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What’s new for Microsoft Teams – December 2025
Every now and then, Microsoft introduces a set of small updates to Teams that end up making a big difference in how we work. December 2025 is no exception. This time, I’m highlighting three features that aren’t related to Copilot but still have the potential to improve productivity and create a stronger sense of connection within organizations.
The first update is a game-changer for Private Channels. For a long time, these channels were limited to chat-only interactions, but that’s about to change. Starting mid-January 2026, apps will be supported in Private Channels, enabling bots, tabs, and message extensions. This upgrade transforms Private Channels into true collaboration spaces, backed by new governance controls. Admins and developers should review policies and update apps to ensure compatibility with channel-level permissions and data compliance.
The second improvement addresses a long-standing pain point: forwarding messages. Until now, forwarding multiple messages meant doing it one by one. With the latest update, you can forward messages in batch, making conversations easier to share. And finally, customization gets a boost with branded reactions. Organizations can now upload custom reaction icons that reflect their brand or event themes, creating more cohesive and on-brand meeting experiences. A simple but powerful way to make meetings feel more connected.
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Microsoft Teams will increase bandwidth for NDI feeds in meetings, enabling up to eight distinct 1080p streams without pinning or spotlighting participants. This automatic enhancement requires no admin changes and will roll out from early to mid-January 2026 for Windows and Mac desktop users.
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Users can view and respond to activity across multiple tenants without switching accounts. You can triage notifications, reply to chats, and pin tenants to the left rail for quick access.
Users will now have commonly misspelled words automatically corrected in compose.
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IT admins can customize the message and privacy link used to notify implicitly or gain explicit consent from meeting participants for the use of recording, transcription during the meeting.
Microsoft Teams now includes a capability that lets users flag calls they believe are unusual or suspicious. When a call is reported, the signal helps Microsoft strengthen security measures and reduce future unwanted or malicious call activity. This feature empowers users to actively contribute to real-time threat detection, enhancing organizational safety.
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This update now enables users to install and update the Network Device Interface (NDI) automatically in Microsoft Teams on MAC devices without any manual process. This allows organizations to broadcast audio and video streams from Teams instances to a user’s local network.
Autocorrect will be added to Microsoft Teams compose for Windows and Mac, automatically correcting common misspellings by default starting December 2025 (Targeted Release) and January-February 2026 (General Availability). Users can disable it in Settings. No admin action is needed; update documentation and inform helpdesk.
Microsoft Teams on macOS will automatically install and update Network Device Interface (NDI) binaries starting January 2026, enabling seamless broadcasting of audio and video streams without manual setup. This feature is enabled by default, affects all macOS users, and requires no admin or user action.
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You can now select up to five messages from a chat or channel and forward them together in one message—preserving both context and order.
This new report helps admins proactively spot unusual or risky interactions with external organizations. By analyzing communication trends and detecting sudden spikes, new domains, or abnormal engagement patterns, it provides early visibility into potential data-sharing or security risks. As external collaboration grows, this report delivers actionable insights to safeguard your tenant while supporting productive cross-organization work.
Security admins with Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 can hunt on calls and meetings made inside Microsoft Teams for their organization
Microsoft Teams now gives you control over how the Enter key works when composing messages. You can choose whether pressing Enter sends your message or starts a new line—making it easier to write longer messages without accidental sends.
Users can discover and add SharePoint agents directly in Microsoft Teams chats on Desktop and Mac via the Add Agents and Bots option or the Teams Store under Agents. The feature rolls out in January 2026, requires no admin action, and supports users with appropriate licensing.
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Express voice enrollment makes registering your voice in Teams fast and easy. Your profile enables features like voice isolation, speaker recognition, identification in a meeting room and transcripts, and enhanced meeting recaps and insights from Microsoft 365 Copilot. If you haven’t enrolled, you’ll get an in-product prompt to opt-in and enroll your voice profile simply by speaking in a meeting. Admins can enable or disable this feature for their organization.
Microsoft Teams will use peer-to-peer update distribution via Delivery Optimization starting December 2025, enabling devices on the same network to share update files. This reduces CDN bandwidth use, speeds updates, and saves up to 30% bandwidth. No admin action is needed, but network policies should allow Delivery Optimization.
Microsoft Teams will introduce a Restart Event feature for live events with unrecoverable failures, rolling out worldwide from January to February 2026. Organizers can restart events to minimize disruption, with no admin setup needed. Attendees may face brief interruptions but can rejoin seamlessly.
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A new Best Practice Configurations Monitoring Dashboard will roll out in early 2026 in the Teams admin center, helping admins monitor and remediate VDI optimization issues in meetings. It highlights non-conformance, shows impacted locations, and allows export of user data for targeted fixes.
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With new branded reactions, organizations can now extend their visual identity directly into meetings. IT admins simply upload custom reaction icons reflecting brand elements or event themes, and these instantly become available for meeting participants. A simple way to create more cohesive, on-brand meeting experiences.
Teams meeting Notes, powered by Loop, are now available for instant calls and meetings, like those started from ‘Meet now’ and calls started from chat. Notes are Loop components in Teams meetings and chats that allow end users to co-create and collaborate on their meeting agenda, notes, and action items that can be co-authored and edited by everyone. Since Notes are Loop components, they stay in sync across all the places they have been shared. Once added, meeting notes can also be shared and edited in the Loop app in your web browser.
Microsoft Teams now supports apps in Private Channels, allowing bots, tabs, and message extensions with new governance controls. Rollout starts mid-January 2026. Admins and developers must update policies and apps for Private Channel compatibility, ensuring compliance with data and permission changes at the channel level.
Express voice enrollment in Microsoft Teams enables quick voice profile registration for enhanced meeting features. It rolls out to enterprise tenants (excluding EDU) starting February 2026, is on by default, and can be managed by admins via PowerShell. Organizations should review policies and communicate changes accordingly.
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Microsoft Teams will introduce Multi-Select Forward, allowing users to forward up to five messages together in one bundled message on desktop and web starting January 2026. Mobile users can view but not forward multiple messages. The feature is on by default, requiring no admin action.
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Admins can now block external users in Microsoft Teams via the Tenant Allow/Block List in the Microsoft Defender portal, controlling access and communications. This feature, rolling out January 2026, supports up to 4,000 domains and 200 emails, with audit logging and no impact on existing Teams settings.
Listen to the latest updates
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.
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