Introducing the new Microsoft Teams chat and channels experience

Today we announced this. blog post A new chat and channel experience coming to public preview in November.

Our customers are our greatest source of inspiration, and over the years we’ve evolved Teams with the goal of helping them achieve more. Today we’re taking the next big step in our journey with new chat and channel experiences designed to help you collaborate more efficiently and effectively in the hybrid AI-powered workplace. It’s fundamentally simple so everyone can stay on top of what’s important, while powerful on-demand features help you organize information and communicate on your own terms. Let’s take a look:

Stay on top of your chats and channels all in one place

The speed of work has increased exponentially, making it more difficult to keep up with large volumes of conversations, manage messages scattered across multiple locations, and find information. We’ve redesigned our chat and channel experiences to simplify your digital workspace. Gather your chats, teams and channels in one place Below the chat. Now you can easily navigate and prioritize all your conversations without the hassle of switching between contexts.

At launch, our in-product self-service guided onboarding flow will help users discover new experiences and configure them to their liking. Users who wish to keep chats and channels separate can easily do so at any time during the onboarding process or later without IT support.

Classify messages efficiently

One of the biggest challenges in managing a large volume of conversations is focusing on the information that is most important to you at the moment. We’ve introduced new features to help you categorize your messages effectively. filter These include ‘unread’, ‘chat’, ‘channel’, ‘meeting’, and ‘muted’. For example, with one click on the “Unread” filter, you can now conveniently see all your unread conversations across chats, channels, and meetings in one place. If you’re looking for a specific type of conversation, such as a channel, selecting related filters can further narrow your search and help you quickly find the most relevant results.

@mentions are used to call attention to essential messages and ensure that they are not missed. new View @mentions We collect all messages delivered to you into a single, interactive list. Now you can quickly access all conversations that contain @mentions without having to search through multiple conversations. This view allows you to quickly identify areas that need most attention, select messages, and respond directly from your workflow.

Organize your conversations the way you want

The new chat and channel experiences in Teams help you personalize your work experience to fit your needs and shape your conversations around the way you prefer to work. new Favorites The section is available to everyone by default, and it consolidates all of your pinned chats and channels from your previous experience, so you have one place to easily access your top-priority conversations. with custom sectionlets you gather all relevant conversations about a project or topic in one place, whether it’s a chat, channel, meeting, Teams bot, or AI agent. With up to 50 sections and 50 items per section, you can efficiently manage even the most complex projects.

Organize your sections to see new messages and prioritize essential information. Use the following to reorder your conversation list so key discussions are at the forefront. drag and drop. Alternatively, type View the conversation list in order of most recent messages, or select: Mark as unread message only. This will help you process new communications quickly.

Save time communicating

We’re making it easier to send new messages in channels and promoting the use of existing channels. This integrates both chats and channels into important workflows, so you can start a chat or channel post from the same place, without having to go to a specific channel first. new message characteristic. This update is also reflected in the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+N (Cmd+N on Mac) to create a new message for faster communication.

movement It helps you navigate Teams effectively without context switching. Use the new keyboard shortcut Ctrl+G (Cmd+G on Mac) to quickly jump to frequently used conversations in chats and channels.

Customize your experience to your liking.

Every user has a unique way of working. You can now customize Teams chats and channels to fit your personal workflow and preferred information consumption style. with new controlsyou can choose to view chats and channels separately, see message previews, or see all channels in a single list. This way, you can create a digital workspace that truly helps you grow.

To quickly see the latest channel messages, switch the Teams and Channels sections to: mark All channels in a single listThere is no need to expand or collapse the Teams section.

When you’re on the go, customize your experience with: Mobile-specific settingsFor example, choose between viewing messages organized by section or by newest. The new experience is optimized for a variety of screen sizes, so you can read and respond to messages efficiently no matter where you are.

effectiveness

Your work isn’t limited to your desktop. That’s why we’re excited to bring new chat and channel experiences to all your devices for seamless productivity. This feature will be available in public preview on desktop, mobile, iOS, and Android in November, so you can stay connected and effective wherever you are.

New chat and channel experiences on mobile that deliver seamless productivity across all devices

What’s next?

We’re just getting started, and we’re working hard to make Teams more streamlined and simpler with enhancements like threaded conversations. We began testing threaded conversations with customers this quarter and expect to expand testing in early 2025, with widespread availability in mid-2025.

Start your journey today with new chat and channel experiences and transform the way you connect, focus, and collaborate. Customers with access to Microsoft public preview You can try out the new interface starting in November. To activate, select “Get Started” when you see the welcome screen for your new chat and channel experience.

Welcome screen for the new chat and channel experience

Learn more Discover new chat and channel experiences. listen Teams leaders explain their vision for new chat and channel experiences.