Play of the Week
December 26, 2025
Microsoft is improving trust in Microsoft 365 Copilot with deep citations, which link generated responses directly to the exact section of source content. Launching first for Word and PowerPoint, this update will help users quickly verify accuracy and reuse AI-generated content with confidence, especially important for governed and compliance-focused environments. Support for meetings, web content, and PDFs will follow, with worldwide standard multi-tenant rollout planned for February 2026.
Microsoft 365 Roadmap Updates for December 26, 2025
Microsoft Teams: Line key configuration on Teams Phone devices from Teams Admin Center (TAC)
This feature allows admins to configure line keys for various scenarios on Teams phone devices, including personal and common area phones (CAP). Scenarios supported include speed dial, shared line, collaborative call delegation, and call transfers. This item’s rollout was paused and will begin in 2026. We apologize for any inconvenience.ID: 493320 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant), GCC High, DoD Tags: January CY2026
Excel: =COPILOT Function
Use the new =COPILOT function directly in Excel formulas to generate, classify, and summarize text and data.ID: 499659 Release: Excel, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Deep citations in Copilot
Deep citations let users quickly verify Copilot’s results by linking directly to the relevant part of the reference, boosting trust. We’re starting with Word and PPT files, then adding Meetings, Web, and PDF references.ID: 523223 Release: Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Recommended Notebooks in Copilot Notebooks
Users can quickly create new Copilot Notebooks via Recommended Notebooks based on recent user work activity.ID: 529842 Release: Microsoft 365 app, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Suggested References in Copilot Notebooks
Users can now quickly enrich their Copilot Notebook with relevant Suggested References based on recent user work activity.ID: 529843 Release: Microsoft 365 app, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: January CY2026
Microsoft Teams: User reported security signals in Teams admin center
This update brings end user security reporting into Teams Admin Center. Admins can now view and download signals from messages users report as a security concern or not a security concern within TAC Protection reports, helping them identify trends and fine tune policies and responses.ID: 536571 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: March CY2026
Microsoft Viva: Experts & verified answers in communities in Engage and Teams for iOS & Android
In the Engage app for Android and Engage app in Teams for iOS and Android, we are introducing the Community Expert. Experts will be able to endorse accurate and credible answers and be recognized as community experts with a special label next to their name. As well, experts & community admins will be able to mark answers to questions as verified answers to signal a credible and accurate answer. Verified answers will receive its own special label.ID: 537270 Release: Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Viva – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: January CY2026
Microsoft Edge: Password affiliation service
Password autofill suggestions in Edge are currently based on top-level domain matching, which means the same credentials can be suggested on sites like account.microsoft.com and office.microsoft.com. With this feature, Edge groups related domains together across various desktop and mobile properties called affiliations. When a customer visits a URL, the Edge client will query the affiliations backend to obtain “affiliated groups” for that URL. The process involves sending a hash of the visited URLs to the service, which then returns a list of affiliated URLs and ensures that the relevant credentials will be displayed in the autofill suggestions across affiliated domains. Admins can control access to this feature using the PasswordManagerEnabled policy.ID: 537277 Release: Microsoft Edge – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Edge: Adding contextual nudges to the Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat icon
Edge for Business will soon help users quickly take contextual action on their open pages using contextual nudges attached to the Copilot icon in the toolbarID: 537284 Release: Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Teams: Branded Meeting Reactions
With new branded reactions, organizations can now extend their visual identity directly into meetings. IT admins simply upload custom reaction icons reflecting brand elements or event themes, and these instantly become available for meeting participants. A simple way to create more cohesive, on-brand meeting experiences.ID: 541830 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Teams: Meeting Notes now available for instant meetings
Teams meeting Notes, powered by Loop, are now available for instant calls and meetings, like those started from ‘Meet now’ and calls started from chat. Notes are Loop components in Teams meetings and chats that allow end users to co-create and collaborate on their meeting agenda, notes, and action items that can be co-authored and edited by everyone. Since Notes are Loop components, they stay in sync across all the places they have been shared. Once added, meeting notes can also be shared and edited in the Loop app in your web browser.ID: 541831 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Agent Mode in Excel for GCC
Agent Mode lets you build and edit workbooks side by side with Copilot. When you’re updating budgets, creating financial models, or analyzing data, Agent Mode uses Excel’s most powerful tools like tables, charts, PivotTables, and formulas to help you get the job done.ID: 542181 Release: Excel, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – GCC Tags: January CY2026
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Agent Mode in Excel for desktop apps
