Tuesday, 29 September 2026

Fabric IQ reaches general availability in Microsoft Copilot Chat and Cowork

Fabric IQ is now generally available in Microsoft Copilot Chat and Cowork, so business questions are answered against governed Power BI semantic models, metrics, relationships and business definitions rather than ad hoc extracts. Integration with the new Code experience is coming through the Frontier program, and IQ Sharing in Fabric, which lets organizations share data plus the business context that gives it meaning while keeping governance over the underlying assets, is in preview.

Why it matters: a Copilot answer about a metric now resolves to the same definition as the official report, which removes the "which number is right" objection that stalls finance and sales adoption.

blogs.microsoft.com

Video recap in Microsoft Teams supports 23 languages

MC1479506 expands Video recap, the AI-generated narrated highlight video built from a recorded and transcribed meeting, to 23 languages across 31 locale variants, with regional variants for English, Chinese, French, Portuguese and Spanish. It needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, a meeting between 10 and 90 minutes, and cloud recording with transcription. No separate recap file is created and recap data is stored with the original recording in SharePoint or OneDrive. Rollout worldwide began late September 2026.

Why it matters: non-English teams get meeting catch-up at parity with English ones, so the Copilot license case stops being an English-first argument.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Agents and Skills can be inserted into CIQ prompts with / or @

MC1479519 adds support for referencing Agents and Skills directly inside a CIQ prompt by typing / or @, with the available set discoverable from the CIQ Agents and Skills tab. The change is on by default wherever Agents and Skills are supported, needs no admin or user action, and leaves existing workflows unchanged. Rollout worldwide began mid-September 2026 and completes late September 2026.

Why it matters: it reuses the @-mention habit users already have from Teams, so agent discovery stops depending on a separate gallery visit.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Legal plugins reach Copilot in Word and Cowork

Roadmap item 571884 adds purpose-built legal skills to Copilot for summarizing, drafting, reviewing and redlining legal documents. The plugins run in Word and Cowork, can use work context from Microsoft 365, and can connect to supported third-party legal sources. General availability is dated October 2026 for Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) on desktop, with the preview dated April 2026.

Why it matters: this is the first first-party vertical plugin set in Word, so legal teams get a Microsoft-supported redlining path instead of a third-party add-in.

microsoft.com

Prompt gallery comes to Copilot in OneDrive

Roadmap item 571308 adds a Prompt Gallery of ready-to-use Copilot prompts for common file tasks, reachable from the Copilot button in the bottom-right of OneDrive, from the + button in the Copilot chat pane, and via Open Prompt Gallery. Prompts are grouped into Create, Analyze, Find and Collaborate and can be customized. Preview and general availability are both dated October 2026, Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant), web.

Why it matters: prompt discovery moves into the file surface where the content already sits, which is the usual gap in OneDrive Copilot adoption.

microsoft.com

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.

mc.merill.net

Live subtitles on voice chat in Copilot when using the quick composer

Live subtitles for voice chats in Copilot will be available for users to help them follow the conversation when using the quick composer.

mc.merill.net

Microsoft 365 admin center - Usage reports - Copilot Chat for GCC, GCC High and DoD

We will be introducing a new Usage report covering Copilot Chat. This report will include total active users, Copilot Chat usage with a breakout per Microsoft 365 app, and user-level activity insights (anonymized by default). #copilotcontrolsystem

mc.merill.net

Azure DevOps MCP Connector brings work items into Copilot Deep Work

MC1479505 introduces the Azure DevOps (ADO) MCP Connector, a Model Context Protocol integration between Azure DevOps and Microsoft 365 Copilot Deep Work. Agents can query and analyze work items, bugs and project data in natural language, with support for multi-step agent-driven workflows. Write actions are gated by user confirmation and configuration, and admins manage Copilot data access and the integration from the Microsoft 365 admin center. General availability worldwide begins mid-October 2026 and completes late October 2026.

Why it matters: engineering project context reaches Copilot over MCP rather than a Graph connector, which is the pattern to expect for the rest of the tool estate.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Custom agents + 3P calls

Enable Work IQ to invoke custom agents and agents that call supported third-party tools.

mc.merill.net

ExpandedContextIQ

Expand Context IQ so users can discover and select additional agents, skills, and content sources while composing prompts.

mc.merill.net

Teams SDK 2.1 ships for TypeScript and Python, 2.1.1 for .NET

Teams SDK 2.1 for TypeScript and Python adds agentic identity with lifecycle events, token acquisition and reactive and proactive messaging helpers; composability with the Microsoft 365 Agents SDK so existing Teams agents reach other channels without rewriting Teams-specific code; OpenTelemetry spans and metrics covering activity processing, handler execution, authentication and outbound Teams API calls; multi-service OAuth with connection-aware callbacks and duplicate token exchanges; built-in conversation and user state; and secure file-attachment processing including files shared by Agentic Users. Teams SDK for .NET 2.1.1 carries the Agents SDK composability and file-receive APIs and drops the Experimental attribute from targeted-message APIs.

