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What’s new for Microsoft Teams – May 2025
May 2025 brought us some substantial updates that are set to significantly enhance your meeting management and collaboration capabilities. This month delivered two key features that address long-standing user requests and workflow challenges that many organizations have been navigating for quite some time.
The major highlights include the introduction of Lobby chat functionality and a comprehensive overhaul of external file sharing in chat conversations. These aren’t just incremental improvements – they represent meaningful solutions to real collaboration pain points that teams face daily. The external file sharing enhancement, in particular, addresses what has been a persistent challenge for cross-organizational collaboration.
I’m particularly impressed by how these updates focus on streamlining essential business processes rather than simply adding new features for the sake of innovation. Microsoft appears to be taking a more strategic approach to addressing genuine user needs and workflow inefficiencies. The timing couldn’t be better, as hybrid work continues to evolve and organizations need more sophisticated tools for both internal coordination and external partnership management.
MAY
5
The Discover Feed in Microsoft Teams will now only be shown to users with more than five channels, including hidden ones. This update aims to provide meaningful updates and avoid low-activity feeds. The rollout began in mid-April 2025 and will complete by late April 2025, with no admin action required.
Microsoft Teams is introducing a new Queues app service plan under Teams Premium, enabling efficient customer call handling within Teams. The rollout starts mid-June 2025, with updates for GCCH and DOD users in early July 2025. Organizations should update training and documentation accordingly.
Microsoft Teams is increasing the Video Clips recording limit from 1 minute to 5 minutes. The rollout will occur from late May to late June 2025 for general availability and from mid-July to mid-August 2025 for GCC, GCC High, and DoD. No admin action is required.
MAY
6
To address the issue of unauthorized screen captures during meetings, the Prevent Screen Capture feature ensures that if a user attempts to take a screen capture, the meeting window will turn black, thereby protecting sensitive information. This feature will be available on Teams desktop applications (both Windows and Mac) and Teams mobile applications (both iOS and Android). For users joining from unsupported platforms, they will be placed in audio-only mode to maintain the integrity of the meeting’s content.
MAY
8
You can now reference a Microsoft Teams meeting when you create a presentation with Copilot in PowerPoint.
Intelligent meeting recap can incorporate content shared on screen in the AI-based summary provided after the meeting, providing a richer and more comprehensive recap of the meeting. It captures details that are shown when a participant shares their screen, ensuring those unspoken insights become part of the meeting recap.
Introducing a new feature that brings interactive agents into your Teams meetings and 1-on-1 calls. Engage with agents as a group or privately, with zero state prompts and history support for seamless interactions. Currently, only agents built on Copilot support sessions, meaning they can remember the context of previous interactions within the same session for more relevant responses. Custom agents do not yet have session support. All agents from BizChat/Copilot Studio are now available for use in your meetings and calls. This feature allows secure testing and iteration, inviting colleagues for feedback without affecting sensitive data or production channels.
The Walkie Talkie app in Microsoft Teams for iOS/Android will move to the three-dot menu if users separate chats and channels. Admins can create a custom app policy to keep it in the app bar. This change will start rolling out in early May 2025 and complete by mid-May 2025.
Microsoft Project for the web and Project in Teams will retire in August 2025, redirecting users to Planner for the web and Planner in Teams. Existing Project features will be integrated into Planner, ensuring a seamless transition. Users should migrate Roadmap data to Portfolios and re-pin Projects in Teams tabs using Planner.
Microsoft Teams will release a feature in June 2025 allowing users to use Copilot during calls without retaining transcripts or recordings. Post-call functions like recaps will not be available. Admins can configure this setting via the Calling policy. More details to follow.
Microsoft Teams will introduce Lobby chat, allowing meeting organizers and co-organizers to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby. This feature will be on by default and can be managed in the Teams admin center. Rollout begins mid-June 2025 for targeted release and late June 2025 for general availability.
MAY
9
When the Teams Room on Windows is a co-organizer or a presenter in a town hall, privileges can be granted to start or end the event, manage what attendees see, and promote attendees as presenters, ensuring a smoother and more organized event experience. This feature is available with Teams Rooms Pro.
Microsoft Teams will soon allow organizations to join and present in Teams town halls using their own video conferencing devices via Cloud Video Interop (CVI). This feature will be available by default starting in May 2025, with no admin action required. Notify users and update documentation as needed.
Microsoft Teams will soon allow organizers and presenters to join town halls, webinars, and structured meetings using PSTN codes. This feature will roll out from mid-May to early June 2025. No admin action is required, but organizations should review configurations and notify users.
MAY
12
Collaborating with users outside your organization has become more streamlined. You can now share files with external users in both 1:1 and group chats. When sending a file, you have the option to either change its permissions or retain the existing ones.
Department of Defense (DoD) customer tenants now have access to the Teams Rooms Pro Management service and portal, enabling them to use the remote device management and analytics features of the solution while meeting high security and privacy standards.