Agent Mode is releasing to Copilot in Excel on Windows and Mac enabling users to build and edit workbooks with Copilot using multi-step workflows. Eligible licenses can now select which model to use, including both Open AI and Anthropic models.ID: 542182 Release: Excel, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: January CY2026
Outlook: Prepare for meetings with Copilot in classic Outlook for Windows
With so many of us in back-to-back meetings, it can be a real struggle to stay on top of pre-reads, action items, and even what each meeting is about. Copilot quickly prepares you for meetings within minutes by bringing real-time insights and summarizing relevant context, tasks, documents, and other resources. You can also chat directly with Copilot to prepare more deeply, to ensure you’re ready to go. This feature is already available in the new Outlook for Windows, Web, Mac, and Mobile and is now being adding to classic Outlook for Windows. It is only available for users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.ID: 542186 Release: Outlook – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: March CY2026
Microsoft Purview: Data Security Posture Management-Data Security Posture Agent in DSPM
The Data Security Posture Agent is designed to expand the capacity of data security admins as they proactively work to stay on top of a dynamic data and risk landscape within their organization. Its primary job is to help discover sensitive data across your data estate. This agent is designed to analyze and search documents, emails, and messages that match the natural-language discovery intent requested by the user and assess associated risks. By moving beyond traditional keyword and information-type analysis and harnessing the power of LLMs, this agent enables organizations to identify risks based on the actual purpose and context of the content and take appropriate action.ID: 542790 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: March CY2026
Microsoft Purview: Data Loss Prevention-Alert Classification Property for DLP Alerts on Purview Portal
This feature introduces the ability to classify DLP alerts directly in the Purview portal. In addition to assigning a status, customers can now categorize alerts as True Positive, False Positive, or Benign Positive. This capability helps security teams better organize, track, and manage alerts, enabling more accurate reporting and efficient incident handling.ID: 542791 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – GCC, GCC High, DoD Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Purview: Endpoint Data Loss Prevention-Endpoint DLP Device Status API
Provides access to the same device health details currently available through the export function on the device onboarding page. ?With the new device status API, customers can pull device-level information directly into their own BI tools, dashboards, and workflows, eliminating manual exports and making it easier to automate reporting at scale.ID: 542792 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: March CY2026
Microsoft Teams: Automatic removal of EXIF data from shared images
Teams will automatically remove hidden metadata (EXIF) from images shared in conversations. This privacy protection helps prevent sensitive information such as photo location and device details from being shared without your knowledge.ID: 542795 Release: Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Exchange: Message Trace – Custom Retention
We will be introducing customizable retention options for Message Trace logs. Organizations will be able to choose from a predefined set of retention periods.ID: 542929 Release: Exchange – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2026
Microsoft Purview: Data Security Investigations-Introducing new purge mitigation action
A new Data Security Investigations (DSI) mitigation action, purge, is now available to help admins quickly and efficiently delete sensitive or overshared content during investigations, within the product UX. This addition works alongside DSI’s AI-powered content analysis features, such as categorization, AI search, and examination for risk, which help surface data security risks buried in data.ID: 542930 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: March CY2026
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): [Copilot Chat] Agent mode in Word enables conversational support to create, edit and refine document content from chat
Available for M365 users without a M365 Copilot license. From Chat, you can use natural language to generate and direct edits to new and existing documents, when in an Edit mode. In this mode, Copilot will ask clarifying questions if needed, and after making changes will recap actions take and recommended next steps. Changes to the document are supported with controls in the document canvas to review changes made.ID: 543241 Release: Word, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): [Copilot Chat] Agent Mode in Excel
Available for Microsoft 365 subscribers without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Agent Mode is releasing to Copilot in Excel for the web, Windows and Mac, enabling users to build and edit workbooks with Copilot using multi-step workflows. When you’re updating budgets, creating financial models, or analyzing data, Agent Mode uses Excel’s most powerful tools like tables, charts, PivotTables, and formulas to help you get the job done.ID: 543242 Release: Excel, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Purview: Insider Risk Management-New Microsoft Fabric lakehouse risk indicators
