Give them the spotlight

Organizers and presenters are now able to spotlight multiple people in a meeting so that their videos or profile pictures are pinned  for everyone to see. To learn more, see Spotlight someone’s video in a Teams meeting.

Collection of Teams diagnostic logs just got easier

Right-click on the Teams icon in the system tray and choose Collect support files. All desktop and debug logs will be collected in one folder in Downloads. This option will also include media logs (if enabled in Settings). More information can be found at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/log-files.

A bigger, better world of emoji

Express yourself in Teams with a wider range of diversity and representation. The emoji set in Teams has grown from 85 to over 800 emoji, including new categories and different skin tones for specific emoji.

Share system audio on macOS

When you share a desktop or window in Teams on Mac, you can now include your computer’s sound so people that have joined the meeting can hear the audio coming from it. 

Improved sharing in Teams meetings

Want to share a PowerPoint slide deck, a window, Microsoft Whiteboard, or a specific screen on your device? With the redesigned sharing experience, it’s now easier to find the right content when you need it. Need to share audio, too? You’ll also find that when you select Share content   in a Teams meeting.

For more details—including a screenshot of the new design—go to Share content in a meeting in Teams.

Manage who can turn on their camera 

There are two ways to prevent meeting attendees from turning their camera on during meetings. Before the meeting, in Meeting options, turn off the Allow camera for attendees? toggle and then select Save. During the meeting, the organizer and presenters can disable the camera of all or individual attendees by selecting More options   next to Participants and then Disable camera for attendees. 

For more details, see Manage attendee audio and video permissions in Teams meetings.

Set your out of office from Teams

Whether you’re going on an adventure for a week or offline for the afternoon, you can now set your out of office status and Automatic Replies from the Teams desktop or web app. 

Select your profile picture, and then Set status message > Schedule out of office. Or go to Settings > General > Out of Office and select Schedule. Just as you would in Outlook, you can personalize  your automatic reply and choose how long it’s set.

Choose your notification style

If you are using Teams on Windows, you now have the option to choose between the Teams built-in (purple) desktop notifications or your PC’s Windows desktop notifications. With Windows notification style you have more control, such as muting notifications while in Focus assist mode.

To change your notifications style, select Settings > Notifications. In the menu next to Notification style, select the arrow and choose Windows.

New lobby settings for people you invite

We’ve added a new lobby setting that lets people invited to the meeting to bypass the meeting lobby. You’ll find this setting in Meeting options. In the dropdown next to Who can bypass the lobby?, choose People I invite.

Anyone who receives an invitation, including a forwarded invite, will join the meeting directly. This doesn’t include distribution lists—people must be invited individually. To prevent forwarded invites, turn off Allow Forwarding in Outlook when you schedule the meeting.

To learn more about meeting settings, see Change participant settings for a Teams meeting.

New attendee mic settings in meetings

We’ve also got two new updates to how meeting organizers and presenters manage audio for their attendees.

The first update allows you to unmute attendees even if their hands aren’t raised (previously required).

The second update helps organizers and presenters reduce distractions by preventing specific attendees from unmuting during a Teams meeting. Open the list of participants, select More options   next to a person’s name, and then select Don’t allow to unmute.

To learn more about managing audio in meetings, see Manage attendee audio permissions in Teams meetings.

Share an email to Teams from Outlook

While viewing an email in the Outlook desktop app. select Share to Teams located in the ribbon. In Outlook on the web (and the new Outlook for Mac), select More actions   and choose Share to Teams. Learn more at Share an email to Teams from Outlook.

Meet now or later

Now you can create an instant meeting by using the Meet now button at the top of Calendar. To start a meeting—and get a shareable link to it—select Meet now. Give the meeting a distinct name (to help find the meeting chat later) and then choose Get a link to share or Start meeting. If you choose Start meeting, you’ll jump directly into a meeting where you can invite other to join. For more info, see Start an instant meeting in Teams.

