Teams will soon allow event organizers to share videos directly from OneDrive, providing smoother playback and improved controls without screen sharing or PowerPoint embedding.
October 2026 Windows security update is now available with fixes for VPN, Azure Virtual Desktop, Storage Spaces Direct, and new ReFS auditing policy controls.
Copilot entry point in classic Outlook moves to a new location with improved visuals and contextual AI recommendations, streamlining user workflow and experience.
Services: Exchange Online, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365)
Microsoft Teams introduces AI-generated meeting memory files to enhance Copilot and Facilitator responses, with privacy controls and configurable retention in SharePoint Embedded.
Services: Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365)
Microsoft Copilot app updates introduce new Home, Office, Code, Autopilot features, usage-based billing, enhanced SharePoint/OneDrive agents, and admin controls for Copilot access and spending policies.
Full Workload Backup lets admins protect an entire SharePoint, OneDrive, or Exchange workload via a single policy, auto-covering all artifacts and easing backup administration.
The planned update to store Teams Channel Whiteboards in SharePoint sites instead of OneDrive has been canceled and will not move forward at this time.
Users can now link Microsoft Teams meetings to existing Planner plans, consolidating tasks in one location and improving continuity across ongoing work.
Pre-authenticated URLs (tempauth) will be retired from SharePoint Online and OneDrive; affected Microsoft Graph file APIs will require Entra ID authentication starting April 1, 2027.
Custom Fields are coming to Microsoft Planner, letting users add up to 10 fields per plan (Text, Number, Date, Yes/No, Choice) to better manage information across boards and tasks.
Themes by Copilot in Microsoft Outlook is being retired; users with a Copilot license will no longer be able to create or return to Copilot-generated themes after changing to another theme.
RD Web Access in Windows Server will no longer render correctly as browsers disable XSLT support; organizations should review KB5130994 for workarounds.
Microsoft will redirect Copilot web app users from m365.cloud.microsoft to copilot.cloud.microsoft; admins must allow *.cloud.microsoft to avoid service disruption.
Services: Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365), Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
Edge will retire legacy direct-WAM sign-in on Windows with version 157, consolidating to OneAuth for standardized authentication and improved diagnostics.
Targeted release for Microsoft 365 retires January 2027; admins must transition to new Frontier, Standard, or Deferred release preferences before November 2026.
Services: Exchange Online, Microsoft 365 suite, SharePoint Online, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft Teams
Microsoft 365 introduces the hero link, a unified sharing link to simplify, secure, and streamline file/folder collaboration across SharePoint and OneDrive.
Services: Microsoft 365 suite, SharePoint Online, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft 365 apps
Microsoft will show 11 profile card properties by default in Microsoft 365 profile cards to improve info visibility; admins retain control, but rollout is paused.
Teams Android device management is moving from Teams admin center to Teams Rooms Pro Management portal, consolidating management of Teams devices for improved admin experience.
Services: Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 for the web
Viva Insights expands report publishing to leaders; 'Analyst report publish' becomes 'Report publish', managed by admins and default-on. Leaders can now publish Power BI reports in Viva Insights.
Agent 365 adds observability for third-party agents (Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, Anthropic Claude) so admins can monitor activity and investigate issues in one place.
Microsoft Teams will enable Attach file and drag-and-drop experiences for external (federated) chats by default, unless a tenant admin disables the capability via Teams PowerShell.
Teams for Web introduces Picture-in-Picture Call Monitor so users can manage meeting controls while working in other browser tabs, enhancing multitasking and engagement.
Excel canvas adds a Copilot feature to Excel, generating interactive reports with visuals, metrics, and insights that auto-update and can be refined via natural language.
Services: Microsoft 365 apps, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365)
New Outlook for Windows is now available for GCC High and DoD sovereign environments, enabling adoption planning while maintaining admin control. Classic Outlook remains available and new experience is opt-in.
Private tasks in Planner will be stored in a user's private Planner plan, not Microsoft To Do, enabling richer Planner capabilities from November 2026.
Microsoft is introducing a redesigned My Tasks experience in Planner with clearer navigation, improved organization, and streamlined task workflows to boost user productivity.
To enhance security, .msix and .msixbundle file types will be blocked in Outlook on the web and new Outlook for Windows OWA mailbox policies starting November 2026.
Exchange Web Services (EWS) deprecation begins October 1, 2026; cross-tenant Free/Busy, MailTips, and Calendar Sharing will move to Microsoft 365 Cross-Tenant Access Policy.
Agent Dashboard is coming to Copilot Analytics in Viva, offering agent adoption and Copilot credit insights for leaders/admins in tenants with ≥50 Copilot licenses.
Services: Microsoft Viva, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365)
Device health monitoring in Teams admin center (Device state rule) retires in late October 2026; use Teams Rooms Pro Management portal for device monitoring and alerts.
Promotional emails in Defender for Office 365 will be tagged as 'promotions' and auto-moved to a Promotions folder, with user-driven ML handling and admin setting controls.
Beginning October 10, 2026, EWSAllowedAppIDs becomes mandatory for Exchange Online tenants using EWSEnabled=True; only listed apps retain EWS access as Microsoft enforces EWS retirement.
SharePoint Online One-Time Passcode authentication retires; external sharing now uses Microsoft Entra B2B, enhancing guest lifecycle, governance, and Conditional Access across OneDrive and SharePoint.
Microsoft Copilot adds GPT-6.1 Sol and Claude Sonnet 5.5 models, available with usage-based billing and phased rollout in Copilot experiences for USL-licensed users. Subprocessor setup required.
Services: Microsoft 365 apps, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365)
Microsoft Entra will recognize Windows Hello for Business and macOS Platform Single Sign-On as standalone MFA factors, reducing reliance on additional passkeys and enhancing phishing-resistant authentication.
Agent Builder in Microsoft 365 Copilot adds scheduled workflows, enabling users to run prompt automation on defined intervals for their Copilot agents.
AI-generated status reports in Planner Agent let Copilot-licensed users create customizable reports from Planner data; reports can be exported and shared.
Services: Planner, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365)
Classic Outlook for Windows users will see visual updates to icons, spacing, and alignment starting early November 2026, improving clarity and consistency across Outlook endpoints.
Microsoft Entra will stop automatically granting AgentIdentity.CreateAsManager; admins must explicitly grant this permission for agent identity creation starting Nov 2026.
Microsoft Edge introduces an upgraded Copilot new tab page, integrating Copilot chat, web search, and work content for Copilot-licensed users in a single experience.
Services: Microsoft 365 suite, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365)
Active Entra users without Dataverse or Power Apps licenses can now be selected as activity recipients; they remain disabled and lack Dynamics 365 app access.
Enhanced audit logging for RBAC permission checks in Microsoft Purview portal adds clearer visibility for administrators into role and scoped-role authorization decisions.
Microsoft Teams Panels now let admins toggle organizer names in Calendar View. Configure via Teams Rooms Pro portal or panel device; default shows names.
Teams users can now pin and organize resources below chat/channel headers; 'In this chat/channel' panes are removed and resources managed via the new experience.
New Microsoft Entra feature allows password change after secure sign-in via My Sign-Ins using strong credential, reducing support requests. Feature is off by default and requires admin enablement.