With this update, Insider Risk Management extends its risk-detection capabilities to Microsoft Fabric lakehouses (in addition to Power BI which is supported today) by offering ready-to-use risk indicators based on user activities in Fabric lakehouses. Organizations can use these new indicators in data theft and data leaks policies. Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management correlates various signals to identify potential malicious or inadvertent insider risks, such as IP theft, data leakage, and security violations. Insider Risk Management enables customers to create policies based on their own internal policies, governance, and organizational requirements. Built with privacy by design, users are pseudonymized by default, and role-based access controls and audit logs are in place to help ensure user-level privacy.ID: 543243 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Purview: Insider Risk Management-New quick policies to detect data theft from Microsoft Fabric & non-Microsoft 365 data sources
We are adding to Insider Risk Management a pre-configured quick policy template to detect data theft from Microsoft Fabric and non-Microsoft 365 data sources like Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS). This will enable admins to create scenario-specific policies, with little configurations needed, to get started faster. All scenario based quick policies can be found in the Policies page > Create Policies. Additional tuning post deployment to meet individual alert volume needs can be expected. Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management correlates various signals to identify potential malicious or inadvertent insider risks, such as IP theft, data leakage, and security violations. Insider Risk Management enables customers to create policies based on their own internal policies, governance, and organizational requirements. Built with privacy by design, users are pseudonymized by default, and role-based access controls and audit logs are in place to help ensure user-level privacy.ID: 543244 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Word Agent
Word Agent helps you handle research, structure, and formatting so you can stay focused on your ideas. Use multi-turn chat to refine your draft or open it in Word for full editing and collaboration. It’s designed for long-form, information-dense work—like strategic plans, policy documents, and technical papers—making it easier to turn complex material into clear, well-written content. Available to Microsoft 365 users with or without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.ID: 543420 Release: Word, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): PowerPoint Agent
PowerPoint Agent helps you build polished presentations with strong storytelling and visual structure. It streamlines research, formatting, and layout so you can stay focused on your message. Use multi-turn chat to refine content or open the deck in PowerPoint for full editing and collaboration. Ideal for executive presentations, strategic updates, and market overviews. Available to Microsoft 365 users with or without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.ID: 543421 Release: PowerPoint, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Excel Agent
Excel Agent helps you turn data into clear charts, summaries, and insights using built-in formulas and logic. It streamlines data preparation, formulas, and visualization so you can stay focused on the story behind the numbers. Use multi-turn chat to refine your output or open it in Excel for full editing and collaboration. Ideal for financial forecasts, project plans, and decision-making tools. Available to Microsoft 365 users with or without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.ID: 543422 Release: Excel, Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: February CY2026
Microsoft Purview compliance portal: Information Protection – Sensitivity label grouping modernization
To help improve label usability and configuration, the sensitivity labeling scheme will be simplified to only consist of labels and label groupings. These new label groupings allow admins to better organize and categorize their labels (previously done via parent labels).ID: 386900 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft 365 app: Microsoft Loop – Multi-geo support for shared Loop workspaces
This ensures data storage for shared Loop workspaces is in the correct geo. M365 group-owned workspaces are created in the group’s geo, while non-M365 group-owned workspaces are created in the creator’s preferred data location.ID: 421616 Release: Microsoft 365 app – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025
Outlook: See progress when running rules manually in the new Outlook for Windows and Web
When you choose “Run Rule Now” in Outlook, you’ll now see a visual progress indicator in both the message list and the rules page, showing that the rule is actively being applied. This helps confirm the action is in progress especially for large mailboxes, so you’re not left wondering if anything is happening. #newoutlookforwindowsID: 500395 Release: Outlook – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant), GCC, GCC High, DoD Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft Viva: User Schema Enhancements – Delete Attributes
This feature enables Viva Glint admins to delete custom user attributes directly in the platform. This empowers admins to easily update and maintain the structure of user data without requiring support.ID: 503148 Release: Microsoft Viva – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Copilot chats conversations
Copilot Conversations as Search Results: Users can now retrieve historical Copilot interaction, including chats from notebooks, agents, and the main Copilot chat interface, directly in the search results (SERP). Dedicated Data Source in Right Rail: A new entry labeled “Copilot Chats” appears in the right rail, allowing users to scope their search specifically to Copilot-generated content. Scoped Query Formulation (QF) Suggestions: When users select “Copilot Chats” as the active data source, the search box dynamically offers scoped QF suggestions tailored to that source. These suggestions help differentiate between session recall and prompt execution, aligning with user intent.ID: 506751 Release: Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Data source specific filters
