Here’s everything you need to know:

Deactivate and delete organizations in Viva Goals

According to the Microsoft 36 Roadmap, admins can soon deactivate organizations or even delete them when requested from the iva Goals Admin portal. They’ll also be able to configure the settings to deactivate dormant organizations automatically.

The feature is expected to start rolling out to users later this month and should hit general availability by mid-July 2023. Microsoft further added that admins will be able to,

• Deactivate organizations that are not required or even permanently delete them.
• Configure to automatically deactivate and delete inactive organizations.
• Reactivate any deactivated organization within 90 days.

Animated Backgrounds in Teams Meetings

Microsoft is also busy at work in a bid to refresh the meeting experience in Teams with animated backgrounds. The feature will replace the platform’s existing background with a dynamic animation for a more immersive virtual environment. What’s more, it ships with a wide variety of options to enhance the meeting experience with creativity and personalization according to users’ preferences.

Teams already supports pre-defined backgrounds from Microsoft. The feature tagged 122513 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap is expected to roll out in early July and will hit broad availability later that month.

The are also plenty of updates rolling out across the Microsoft 365 suite. Be sure to check out some of our recap posts for more information.

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Here’s everything you need to know:

Handwriting Beautification and Ink Straightening for Microsoft Whiteboard

Microsoft is enhancing Whiteboard’s user experience by making handwriting more readable across the web, Teams, Windows app, and Surface Hubs/MTR experiences. The feature tagged 124897 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap will make it easier for users to collaborate on projects while using ink.

The new experience is expected to start rolling out to users early this month and hit general availability towards the end of the month.

Zooming controls in Teams

Microsoft is introducing zoom in and zoom out buttons in Teams meetings to help enhance visibility for users when interacting with screenshares. The feature was already available on the platform, only that users needed to engage it using the pinch to zoom gesture on trackpad or other shortcuts.

According to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, the feature tagged 116010 is expected to start rolling out to users early this month and ship to general availability by late June.

PDF Annotation and Interactable Form Fields in OneDrive

And finally, Microsoft is making it easier for users to annotate hand-drawn ink into PDF documents in OneDrive via the “Edit” action in Microsoft OneDrive for the Web. What’s more, the changes will be automatically saved. “Additionally, OneDrive for Web allows you to interact with form fields, making editing and modifying PDF documents simple,” says Microsoft.

The feature tagged 124802 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap is expected to hit general availability later this month. It’s already rolling out to users,

That’s it for this week, folks. Be sure to let us know which feature you’re anticipating most in the comments.

Here’s everything you need to know:

Text Predictions for OneNote on Windows

Microsoft has announced that the text predictions feature is shipping for OneNote on Windows users. The feature tagged 124909 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap will let users see text predictions when writing documents in English in OneNote on Windows. They can then use the tab or right arrow key to accept the suggested text that aligns with whatever they were writing.

The feature will help enhance productivity for users and is expected to start rolling out next month. It should hit general availability by late July 2023.

New UI for the Microsoft Whiteboard app

The Microsoft Whiteboard app is also set to get a refreshed and revamped user interface across all its clients. According to Microsoft, the update will also make move the whiteboarding tools upfront and the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. This change is designed to enhance the user’s interaction with the app while simultaneously enhancing discoverability.

The feature tagged 124900 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap should start rolling out to users in early June and hit broad availability later in the same month.

What’s more, Microsoft has also announced the incorporation of an Ink Picker into the platform. The company further added:

Users will soon be able to enjoy a wide range of colors for inking using the latest color picker feature. In addition to color picker, a slider will also be provided to change opacity level of pens. This functionality will be rolled out automatically to Whiteboard for the web, Microsoft Teams, Windows App & Surface Hubs/MTR experiences as well as Annotations in Teams meetings.

The feature tagged 124899 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap is expected to roll out to users in early June and ship to broad availability by late June 2023.

Microsoft Viva Connections News Notifications

Microsoft has also unveiled mobile push notifications for SharePoint news in Viva Connections. The feature tagged 98112 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap will deliver notifications to users via the Teams app when Viva Connections is installed.

