New Copilot Prompt Gallery Prompts app for Microsoft 365 available: Explore full prompt collections across Copilot and agents in the new Prompts app available on Teams, Outlook, and the Microsoft 365 Copilot app.

When this will happen:

General Availability (Worldwide): Microsoft will begin rolling out early February 2025 and expect to complete by mid-February 2025.

How this will affect your organization:

Prompts app will be available for your users to install from Teams, Outlook, and Microsoft 365 Copilot app stores.

What you need to do to prepare:

Copilot Prompt Gallery app will be available for your users to install if:

1. Teams apps are enabled for your tenant.
2. Prompts app has been configured for users in your tenant to install.

Clipchamp brings video creation skills to Visual Creator in Copilot. Simply type your prompt, and Clipchamp will generate a bespoke script, source high-quality stock footage, and assemble a video project complete with music, voiceover, text overlays, and transitions. This provides you with a first draft, which you can open in the Clipchamp app to continue editing. You can then export the video to mp4, which will be saved in OneDrive and count towards your OneDrive quota, ready for sharing. This feature is ideal for creating informational videos, video messaging, how-to guides, demos, and video presentations. Available on the Microsoft 365 Copilot plan.

When this will happen:

General Availability (Worldwide): Microsoft will begin rolling out mid-February 2025 and expect to complete by mid-March 2025.

How this affects your organization:

Once available, users can type a prompt, and Clipchamp will generate a bespoke script, source high-quality stock footage, and assemble a video project complete with music, voiceover, text overlays, and transitions. 

If you frequently take notes in OneNote, you may spend time manually preparing meeting agendas, capturing notes during meetings, or gathering relevant information about projects to stay effective and productive at work. 

With the new Take notes with Copilot feature, you can now use a natural language prompt editor directly on the canvas to pull relevant information from sources such as Microsoft 365 documents, messages, and emails. This allows you to easily:

• Compile agendas for recurring meetings
• Collect relevant project information with associated artifacts
• Pull in key action items from team discussions
• Draft an email outline about a topic
• Write a task list for a project
• And much more

Now users can get started in Copilot Chat quickly with personalized prompt suggestions that provide relevant information based on users’ previous conversations.

Users can now start a chat with Copilot with selected text in a Word document, and the response from Copilot will be scoped to their selection. This will help users to better refine the response from Copilot and help users stay in the flow of work. 

Copilot now includes files based on users’ recent activity when suggesting prompts they can use to draft a new document in word. This enables users to quickly draft a new document in Word without taking the extra time to search through file history.

Plain text files in .txt format can now be referenced when users draft a new document with Copilot in Word. This feature started rolling out in January.  

Creating a new presentation can be challenging. With a simple prompt and a file, Copilot’s Narrative Builder transforms work into a compelling narrative. This gives users the flexibility to steer the story up front, helping to create a draft that has the right flow and the right information. Users can include one Word document (including encrypted documents), and Copilot will pull in information from the text in the document.

Microsoft is making it even easier to draft emails with Copilot in Outlook by introducing new ways to refine and enhance writing. With our latest updates, users have more flexibility throughout the writing process, including the ability to rewrite selected portions of text for more precise edits. To streamline the experience even further, Auto Rewrite will enable faster, more seamless revisions with just a click. Alongside these improvements, Microsoft are launching a redesigned interface that makes Copilot writing assistance even more intuitive and effortless to use. This feature is rolling out in February.

The Copilot icon now appears in an Excel spreadsheet as a convenient entry point for users to access Copilot capabilities in the flow of their work. They can discover formula suggestions, conditional formatting ideas, and explore new ways to visualize data using charts and PivotTables. This feature can be hidden from the grid when users are sharing their screens. This feature is rolling out in February.

Multiple account access to Copilot in Microsoft 365 desktop and mobile apps will be available soon.

When will this happen

General availability (Worldwide): Microsoft will begin rolling out in early March 2025 and expect to complete by late March 2025.