Organizers will be able to effortlessly enhance their Teams Town hall presentations. In “Manage what attendees see” users will be able to customize their screen using select layouts, backgrounds, and name tags, resulting in a polished, high-quality, and engaging event. This feature is available with a Teams Premium License.
Microsoft Teams is introducing a new content picker for the Teams Mobile Android app, allowing users to attach any type of content easily. The rollout will start in early June 2025 and complete by late June 2025 for general availability, and by early July 2025 for GCC, GCC High, and DoD. No admin action is required.
Admins can now access detailed call quality reports for BYOD rooms in the Pro Management portal, requiring a Teams Shared Devices license. This feature will be available globally in June 2025. It helps diagnose network, audio, and video issues, improving meeting room experiences and reducing complaints.
MAY
14
Introducing Meeting Audio Overview, an AI feature for Teams that captures and summarizes key topics from meeting transcriptions into audio summaries. It supports Windows, macOS, web, iOS, and Android. Rollout starts in June 2025, requiring a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. No administrative policy is needed.
MAY
15
Building on the Siri voice commands for iOS, this capability enables users to call someone or ask Copilot to summarize a meeting through Siri voice commands.
Security admins can use the Tenant Allow/Block List feature in the Microsoft Defender portal to block domains for Microsoft Teams.
MAY
16
Teams administrators can use the Best practice configurations dashboard in Teams admin center for monitoring significant impact on meeting quality in their tenant due to DNS resolution failures or proxy (local or cloud).
MAY
19
Microsoft Teams Mobile (iOS and Android) will soon allow users to customize ringtones for different types of calls, including forwarded and delegated calls. This feature will be available from early to mid-June 2025. Users can find these settings under Teams Settings > Calling > Choose a ringtone.
MAY
20
You can now react to messages and posts with multiple emojis per message, enhancing your ability to express a wide range of emotions effectively. Use combinations of emojis for a richer and more nuanced response, quickly conveying your feelings and thoughts, like agreement, urgency or sentiment, without extra replies—keeping discussions focused and efficient.
Microsoft Teams Phones will soon support shared lines, collaborative delegation, call queues, and call transfers on line keys, enhancing call management and productivity. The rollout starts mid-May 2025 for general users and mid-June 2025 for GCC High and DoD. No admin action is required, but ensure devices are updated.
Microsoft Teams is introducing a Network Strength Indicator to improve meeting clarity by showing network quality with a 3-bar system. Rollout starts in July 2025 for Targeted Release and August 2025 for General Availability. Update your training and documentation accordingly.
MAY
21
Threads in channels allow you to start a side conversation within a channel and focus on specific topics while keeping the main conversation clutter-free. You can reply to specific messages and create a separate thread, helping to minimize distractions and foster better collaboration.
MAY
22
This feature allows admins to configure line keys for various scenarios on Teams phone devices, including personal and common area phones (CAP). Scenarios supported include speed dial, shared line, collaborative call delegation, and call transfers.
Sales-related insights will soon be available in Teams meeting recaps for all users with a Dynamics 365 Sales license, as well as for those who have previously purchased Viva Sales or Sales Copilot. Until now, accessing these insights in the Teams recap was limited to users with a Copilot for Sales license. This expanded availability will reach general availability on May 31, 2025.
MAY
23
Microsoft Teams is introducing a bilateral chat policy to restrict external group chats to a maximum of two organizations. This policy, rolling out in June 2025, applies to all Teams platforms and will be configurable by admins. It does not affect meetings, meeting chats, or channels.
MAY
26
We’re updating the default global calling policy for new tenants to allow users to transcribe or record calls. Previously, these settings were turned off by default in the host global policy. With this update, recording and transcription will be enabled by default in the global calling policy for new tenants and existing tenants who have not modified the host global policy. This change will not impact existing custom policies or modified global policies. After this rollout, recording and transcription services will be more accessible to users, allowing them to turn on and use recording and transcription as needed during Teams calls. Neither recording nor transcription will be automatically enabled in Teams calls. This update is designed to broaden access to AI-powered features like Calls Recap and Calling Copilot, enhancing the overall calling experience. It also brings calling policy defaults in line with Teams meetings policies, where recording and transcription are already enabled by default.
Microsoft Teams will soon automatically set users’ work location when they connect to their organization’s Wi-Fi, starting late June 2025. This feature applies to Teams for Windows and Mac desktops and aims to improve user experience by automating location updates. Configuration is recommended for optimal use.
MAY
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Organize your work environment to fit your needs. Users can open Teams’ apps, like Chat, Calls, Activity and more in separate windows, allowing users to view and interact with these apps simultaneously.
Starting July 2025, Teams Calling global policy will enable recording and transcription by default for new tenants and those without customized policies. This change aligns with Teams meetings policies and enhances access to AI-powered features. Existing custom or modified policies remain unaffected. No admin action is required before the rollout.