The company also indicated that the notifications will also pop up when:

• News is published to a SharePoint site a user follows or visits frequently.
• Someone comments on a News post the user authored.
• Someone has ‘Liked’ a News post the user authored.
• The user is @ mentioned in a comment on a news post.
• When opened, notifications will take users directly to the news content in the Viva Connections app.

It is set to start rolling out to users next month and hit general availability towards mid-June.

That’s it for this week folks. Be sure to catch up with all our Build 2023 coverage here, and also check out our podcast, OnPodcast, with the crew, Kareem Anderson and David Allen this Sunday to catch up on anything you might have missed.

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Apple Watch app for To Do iOS

Microsoft is making it easier for Apple users to remain organized and on top of their tasks throughout the day. According to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, Microsoft To Do users will be able to add tasks and view their To Do lists from the Apple Watch app.

The feature tagged 98122 is expected to start rolling out in early June and hit general availability by late June 2023.

According to Microsoft:

Users with the latest version of the To Do app installed on their Apple watch will see the To Do app logo on their Apple watch. Users can customize their views from the “Watch app settings” page in the main To Do app settings.

Microsoft Teams: Collaborative Stageview

Microsoft is also making it easier for Teams users to open app content in a separate Teams window that’s been built for collaboration. The feature tagged 93769 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap is expected to start rolling out in early June and will hit general availability by late June 2023.

The feature will let users interact with content and conversation, side-by-side. For apps that have built their experience for Collab Stage, it allows users to:

• Open their content from eligible adaptive cards directly into a new Teams window
• Engage with their app content in a large Teams canvas
• Continue the conversation from which they came, within the Collaborative Stageview side panel

That’s it for this week folks! Be sure to check out last week’s recap in case you missed it. Also, let us know what you think in the comment section below.

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And as we come to the end of the week, as usual, it’s time to recap all the key features Microsoft announced as coming to its Microsoft 365 suite. Here’s everything you need to know:

Outlook on the web – Work Hours and Location

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, a lot of organizations transitioned to hybrid work, and with people working asynchronously across different times, it may be difficult to pass communication appropriately. It is important to strike a balance between work and personal time, you’d not like to be thinking about work while hanging out with friends and family.

Microsoft has now announced a new feature to Outlook on the web that will allow users to set up their work hours and location (WHL). The feature tagged 88822 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap will let users specify when they’ll be working remotely or in the office.

What’s more, users can set up different working hours per day, or multiple work slots in a day. Additionally, if you use Teams too and have the feature enabled on Outlook, the location status will also be displayed on your Teams profile card.

According to Microsoft:

The new WHL also impacts how “suggested times” work when creating a meeting event in Outlook on the web. Suggested times will take into account the WHL of the attendees before suggesting times when people are available.

The feature is expected to start rolling out to users later this month and hit general availability by early June.

Microsoft Teams: New ‘Sync device buttons’ setting

Microsoft has introduced new Sync device buttons toggle under the Teams Desktop client Settings (Devices tab). The setting is designed to help users disable syncing between their device controls and with Teams.

The feature is already available in preview and is currently in the roll out phase. It’s expected to hit broad availability by mid-May. “The purpose of this feature is to offer an option for end users to disable the syncing of their connected Peripherals with the Teams Desktop client to allow for co-existence scenarios with other HID-enabled or speech-recognition apps,” says Microsoft.

Microsoft Edge management service

For those unfamiliar with the Microsoft Edge management service, it’s essentially a single portal for admins designed to help them manage the Edge browser. And now, Microsoft has announced that admins will have the capability to configure all Edge browser policies for their organization in a configuration profile and set-up the browser to use these settings.

The feature tagged 124856 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap is expected to start rolling out mid-July and hit general availability by mid-August.

That’s it for this week folks! In related news, Microsoft added a new feature to the Microsoft 365 mobile app for both iOS and Android users that lets them sign PDFs. The feature is currently rolling out to Microsoft 365 Insiders, it’s not yet clear when it will hit broad availability.

Be sure to check out last week’s recap post in case you missed it. Let us know which feature you’re anticipating most in the comments.

