Welcome to our fifth roundup of 2024. We look at what was announced, released and delayed across Microsoft 365 and Copilot in May.
These hand-picked highlights are mainly from the admin centre, Microsoft 365 Roadmap (I call these ‘ones to watch’) and Microsoft blog. I aim to deliver my versions of these updates in plain English, in a simplified format and with end-users in mind.
Once you are all caught up with May, check out June’s running blog, and remember to look back at April in case you missed anything.
Remember, you can also watch on YouTube, listen to the podcast and follow along on LinkedIn, X/Twitter or Threads.
Here are this month’s topics:
Copilot
Enhanced notifications for Copilot use without transcription
Microsoft: “We are updating the notification copy for Copilot in non-transcription mode to explain more clearly that Copilot is being used without transcription, and that data is not saved after a meeting ends. Additionally, we are incorporating a customizable Privacy Policy link. This link can direct to an internal URL specific to your tenant or default to the Microsoft Privacy Policy when an internal one is unavailable. The same link is utilized for the Recording and Transcription Privacy Policy”. Ref. MC793653. Due late May to early June 2024.
PowerPoint Copilot ‘Create presentation from file’ is gaining support for protected and encrypted Word documents
Microsoft PowerPoint Copilot ‘Create presentation from file’ will soon support protected or encrypted Word documents. Due early to late June 2024. Read more.
Draft with Copilot in Microsoft Word based on text, list, or table selections
You will soon be able to use Draft with Copilot in Microsoft Word with the on-canvas Copilot menu and existing text, a list, or a table. Due late April to August 2024. Read more.
Coming soon to Outlook: Access the Copilot app
A Copilot icon will soon be added to the left app bar in new Microsoft Outlook for Windows, Microsoft Outlook for the web and classic Outlook. Due early May to early June 2024. Read more.
Update to supported languages in Teams Meeting Copilot
Microsoft: “Teams Meeting Copilot now supports 16 new languages, making a total of 27 supported languages. Unsupported language responses have been removed to avoid misuse”. New languages from May 2024: Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Korean, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, and Ukrainian.
Lists
Updates bring Microsoft SharePoint Lists closer to the Lists app
This update hopes to improve the overall performance of Microsoft Lists and introduces new features including: the ability to add ratings to any list, drag and/or paste images directly into a list, see who is collaborating with you in real-time, switch views by clicking tabs, view date/time values in your preferred date settings and time zone, and more. Due late July to late September 2023. Read more.
OneDrive
Delayed: Want to access your OneDrive files using OneDrive for the web or Teams…when offline? You need the new Offline Mode
Soon, on your Windows and macOS devices that have the OneDrive sync app installed, a new feature called “Offline mode” will be enabled for OneDrive. This feature will allow you to continue working with the OneDrive web app in your browser, OneDrive PWA (Progressive Web App), or Microsoft Teams when you’re offline. Now due late February to late May 2024. Read more.
Outlook
New search folders supported in new Outlook for Windows and web
Microsoft: “There are two new search folder options for new Microsoft Outlook for Windows and new Microsoft Outlook for web to expand search capabilities: Categorized Mail and Mail from Specific People” and “With the introduction of the Categorized Mail folder option, users can now search across up to 10 categories spread across their folders, streamlining their access to categorized emails. Similarly, the introduction of the Mail from Specific People folder lets users locate emails from up to 10 designated individuals across their folders”. Due early to late July 2024. Related: Use Search Folders to find messages or other Outlook items – Microsoft Support.
Split view in Month view in Microsoft Outlook for the Web and new Outlook for Windows
Split view is available for Day, Week, and Work Week views. Soon, when viewing multiple calendars in Month view, you will be able to select Split view to see the calendars displayed side by side. Ref: MC793320. Due early June to early July 2024.
Delayed: Pick a local folder when Saving Attachments in the new Outlook for Windows
Microsoft: The new Outlook for Windows update allows users to choose a local folder when saving attachments, streamlining the process and reducing steps…”. Refs: MC694648 and 365 Roadmap ID: 167892. Now due mid-April to late May 2024.
SharePoint
Preview opt-in: Improved document library version history controls
Microsoft: “Microsoft SharePoint is introducing improved version history controls to enhance data protection and storage management. Admins can set intelligent version deleting options and default organization limits. The Public Preview begins in May 2024, with General Availability starting in August 2024. New capabilities include automatic and manual version limits, consistent default settings, and detailed version storage reporting. Users can view and adjust file version expirations”. Refs: MC789209 and 365 Roadmap ID 145802. I will revisit this update and provide more details for end users closer to August, when this feature is expected to become generally available.
Teams
Meeting organisers will soon be prompted to create Loop workspaces for recurring meetings
Microsoft Teams will soon prompt meeting organisers of recurring meetings with 3-50 invitees to create a Loop workspace for sharing and collaborating on meeting content. Due mid-May to June 2024. Read more.