Users will soon be able to add multiple emoji reactions to a single message in Microsoft Teams across all platforms. The rollout starts in June 2025 for targeted release and continues through August 2025 for DoD. This feature will be enabled by default, requiring no admin action.
Microsoft Teams will allow users to open core apps like Chat and Teams in separate windows starting July 2025. This update aims to enhance productivity and workflow customization. The rollout requires no admin action, but updating training and documentation is recommended.
MAY
29
Advanced Collaboration Analytics for GGC provides Teams admins with insights into external collaboration patterns – covering teams, federated domains, channels, guests, and internal users – along with recommended actions to enhance security for external collaboration.
Microsoft Teams will soon default to landing on the last read message when selecting “Unread Chats.” Users can choose to land on the newest message instead. Rollout begins in June 2025 and completes by July 2025. No admin action is required, but user notification is recommended.
MAY
30
Tenant administrators can now upload a Custom Dictionary through the M365 Admin Portal’s Copilot Settings page to include tenant-specific terminologies. This enhancement improves entity recognition in Teams meeting transcripts, benefiting both Recap and Copilot’s understanding of the content.
Personalize your Teams phone experience by setting unique ringtones and choosing how each line key alerts you—ring only, ring with flash, or flash only. This feature is supported across touch, non-touch, and sidecar devices, giving you full control over how you stay notified
Enhance your calling experience with Copilot on Teams phones devices—access intelligent insights during calls using suggested prompts.
Admins can proactively manage peripherals in bring your own device (BYOD) rooms and desks with reports in the Pro Management portal that now flag if devices are faulty, undetectable by a PC, missing, or moved. Reports in the Pro Management portal require a Teams Shared Devices license for the room, and reports for desks are in public preview.
With this feature, you can reduce clicks and save time with intelligent call transfer suggestions based on your recent activity and call history on Teams phone devices.
Admins will be able to manage the availability of Microsoft 365 certified apps in Teams based on rules for enhanced security. This feature will be on by default and will roll out from mid-July to early August 2025. No action is required before the rollout, but review current configurations and notify users.
We’re rolling out grounding with web search in Copilot for Teams meetings, enabling users to get richer, more insightful responses from Copilot. When IT administrators enable web grounding for Copilot, Copilot will be able to analyze the web to aid it in answering your questions. With added work grounding, Copilot will be able to analyze your work files, emails, and people in your organization to provide deeper insights to your questions.
MAY
31
We’re rolling out grounding with web search in Copilot for Teams meetings, enabling users to get richer, more insightful responses from Copilot. When IT administrators enable web grounding for Copilot, Copilot will be able to analyze the web to aid it in answering your questions. With added work grounding, Copilot will be able to analyze your work files, emails, and people in your organization to provide deeper insights to your questions.
Sign language users will benefit from an enhanced meeting experience. Interpreters will be clearly identified in the participant roster and visually distinguished throughout meetings. Deaf and hard-of-hearing participants who use sign language will be automatically detected and elevated to active speaker status, ensuring equal prominence with spoken audio participants. This will help create a more equitable and collaborative environment for everyone.
Manage time and streamline meeting discussions with the new countdown timer for Teams meetings, a tool designed to keep meetings efficient and on schedule. Any user can easily add a timer of any duration to the meeting (up to 100 minutes), which will appear in the meeting window for all participants with controls to start, stop, pause, and add more time. Colors automatically change as the timer gets closer to zero to help keep the speaker on track.
Microsoft Teams will retire the recording initiator policy by June 30, 2025. Recordings will default to the meeting organizer’s OneDrive. The fallback sequence will be Organizer -> Co-organizer(s) -> Initiator -> Async Media Storage. No action is required, but proactive adjustments are recommended. More information is available in the provided links.
Microsoft Teams is introducing a new Teams Reader role in the admin center, providing read-only access to most settings. The rollout begins in June 2025 for general availability and July 2025 for GCC High and DoD. Global admins can assign this role, which is ideal for visibility without edit permissions. No admin action is required before rollout.
Users will be able to reference Microsoft Teams meetings when creating presentations with Copilot in PowerPoint. This feature requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and will be available on Windows desktop, Mac desktop, and web versions starting late July 2025. No admin action is required before the rollout.
This month’s update is now also available as a podcast! If you prefer listening over reading, or want to catch up on the latest SharePoint developments while commuting or running, you can now tune in on Spotify and YouTube.
The podcast features AI hosts Maria and John, who dive into the same updates covered in this post but through a conversational format. John brings his technical analyst perspective with attention to detail, while Maria focuses on the strategic implications and user experience impact. As the prompt director, I guide the conversation to ensure we’re covering what matters most for your day-to-day work.
This is an experiment in making tech updates more accessible, so I’d love your feedback on this format. Give it a listen and let me know what you think!
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