Start a Teams meeting instantly from Outlook

Instant meetings have also made their way to Outlook for Windows. Just as you would in Teams, open your calendar in Outlook where you’ll find Meet Now at the top of the ribbon. Select it to pop open a Teams meeting to get a meeting link or invite participants.

Let’s recap

Teams now provides a recap of Teams meetings so participants—and those who couldn’t make it—can review a completed meeting. A recap including the meeting recording, transcript, chat, shared files, and more are automatically shared in the meeting chat tab and viewable in the details tab of the meeting invite. Organizers will also find the attendance report here.

Move around with the new grid view

When you’re presenting a PowerPoint deck from the Teams desktop or web app, you have the option to skip certain slides (or go back to one) with the new grid view for presenters. To use grid view in a meeting, choose the PowerPoint option when you go to share content. While in a presentation, select Go to slide in the lower left of the presentation (or type G) to see a thumbnail view of each slide. Choose the thumbnail that you want, and you’ll go to that location.

Learn more about presenting in a Teams meeting at Share content in a meeting in Teams.

We’ve made history

Quickly revisit previous areas you’ve been to in Teams with the Back arrow    at the top of the app. When you hover over the arrow, a history of conversations, channels, apps, activities, tabs, and files will appear. Choose an item from the list to immediately jump back to that spot in Teams. Learn more at Use History to revisit where you’ve been.

When you just don’t have the words

Show them what you’re feeling with reactions—now in meetings. Choose from like, love, applause, and laugh. Learn how to use reactions in your next meeting at Express yourself in Teams meetings with live reactions.

New keyboard shortcuts in meetings

Use these shortcuts to raise your hand in a meeting and find out who else has theirs raised. Ctrl+Shift+K (Command+Shift+K on macOS) raises and lowers your hand. Ctrl+Shift+L (Command+Shift+L on macOS) will have your screen reader read aloud a list of anyone else currently raising their hand.

Presenters! Pick up where you left off

Whether you’ve stopped presenting and need to share again, or you and a colleague are tag-teaming a big presentation, Teams has your back. You—or anyone else with access to the file in the meeting—can stop presenting a PowerPoint deck and resume again from the same spot. When you go to share your screen in a meeting, choose the PowerPoint file you want to present. The next time it’s shared in that meeting, you’ll have the option to resume the presentation or start over.

Your agenda is now in Teams for free

Now, when you schedule a meeting in the free version of Teams you have an agenda view that lists all of your upcoming meetings. With this new view you also get a way to copy an invite to share with others and a quick access to Meeting options. Get the full details at Getting started with meetings in Teams free.

Google Workspace gets Teams meetings

Now, it’s easy to schedule and join a Teams meeting directly from your Google Workspace calendar with the new Teams add-on. Make video calls, brainstorm together with a digital whiteboard, and stay connected across your school and work. Get instructions on how to add Teams to your Google Workspace at Install Teams meeting add-on for Google Workspace.

Set the scene with Together mode

We’ve got new scenes for your next meeting in Together mode. So take your team from the auditorium to a world of 8-bit pixels, a winter wonderland, or under the sea. To change the scene once you’re in Together mode, select Change scene    in the bottom left corner of your meeting.

Publish a company-wide task list

Create and track work for your entire organization with the new task publishing feature in the Tasks app. Admins and managers can get full details on task publishing at Manage the Tasks app for your organization in Microsoft Teams.

You’ve been approved!

Use the Approvals app in Teams to streamline requests and processes with teammates and partners. Create requests, view ones sent to you, a view all past approval requests in one place. Watch a quick video to get up to speed on how it all works.

Have small group discussions with breakout rooms

With teachers and meeting organizers looking for ways to encourage meaningful discussion, a need for small groups to break out into smaller group discussions. Luckily, you can get just that with breakout rooms in Teams meetings.

Organizers can learn how to set up breakout rooms via the Windows or Mac desktop app at Use breakout rooms in Teams meetings.

Channel calendars have arrived

Schedule meetings as a team with the new shared channel calendar. Now you can view all channel events in one location and add them to your personal calendar. Get all the details at See all your meetings in Teams.

October 16, 2020