Cloud Policy to manage use will be available by late January 2025.

How this will affect your organization

As an M365 service, Copilot can be used across signed in accounts in clients that allow you to sign in with multiple accounts. This lets users use their Copilot value on any document to which they have permission. Note that Copilot data protection is always based on the identity used to access the file. This ensures enterprise data protection for files in your organization, regardless of which account grants Copilot access. The setting for web grounding in Copilot is also based on the identity used to access the file. If you disabled web grounding in Copilot, users will not be able to use web grounding even when using Copilot access from another account. This feature will be available starting in March 2025, at which point, users signed into accounts with external Copilot licenses will be able to use Copilot on their work and school documents in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote desktop and mobile apps.

Coming soon for Microsoft Teams: A new Mic volume indicator on the user bar in Teams meetings. This feature will provide users with real-time visual feedback on their audio levels in the meeting, eliminating the need to ask, “Can you hear me?” This feature is designed to minimize interruptions as well as enhance user confidence and meeting effectiveness.
This feature applies to Teams on Windows desktop and Mac desktop.

When this will happen:

Targeted Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out in early March 2025 and expect to complete by mid-March 2025.
General Availability (Worldwide, GCC): Microsoft will begin rolling out in late March 2025 and expect to complete by late April 2025.
General Availability (GCC High): Microsoft will begin rolling out in mid-May 2025 and expect to complete by mid-June 2025.
General Availability (DoD): Microsoft will begin rolling out in late June 2025 and expect to complete by early August 2025.

How this will affect your organization:
This feature will be available to users by default and has no admin policy.
Users can select the Mic icon and review the Microphone section of the menu to find out more about their audio levels in the meeting:

Seamlessly integrated hyperlinks enhance message readability and accessibility, ensuring that links are naturally woven into the text. This new feature streamlines the process of adding links, making it faster and more efficient. To use this capability, copy the link you want to insert, type your message in the compose box, highlight the text you want to hyperlink, and paste. Your hyperlink is now ready.

In Microsoft Teams, while in a live meeting, participants will soon be able to edit their display name for the duration of the meeting. This name change is for the meeting duration only and does not affect a participant's original name on their People card.

This feature is available for participants using the Teams desktop and web apps for both Windows and Mac.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 122934.

When this will happen:

Targeted Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out early March 2025 (previously February) and expect to complete by mid-March 2025 (previously mid-February).

General Availability (Worldwide, GCC): Microsoft will begin rolling out early April 2025 (previously mid-March) and expect to complete by mid-April 2025 (previously early April).

General Availability (GCC High, DoD): Microsoft will begin rolling out late April 2025 (previously early April) and expect to complete by mid-May 2025 (previously mid-April).

How this will affect your organization:

The feature is off by default for all tenants. Admins can turn it on for their organization in the Teams admin center for all or selected tenant members. These members can then enable the feature in their private scheduled meetings.

If turned on for the tenant, a meeting organizer can turn the feature on for their meeting in Meeting options > Let people edit their display name. The feature is OFF by default in Meeting options and has to be enabled by meeting organizer.

If turned on for a meeting, participants can join the meeting and then select People at the top of the screen to edit their own display names in the Participants panel.

Example: Daniela Mandera can change her name in a meeting to Daniela M. (Before rollout, Microsoft will update this post with revised user documentation for changing the name.)

Participants who have edited their names will have an (edited) label next to their name in the meeting screens.

*Original People card names will display in some meeting features such as calendar invites, the list of people invited to meetings, group chat rosters, and so on.

Permanent meeting artifacts (such as the attendance report and transcriptions) will not reflect name changes.

Coming soon to Microsoft Teams: Users will have a new Tag mentions filter in the Activity feed to see their tag mentions in their chat and channel messages. The existing @Mentions filter allows users to catch up quickly on personal mentions.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 470598.

When this will happen:

Targeted Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out early February 2025 and expect to complete by early February 2025.