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Avatars for Microsoft Teams

Back in March, Microsoft announced that Avatars for Teams had shipped to public preview and that the feature was set to hit general availability in May. However, the company has since updated the rollout time for the feature tagged 107969 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap and has indicated that it is expected to start rolling out in late May and will hit general availability by early July.

The feature is designed to help provide users with a break from attending virtual meetings personally. Once you’ve created your Avatar in Teams, you can use it to attend meetings allowing you to be away from the camera while in the meeting.

New Channels Experience for Teams

According to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, the feature tagged 91683 is bringing a new channel experience to Teams that’s built on an intuitive design. the new experience will allow users to stay informed and remain engaged with everything that’s going on at the workplace. Here are the features that are expected to roll out in early June and hit general availability by mid-June:

• The compose box and recent posts will appear at the top of the page. It’ll now be much easier to start a new post, keep up with the latest conversations and participate – giving users the confidence that they’ve not missed anything.
• Every post is now a true conversation that users can focus on. Users can navigate to a conversation view that makes the discussion more engaging and synchronous, just like a chat. Users can also pop out the post, keep an eye on the discussion, while continuing to work on other topics.
• A streamlined information pane will include all the important contextual information like channel’s members and pinned posts so new team members can quickly on-board and for all members to find the information they need, right in the channel.
• Pin posts to make it easy for everyone to know what’s important in the channel and quickly reference it.
• Simplified badging is making it easier for users to understand when there are new unread activities in teams. In addition, the simplified design helps users focus on the specific channels which requires the most attention, like channels in which the user was @mentioned.

Introducing Microsoft Whiteboard App in Teams

Microsoft has announced that a new Whiteboard app is making its way to Microsoft Teams. Essentially, the app will allow users to create, collaborate and share right within Teams, as well as outside of Teams meetings.

The feature started rolling out in mid-April and is expected to ship to general availability by mid-May. Microsoft had previously stated that it was meant to hit broad availability by late April.

That’s it for this week folks. We invite you to check out last week’s recap in case you missed it. Be sure to also let us know which feature you’re anticipating most in the comments.

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Pride Themes in New Mac Outlook

Microsoft has announced a host of new colorful themes inspired by the flags of the LGBTQI+ communities making their way to the New Mac Outlook. According to Microsoft the feature tagged 88536 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, will help the community “show their Pride.”

By switching to the Pride theme, the Mac Outlook client will feature rainbow accent colors. The company has further added that:

You can celebrate Pride by choosing one of five different themes inspired by the Pride, Lesbian, Bisexual, Non-binary, and Transgender flags. (The Outlook themes will be available on a year-round basis, not just during the month of June.)

The feature is expected to start rolling out to the Preview channel in mid-May and will hit general availability by early June 2023.

Revamped and refreshed Teams admin center

IT admins will soon get a new and improved Teams experience, making the announcement earlier this week, Microsoft has indicated that there are plans underway to “launch a vibrant new look and feel to the Teams Admin Center.”

Microsoft has already begun shipping this experience to some users, though it’s expected to hit general availability in early May this year. The new experience will also feature several key enhancements such as the visual redesign of TA, changes to the navigation menu, and new micro-interactions that have been designed to enhance the user experience for IT admins.

That’s it for this week folks. We invite you to check out last week’s recap in case you missed it. Be sure to also let us know which Microsoft 365 feature you’re anticipating most in the comments.

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Intelligent Meeting Recap in Microsoft 365 Feed

Microsoft has announced that the Intelligent Meeting Recap feature is making its way to Microsoft 365 Feed for both Teams Premium users and users without Teams Premium. The feature tagged 122529 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap started rolling out mid-this month and is expected to ship to general availability in late April 2023.

According to Microsoft, the feature will allow Teams Premium users to focus on what matters by leveraging AI-powered meeting recap recommendations in the Microsoft 365 Feed. Additionally, they’ll also have access to personalized recommendations that will let them catch-up with important meetings.

