Microsoft 365 Message Center

Microsoft Planner will introduce a new service plan enabling task-based chat for better collaboration, rolling out worldwide in early January 2026. It will be included in specific Planner, Project, and Dynamics 365 licenses and enabled by default. No immediate admin action is needed.

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.

Starting January 2026, IT admins can customize Teams recording and transcription notification messages and privacy links per meeting policy, aligning consent language with organizational needs. Custom messages have a 200-character limit, support explicit and implicit consent, and apply only when ...

Microsoft 365 Copilot declarative agents will upgrade to the GPT-5.1 model with an auto architecture by mid-January 2026. The upgrade enables advanced reasoning for complex queries, requires no admin changes, is enabled by default, and affects all tenants using these agents. No action or complian...

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 sh...

Starting with the January 2026 security update, the AllowOOBEUpdates CSP policy will

Microsoft Defender for Identity v2.x sensors will start using new IP addresses from the AzureAdvancedThreatProtection service tag range beginning mid-December 2025. Organizations restricting outbound IPs must update firewall rules to allow this range to avoid connectivity loss; no action is neede...

Microsoft 365 Copilot will enable natural language commands for email triage—pinning, flagging, archiving, marking read/unread, and completing tasks—in Outlook. Available mid-December 2025 for licensed users, this feature requires no admin changes and aims to simplify inbox management.

Microsoft will enable admins to onboard external partners to Viva Glint via a simplified process starting December 2025. Partners can be added as Support Users through Entra ID guest accounts to manage employee engagement surveys. Admin action is required to enable partner access, with guidance p...

Microsoft 365 will allow tenant admins to add up to 10 custom properties from external systems to user profile cards, enhancing collaboration. This feature, off by default, rolls out worldwide from mid to late January 2026 and is configurable via Microsoft 365 admin center using Microsoft Graph P...

Baseline Security Mode centralizes Microsoft’s recommended security standards for Office, SharePoint, Exchange, Teams, and Entra. Rolling out from November 2025 to March 2026, it provides admins with a dashboard to assess and improve security posture using impact reports and risk-based recommenda...

Microsoft will perform planned maintenance on the Windows 365 alerting service in the EU on January 10, 2026, from 6:00 to 8:00 AM UTC. During this time, admins cannot create or edit alert rules, and new alerts may be delayed. Existing alerts remain visible, with minimal disruption expected.