General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): Microsoft will begin rolling out mid-February 2025 and expect to complete by late February 2025.

How this will affect your organization:

This change will be available by default. There are no tenant level settings. Defaults will not change.

What you need to do to prepare:

This rollout will happen automatically by the specified date with no admin action required before or rafter the rollout. You may want to notify your users about this change and update any relevant documentation.

Coming soon for Microsoft Teams: Organizers of town halls and webinars will be able to select and assign presenters to also moderate the Q&A, allowing them to manage and publish questions asked during the event. This feature lets organizers make changes to the group of moderators at any time (before or during the event), and it is available to all users organizing a town hall or webinar.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 469492.

This message applies to Teams for Windows desktop, Teams for Mac desktop, Teams for the web, and Teams for iOS/Android.

When this will happen:

General Availability (Worldwide, GCC): Microsoft will begin rolling out late February 2025 and expect to complete by early March 2025.

How this will affect your organization:

This feature is supported for presenters with Microsoft Azure Active Directory (AAD) IDs. Presenters using consumer domains (such as live.com or gmail.com) are not supported.

Meeting organizers can enable this feature in Meeting options while setting up the event or during the event.

This feature will be available by default.

What you need to do to prepare:

This rollout will happen automatically by the specified date with no admin action required before or after the rollout. Review your current configuration to determine the impact for your organization. You may want to notify your users about this change and update any relevant documentation.

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. 

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 470427

When this will happen:

Targeted Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out mid-February 2025 and expect to complete by early March 2025.

General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): Microsoft will begin rolling out early March 2025 and expect to complete by mid-March 2025.

How this will affect your organization:

With the improved experience, 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. 

Coming soon to Microsoft Teams: As part of our ongoing security improvements, Microsoft is updating the storage path for attachments sent from any email client using the Send an email to a channel in Microsoft Teams feature in Teams.

(Note: An admin needs to turn on this feature in the Teams admin center > Teams settings > Email integration > Users can send emails to a channel email address)

This message applies to Teams for Windows desktop, Teams for the web, Teams for Mac desktop, and Teams for iOS/Android.

When this will happen:

General Availability (Worldwide, GCC): Microsoft rolled out in mid-December 2024 and expect to complete by late January 2025

How this will affect your organization:

After this rollout, attachments sent to a Teams channel through email will be stored in the channel on Microsoft SharePoint at Documents > Apps > Microsoft Teams Mailhook > Channel Name

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.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 470432

When this will happen:

Targeted Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out early February 2025 and expect to complete by mid-February 2025.

General Availability (Worldwide): Microsoft will begin rolling out mid-February 2025 and expect to complete by late February 2025.

General Availability (GCC): Microsoft will begin rolling out late February 2025 and expect to complete by early March 2025.

General Availability (GCC High and DoD): Microsoft will begin rolling out late March 2025 and expect to complete by early April 2025.

How this will affect your organization:

When users join a town hall, webinar, or structured meeting with Green Room turned ON, they will now see the "End event" or "End meeting" button:

Coming soon for Microsoft Teams: Microsoft will roll out SMS chat in calling plans for customers in the United States and Canada. This capability would enable customers to send and receive SMS natively in Teams. This message applies to Teams for Windows desktop, Teams for Mac desktop, and Teams for iOS/Android.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 470999.

When this will happen:

General Availability (Worldwide): Microsoft will begin rolling out mid-February 2025 and expect to complete by late February 2025.

How this will affect your organization:

Admins can enable SMS for users who have calling plans. Users will start to see PSTN (public switched telephone network) contacts in various search areas to start a SMS chat in Teams.

This change will be available by default.

What you need to do to prepare:

This rollout will happen automatically by the specified date. However, to enable numbers with SMS, admin action is required for 10DLC (10-digit long code). Microsoft will be enabling the admin experiences and Teams experiences by the specified date. 