Notification suppression is coming to hidden Teams channels
Currently, you receive team and channel notifications (mentions, reactions, replies, etc.) from hidden channels. Notification suppression for hidden channels will suppress these notifications. Due mid-June to early July 2024. Read more.
Ask to join a shared channel with a channel link
Microsoft: “Microsoft Teams will soon allow in-tenant users to request to join a shared channel using a channel link. Channel owners can approve or deny these requests”. Previously, the user would simply receive a You don’t have access message. Refs: MC792603 and 365 Roadmap ID 325330. Due mid-July 2024.
Manage Do Not Disturb presence status when screen sharing
Microsoft: “Microsoft is introducing a new Teams feature that allows users to disable the automatic Do Not Disturb (DND) status during screen sharing”. Refs: MC791879 and 365 Roadmap ID 393228. Due mid-June to early July 2024.
Soon, you will be able to drag that annoying Microsoft Teams Presenter Toolbar out of the way when screen sharing.
Teams is getting a draggable, collapsing presenter toolbar when screen sharing. Due mid to late June. Read more.
File image previews are coming to Microsoft Teams messages
Microsoft Teams will soon show file previews in chats and channels. Due early June 2024. Read more.
Avatar wardrobe updates will be available soon
New professional wardrobe styles for avatars are coming to Microsoft Teams. Due May 2024. Read more: Avatars in Microsoft Teams – What’s new – Microsoft Mesh | Microsoft Learn.
Teams message reactions added to the right-click menu
Soon, right-clicking any message in Microsoft Teams will show reactions in the right-click menu. Due mid to late May 2024. Read more.
Delayed: Tags will be supported in Private Channels
Microsoft: “Microsoft Teams will support tags in private channels, with a rollout starting mid-February and completing by mid-May 2024. Users can @ mention groups with tags. Learn about tag management and user guidance through provided documentation…”. Refs: MC707674 and 365 Roadmap ID 373545. Now due late February to mid-May 2024.
Delayed: Profile Card in Teams Mobile
Microsoft: “When you tap on someone’s name or picture in Teams mobile, you can find information related to them on their profile card. To see your own profile card, select your own name or profile picture. This new profile card in Teams mobile has fresh experiences to help users contact and contextualize other users, as well as express themselves through setting their pronouns and profile picture”. Ref: MC692023. Now due early January to late June 2024. See full images of own card and colleagues’ card.
Delayed: Workflows within the Microsoft Teams chats menu
The rise of Workflows in Teams continues. Microsoft: “To make sure Microsoft Teams provides the best workflow experience for our users we are making it easier to configure workflows for chats. From the list of chats users will be able to go into the overflow menu for a specific chat (…) and select “Workflows”. Here they will see a list of workflow templates specific to chats within Teams. Users can then configure these templates to their needs and deploy them to the chat”. Refs: MC683929 and Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 180364. Now due mid-November 2023 to mid-May 2024.
Delayed: Agenda View Refresh in Teams Mobile
Microsoft: “Teams calendar on mobile devices displays the live status of a meeting with avatars of the participants who are in the call, whether the meeting is being recorded and the duration of the meeting”. Refs: MC698125 and 365 Roadmap ID 98328. Now due late January to mid-May 2024.
Delayed: Co-organiser experience upgrades for Microsoft Teams Webinars and Townhalls
Co-organisers will soon gain the ability to edit event details like title, date/time, description, event details as well as publish, and cancel the event. Now due mid-October to early November 2024. Read more.
Delayed: Teams is integrating chat notification settings with the meeting RSVP
Microsoft: “You will not receive notifications or see chats from meetings you declined. You will be able to set how you want to be notified for meetings you RSVP with Accept or Tentative from Microsoft Teams settings”. Refs: MC704035 and 365 Roadmap ID 161739. Now due early to mid-June 2024.
Delayed: Explicit transcription consent to transcribe meetings
Microsoft: “Microsoft Teams will require explicit consent from participants for transcription during meetings if the policy ‘get recording and transcription consent’ is turned on”. Refs: MC764456 and 365 Roadmap ID 389368. Now due early to mid-June 2024 if your organisation has turned this feature on.
Delayed: Meeting recordings to be saved in the organiser’s Microsoft OneDrive 😍
Currently, Teams meeting recordings are saved to the OneDrive of the person who started the recording. This change will save them in the organiser’s OneDrive regardless of who started recording. As is the case now, if the organiser does not have OneDrive, is out of storage, or the recording fails to upload, the recording will be available in the meeting chat. Refs: MC772558 and 365 Roadmap ID 116251. Now due early to mid-June 2024.
Around Microsoft 365
Delayed: Microsoft Whiteboard: @mentions in comments
Microsoft: “Microsoft Whiteboard will introduce @mentions in comments, allowing users to mention others within their tenant”. “Users will receive notifications via email and Outlook, and see badges on comments for mentions and unread replies”. Refs: MC765810 and Microsoft 365 Roadmap IDs 164888 and 164889. Now due mid-May to early June 2024.
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Many of the above images are from Microsoft.com. Thank you to the Microsoft product teams for the information, updates and images they share.