We are introducing a dynamic filtering experience in Microsoft 365 Copilot search that empowers users to refine their results more precisely by leveraging data source-specific filters in the right rail. When a user selects a data source from the right rail, such as Outlook, SharePoint, Jira, or Copilot Chats, the interface dynamically presents a tailored set of filters specific to that source. These refiners allow users to narrow down results based on attributes unique to the selected data source, such as item type, status, or semantic labels.ID: 506752 Release: Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365), Microsoft 365 – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025
Outlook: Enhanced Search Experience in Win32
After executing a search in classic Outlook, users will have the option to easily opt into seeing an AI generated summary of their search results in their Copilot side pane. They can ask further questions in their chat, navigate to cited files and emails, or go back to their email experience easily.ID: 510107 Release: Outlook – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): App Navigation Pane Update
The Microsoft 365 Copilot app now has a simpler, cleaner navigation. Key updates include an expanded chat history, quick actions to create new Notebooks and Agents, and intuitive feature grouping so users can find what they need faster and unlock more AI value.ID: 518222 Release: Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Preview and chat with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on Android
When opening a Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on Android, users will see a preview experience where they can use M365 Copilot Chat to command and ask questions about the file. If users wish to edit the document, they will transition to the standalone Word, Excel, or PowerPoint app. PDF scenarios are not affected. The feature will begin a phased rollout in December.ID: 518290 Release: Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft Purview: Data Loss Prevention- Admin units support for SharePoint Online
Delegate management and remediation authority for different people in different regions or organization units with role-based access control (RBAC). For example, German investigators should be able to investigate alerts and audit events for only German users. This update extends support to SharePoint for Microsoft 365.ID: 526797 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – GCC, GCC High, DoD Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Model Selector in Microsoft 365 Copilot
The Model Selector in Microsoft 365 Copilot gives users more control over reasoning depth, enabling automatic reasoning for simple tasks and explicit control when desired. The three modes that are supported as part of GPT-5 are: Auto (default) – system decides how long to think, Quick response – answers right away, Think deeper – Thinks longer for better answers.ID: 532736 Release: Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365) – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant), GCC, GCC High, DoD Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft Viva: Update Engage community cover photos in Teams for iOS
Admins of communities in Viva Engage will be able to update their community cover photo from Teams for iOS. This is already currently supported on Teams for Android or Windows, Mac, on the web.ID: 536569 Release: Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Viva – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft Purview: Data Loss Prevention-Data Security Triage Agent in Data Loss Prevention
The Data Security Triage Agent creates an agent-managed alert queue that identifies and prioritizes the DLP and IRM alerts that pose the greatest risk to your organization. It delivers a summary and clear explanation for why each alert was prioritized, helping analysts focus on what matters most.
For this GA release, we’re introducing expanded coverage (which also includes Endpoint DLP alerts as well as alerts that leverage Custom SITs (Sensitive Information Types)) and support for Entra Agent ID.ID: 542190 Release: Microsoft Purview compliance portal – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft Teams integration with Microsoft Defender for Office Tenant/Allow Block List for domains
Security and IT admins can increase domain-level control with the Tenant Allow/Block List feature in the Microsoft Defender portal to block domains for Microsoft Teams. This post was published previously with incorrect information and has been corrected. We apologize for the inconvenience.ID: 492985 Release: Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Microsoft Teams – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft Defender for Office 365: Auto-Remediation of Malicious Similarity Clusters in AIR
We are expanding the auto-remediation capabilities in Automated Investigations and Response (AIR) to fully automate the remediation of malicious similarity clusters. Earlier this year, we introduced auto-remediation for malicious URL and file clusters. Building on that foundation, this enhancement enables AIR to automatically approve all pending remediation actions it generates—eliminating the need for manual intervention and streamlining the response process for SOC teams. This advancement significantly reduces response time and operational overhead, allowing security teams to focus on higher-priority threats.ID: 502528 Release: Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Defender for Office 365 – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025
Microsoft 365 admin center: New Admin Control for Turning off People Skills
This is a new control that tenant admins may use to turn off People Skills User Experiences for the entire organization, user group subsets, or individual users. This control can also be used to selectively deploy People Skills to a small group of pilot users before broader deployment to the rest of the tenant.ID: 529865 Release: Microsoft 365 admin center – Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) Tags: December CY2025