Microsoft is excited to announce that users will soon be redirected to new streamlined and efficient home pages for Microsoft Word for the web, Microsoft Excel for the web, and Microsoft PowerPoint for the web (WXP). The new home pages are available now at:

• https://word.cloud.microsoft
• https://excel.cloud.microsoft
• https://powerpoint.cloud.microsoft

When this will happen:

Targeted Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out in late February 2025 and expect to complete in mid-March 2025.

General Availability (Worldwide): Microsoft will begin rolling out mid-March 2025 and expect to complete by late April 2025.

How this will affect your organization

During the rollout, some users will be taken to the new WXP homepages. The WXP entry points being changed are the Microsoft 365 app launcher, the Microsoft 365 AppBar, and the Microsoft 365 Apps page. The new homepages are offered in 39 languages with additional languages arriving in the coming months. The previous Microsoft 365 launch pages for WXP for the web will continue to be available at the existing URLs until after the rollout is complete.

App launcher showing the apps that will have new home pages:

Coming soon to Microsoft Outlook: Outlook users will be able to set custom descriptions for their accounts, making it easier to identify their multiple accounts in the Outlook folder list as well as various lists and menus across Outlook. This message applies to Outlook for Windows.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 470602.

When this will happen:

Targeted Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out in late February 2025 and expect to complete by late March 2025.

General Availability (Worldwide): Microsoft will begin rolling out in late March 2025 and expect to complete by late April 2025.

How this will affect your organization:

Users can set the custom descriptions in Outlook Settings > Accounts > Your Accounts > Manage:

In this example, the user chose "Work" as the name of their first account:

Examples of custom descriptions ("Work" and "Personal") for multiple Outlook accounts:

Coming soon to new Microsoft Outlook for Windows desktop and Microsoft Outlook for the web: Users can customize folder icon colors, making it easier to visually differentiate and personalize folders.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 472921.

When this will happen:

Targeted Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out early February 2025 and expect to complete by late February 2025.

General Availability (Worldwide): Microsoft will begin rolling out late March 2025 and expect to complete by late March 2025.

General Availability (GCC, GCC High, DoD): Microsoft will begin rolling out late April 2025 and expect to complete by late April 2025.

How this will affect your organization:

After this rollout, this feature will be available for all Outlook accounts except for shared mailboxes and shared folders. Colors work for light and dark mode. Note: Some Outlook themes will have low contrast with some folder colors.

To change the color of a folder, a user can hover over the folder name, select the three-dot menu, select Change color and then choose a color.

To turn off the color, follow the same process, and select Automatic.

The folder color will display in the list of folders and in Favorites if the colored folder is added to Favorites.

Coming soon: The installed name for new Microsoft Outlook for Windows will change from "Outlook (new)" to "Outlook."
This rollout comes after a change to the classic Outlook in version 2407, previously announced in MC803006 (Update) Outlook for Windows display name change (published June 2024, updated August 2024), which added "(classic)" to the installed name to differentiate the two apps.

When this will happen:
General Availability (Worldwide, GCC): Microsoft will begin rolling out early February 2025 and expect to complete by late February 2025.

What you need to do to prepare:
Outlook in the Windows Start menu. Left: Before the name change. Right: After the name change:

Customers have asked Microsoft to reduce the size of the Microsoft Teams meeting recordings when exported from Microsoft Clipchamp. Due to the way Clipchamp encodes the files, the file size of these exports can be larger than the original files. To address this issue, Microsoft implemented an algorithm to optimize the Teams meeting recording videos without compromising quality. After this rollout, meeting recordings exported from Clipchamp will be efficiently compressed, making them easier to store and share.

When this will happen:
General Availability (Worldwide): Available now. Microsoft began rolling out early January 2025 and completed in mid-January 2025.
How this will affect your organization:
This feature will be on by default.

What you need to do to prepare:
This rollout will happen automatically by the specified date with no admin action required before or after the rollout. You may want to notify your users about this change and update any relevant documentation.