Microsoft Teams gets a customizable toolbar and efficiency mode, while Microsoft Outlook adds Copilot summaries and meeting follow features.
We recently reported that Microsoft Teams has received video recaps, which essentially allows users to view AI-powered highlights of recorded meetings, potentially saving them lots of time. The good news is that Microsoft is not done just yet and is working on several other features for Teams and Outlook.
Starting off with Teams, Microsoft is redesigning the toolbar to give you more control over its customization. You’ll be able to pin, unpin, and reorder controls according to your preference. In addition, Microsoft is regrouping the hand raise control under reactions and moving the “Leave” button to the far-right to prevent accidental clicks. Microsoft says that these changes may make Teams “feel different at first, but it’s designed to be faster and easier to use”. This redesign is landing in June 2026.
Next, Teams is getting an Efficiency Mode which basically reduces resource usage consumption by default on devices constrained by their hardware, improving overall performance and responsiveness. Microsoft has not clarified if this will be a manual toggle or something that will automatically be enabled for certain devices, but well find out more when it rolls out next month.
Other smaller improvements in tow for Teams include breakout rooms for up to 1,000 attendees in meetings, profanity filter being disabled by default for live captions to comply with EU requirements, and the ability to report external users for security concerns. All of these are arriving in June 2026.
Switching gears to Outlook, the service will begin surfacing Copilot-powered summaries in search results starting from July 2026. Customers will also have the option to enter Copilot chat for further conversations based on the search results after clicking this summary card.
Additionally, when you skip a meeting, you can still choose to follow it on mobile. This will remind the organizer to record the meeting and offer you notifications regarding follow-up items too, beginning June 2026. Another smaller change landing next month will allow users to switch between Copilot-enabled accounts through the Copilot sidepane in Outlook Calendar rather than requiring them to rely on Outlook’s UX.
Other planned enhancements in May 2026 for Outlook include:
- Access Copilot directly from file previewer in iOS
- Save calendar events as .ics files in New Outlook for Windows
- Preview .ics files while importing them in New Outlook for Windows
That said, it’s worth noting that just because these updates have been slotted in the public Microsoft 365 Roadmap does not mean that you’ll necessarily get these features in the designated timelines. In fact, depending upon feedback and internal testing, Microsoft may decide to cancel any tracked item altogether as well.
