Friday, 4 September 2026

Explain this presentation skill in Copilot for PowerPoint

A built-in Copilot skill reads a whole deck (slides, charts, tables and speaker notes) and returns an impartial guide covering the gist, the ask, key takeaways, key numbers and open questions. Announced 2026-09-03 for Windows desktop (MC1466328), Mac (MC1466326) and web (MC1466327); rolling out through September 2026, gated to the Frontier program and requires a Copilot licence.

Why it matters: A reader-side skill rather than an authoring one, which is the gap in most Copilot deck workflows - it makes someone else's deck legible before the meeting.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Sharpen slide titles skill in Copilot for PowerPoint

A built-in Copilot skill rewrites slide titles as takeaways that state the conclusion, so anyone skimming the headlines gets the argument. Announced 2026-09-03 for Windows desktop (MC1466323), Mac (MC1466321) and web (MC1466322); rolling out early September 2026, Frontier-gated, requires a Copilot licence and needs no admin configuration.

Why it matters: A one-click fix for the most common deck-review comment, so it belongs in internal presentation guidance rather than being left to discovery.

m365admin.handsontek.net

QR code protection in Teams messaging

Images containing QR codes sent by external users will be obscured by default in Teams messages, and recipients must reveal them before viewing or scanning. Roadmap entry updated 2026-09-03; Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) and Targeted Release, on Android, desktop, iOS and Mac. GA October 2026.

Why it matters: QR phishing is the gap most tenant phishing controls still have, and this closes it by default with no admin policy to configure.

microsoft.com

Centralized notification settings for channels

Teams adds a single Settings > Notifications and activity > Manage channel notifications surface where users view and manage preferences across all channels, organised by team and channel with a filter for channels that have customised settings. Announced 2026-09-03 (MC1466307); Targeted Release early October and worldwide early to late October 2026, on Teams desktop and web. Enabled by default, existing settings are preserved and no admin action is required.

Why it matters: Channel notification sprawl is a top driver of Teams disengagement, and one surface is what makes a tenant-wide notification hygiene push practical.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Report security concerns in Teams meetings

Participants will be able to report suspicious, malicious or fraudulent behaviour during or after a meeting, and the relevant meeting metadata plus limited contextual information is collected and surfaced to admins in Microsoft Defender and the Teams admin center. Announced 2026-09-03 (MC1466296); Targeted Release late September 2026, worldwide mid to late October 2026, on Windows, Mac and web. Enabled by default.

Why it matters: It routes meeting-based social engineering into the same Defender queue as mail phishing, so the SOC needs a triage path before a default-on rollout.

microsoft.com

Planner usage report in the Microsoft 365 admin center

A new Planner usage report gives admins tenant-level and user-level Planner activity across basic and premium plans, including username, active days and last activity date. Announced 2026-09-03 (MC1466299); GA rollout ran in early September 2026 across Worldwide, GCC, GCC High and DoD. No admin action is required, but the report exposes identifiable user data, so admin role permissions and any internal notification duty need reviewing.

Why it matters: It lands in DoD alongside commercial, and the identifiable-user data means works councils and privacy policies should be checked before it is used for adoption reporting.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Project Online Essentials reaches end of life on 1 October 2026

Project Online Essentials retires on 1 October 2026, and tenants must move affected users to Project and Planner Plan 1 or Plan 3 before that date to keep access and licensing rights for Project Online, Project Server and Planner Premium. Announced 2026-09-03 (MC1466302).

Why it matters: Under four weeks of lead time on a licence retirement, so any tenant still holding Essentials seats needs a reassignment plan this month.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Partnering for Success Together monthly partner session

Registration opened for the first session in a new monthly partner skilling series on 9 September, hosted on the Microsoft Partner Skilling Hub and covering updates across Microsoft's commercial solution areas.

learn.microsoft.com

7 features it's not too late to try out this year

Microsoft 365 Insider round-up of seven already-released features across Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook and Word, including Copilot meeting conflict resolution in Outlook and org-authored Copilot prompt suggestions.

techcommunity.microsoft.com