Adoption & Impact to measure employee sentiment around their organization’s Copilot adoption. These templates will be available as part of your Microsoft365 Copilot subscription as well.

ID: 407706 Release: Microsoft Viva – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2024

Microsoft Teams: Ability to take control during screensharing on Web

This update enables meeting participants using the Microsoft Teams web app to use the “Take control” function to request control while another person is screen-sharing.

ID: 420327 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant), GCC High, DoD, GCC Tags: December CY2024

Outlook: “None” color category for Mail and Calendar in the New Outlook for Windows and Web

We’ve introduced a new “None” color category for Mail and Calendar in the New Outlook for Windows and Web. This update provides more flexibility and customization in categorizing your emails and calendar events. By selecting the “None” option, users can now choose to have items without a designated color, allowing for cleaner organization and more control over which items stand out visually. #newoutlookforwindows

ID: 469035 Release: Outlook – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant), DoD, GCC High, GCC Tags: December CY2024

Launched

Microsoft Purview compliance portal: eDiscovery – Generate keyword query language from natural language prompt in eDiscovery with Copilot for Security

Copilot for Security is embedded in eDiscovery to enable users to provide a search prompt in natural language and will translate into keyword query language to help expedite the start of an eDiscovery search.

ID: 397090 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2024

Outlook: Drag and drop to download attachments and emails for GCC

Users can drag and drop attachments and emails from the new Outlook for Windows to their desktops or local folders to download them directly to that location. A feature that is already available in world-wide multitenant will now be available for customers in GCC. #newoutlookforwindows

ID: 429869 Release: Outlook – GCC Tags: December CY2024

Canceled

Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Whiteboard can be added to Mesh event

We will not release this feature at this time. We are sorry for any inconvenience and will continue to share updated roadmap entries as additional Mesh features and functionality become available. Mesh event participants can now use Microsoft Whiteboard in Mesh 3D environments. This functionality will enable users to collaborate spatially as avatars on a 2D whiteboard present in the virtual space, available on PC and Meta Quest devices. Mesh event attendees can use inking, annotation, and other built-in tools to brainstorm, plan, and share with others on a digital canvas in real time. Copilot integration with Whiteboard helps suggest and organize ideas directly on your canvas while in Mesh.

ID: 412075 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2025

Microsoft Teams: Remote contact management for common area phones

This roadmap item is cancelled and replaced by 81379. We are sorry for any inconvenience. IT admins will be able to manage and add contacts to Teams phone devices deployed in shared spaces through the Teams admin center. This ensures users across the organization can easily call important contacts, such as emergency numbers or help desks.

ID: 416284 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant), GCC High, GCC Tags: January CY2025