Introducing Microsoft Whiteboard App in Teams

A new Microsoft Whiteboard app is on its way to Teams. It’s designed to help users create and collaborate on projects within the Teams app and outside meetings.

Microsoft states that:

You can now easily access all your whiteboards in one single place inside Teams, pre-prep a board for your next meeting or add a whiteboard tab to your favorite chat/channels to collaborate with your team asynchronously.

The feature is currently rolling out to users and is expected to hit broad availability later this month.

Microsoft Teams: Mark All As Read for Activity Feed

And finally, a highly-requested feature is also making its way to Microsoft Teams. Users will now be able to manage their notifications and activity feed with the new ‘Mark all as read’ feature.

It’s designed to let users mark all their unread activities as read using one click.

The feature tagged 102238 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap is set to start rolling out in mid-May and will reach broad availability by late June.

That’s it for this week folks. Be sure to check out last week’s recap in case you missed it. Have a great weekend ahead!

Video Messaging in Outlook Mobile

Microsoft is looking to change how users interact with videos on Outlook Mobile by introducing Video Unfurl and Playback. Both are in place to “unfurl video links into a delightful thumbnail​ when reading an email that contains a video.”

Once the user taps on the thumbnail, the video appears on their mobile screen with full-screen playback. Both features will be rolled out to Android and iOS users soon.

Additionally, the company has also indicated that it will be introducing Video Capture and Upload on Android. The feature is designed to help users capture videos on their mobile phones within the Outlook Mobile app and allow them to easily upload the footage captured to the email being sent.

“Upload will leverage OneDrive for Business, allowing the user to share videos of large size and length with OneDrive,” says Microsoft. The features tagged 117588 and 117586 respectively in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap are expected to hit general availability by mid-May 2023.

Visual Refresh of Office apps for Windows

Microsoft has promised a Microsoft 365 Visual Refresh which will feature the Fluent Design principles with the aim of aligning it with the rest of Microsoft’s products and services. Microsoft pushed a similar experience to its Rewards program last year in December.

Microsoft released Visual Refresh alongside Windows 11 in June 2021 and has now started rolling out the feature via the Coming Soon pane and making improvements based on feedback from customers.

According to the company:

The Visual Refresh on Windows 11 is currently available for all Microsoft 365 Subscription and Perpetual 2021 users in Production Current Channel and Monthly Enterprise Channel. Windows 11 users can still opt-out via the Coming Soon pane. A bug in the rollout caused Windows 10 production Microsoft 365 Subscription and some Perpetual 2021 users to not receive the change.

The feature is already available in preview while the rollout phase is currently underway. It’s expected to hit general availability by mid-May.

Improved management of Teams apps with capabilities extended to Outlook and the Microsoft 365 app via Integrated Apps

Microsoft has announced that it will be introducing new controls that will help users establish better management at the app and tenant level. There’s already a feature that lets admins manage Teams Apps with certain capabilities that extend to Outlook and the Microsoft 365 App via the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

But with this new feature, admins will have control over which user in the organization can install and use these apps on Outlook and the Microsoft 365 App via Integrated Apps in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

The feature tagged 88942 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap is expected to start rolling out to standard release in May and hit general availability during the same month.

In related news, Microsoft Teams Free (classic) hit its end-of-support date this week, and affected users are advised to Microsoft Teams (free). However, you run the risk of losing all your data and files. If you still need this data you’ll need to upgrade to a paid tier. Be sure to also check out last week’s recap in case you missed it.

That’s it for this week folks! Catch you next week.

In turn, this makes the search experience in Teams a daunting task and time-consuming. It may prevent effective communication as it might break the flow.

However, this might not be the case for long. According to the Microsoft 36 Roadmap, Microsoft is working towards launching an improved search experience in Teams.

Microsoft has highlighted that:

A new search experience will allow users to search in a specific chat or channel and reach relevant results faster. The results will appear in the right handrail so you can stay in the flow of your work. Enhancements like highlighted key words will make it easier for user to scan their results.

The feature tagged 122550 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap is expected to start rolling out to users later this year in June. In related news, Microsoft has also announced a set of usability improvements coming to Together Mode in Teams.