Why it matters: observability and multi-service auth were the two gaps that forced custom plumbing in production Teams agents.

learn.microsoft.com

Microsoft Viva - Copilot Analytics: Export agent data from the Agent Dashboard

Microsoft Viva will add a feature allowing eligible users with at least 50 Copilot licenses to export de-identified Copilot agent usage data from the Agent Dashboard for analysis. Rollout begins late May 2026 (public preview) and late October 2026 (general availability). Admins can manage or disable this feature.

mc.merill.net

File sharing turns on by default in external federated Teams chats

MC1479514 flips the tenant default for file sharing in external (federated) chats from Disabled to Enabled and applies the required permissions to shared files automatically, removing both the tenant configuration step and the manual permission assignment. Files stay in the sender's OneDrive and existing OneDrive, SharePoint and security controls continue to govern access. Admins can disable file sharing or automatic permission assignment at any time using PowerShell. Targeted Release and general availability across Worldwide, GCC, GCC High and DoD begin late October 2026 and complete late November 2026.

Why it matters: a tenant that deliberately disabled external file sharing will have it switched back on unless someone acts before late October.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Teams Events capabilities split into foundational and advanced license tiers

MC1479512 reorganizes Teams Events into foundational event features, available with eligible Teams licenses including Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard and Premium and the F1 and F3 frontline SKUs, and advanced event features, included with Teams Enterprise licenses (Office 365 E1, E3, E5 and Microsoft 365 E3, E5, E7). Teams Premium moves to legacy for Teams Events. Registration caps are 1,000 attendees on foundational and 3,000 on advanced, with 10,000 without registration on both, and capacity packs are needed beyond that. Rollout worldwide began late September 2026.

Why it matters: customers who bought Teams Premium for events now need Teams Enterprise, so any event-heavy tenant needs a license review this quarter.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Simplified Copilot experience in Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook's Copilot experience will be updated in October 2026 to a simplified, chat-centered design with improved navigation, chat layout, and Work IQ controls. The full-page and side pane experiences will refresh, with no action or licensing changes required. Administrators should update user communications and documentation accordingly.

mc.merill.net

SharePoint adds HTML pages

MC1479517 lets users create HTML pages from + New on a site, from the floating Copilot button, or from the Publish landing page, and upload HTML authored elsewhere. Once the file is stored in the Site Pages library it renders as a page, can be edited further, published and shared, and inherits the site's existing permissions. Public preview runs in early October 2026 and general availability worldwide begins mid-November 2026, completing late December 2026. No admin action is required before rollout.

Why it matters: HTML pages land in the same Site Pages library as ASPX, so governance and retention rules written for Site Pages apply without change.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Simplified Copilot experience in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams' Copilot experience will be updated in October 2026 with a simplified, chat-centered design featuring improved navigation, chat layout, agent interaction, and Work IQ controls. The full-screen view adds a Tasks view. No user or admin action is needed; admins should inform users and update documentation.

mc.merill.net

New Outlook can spell check every message before it sends

MC1479509 adds a setting in new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web that runs spell check automatically before an email is sent, instead of requiring a manual check per message. Targeted Release worldwide runs mid-October to late October 2026, general availability worldwide is mid-November to early December 2026, and GCC, GCC High and DoD run mid-November to mid-December 2026. No admin action is required.

Why it matters: it is a small quality control landing in the same window as the link preview retirement, so one user communication can cover both.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Outlook link previews are retired

MC1479516 confirms the link preview feature is retired in new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web: Outlook no longer generates preview cards when a web link is inserted or pasted into a message. Links keep working as standard clickable hyperlinks. The change is already implemented across Worldwide, GCC, GCC High and DoD, and no admin action is possible or required.

Why it matters: it is already live, so any internal guidance or email template that relied on a rendered preview card is already wrong.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Send availability returns to Outlook mobile

Roadmap item 570665 brings send availability back to Outlook on iOS and Android, and iOS gains wider access to the feature through keyboard and VoiceOver. General availability is dated October 2026 for Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant).

Why it matters: it closes a mobile regression, and the accessibility work means the feature is usable without the screen.

microsoft.com

Microsoft 365 admin center: Agent Registry consolidates duplicate agent entries and adds version history

Microsoft 365 admin center's Agent Registry now consolidates duplicate agent entries into single records with version history, simplifying management and governance. Rollout occurs mid-September to mid-October 2026. Admins should update reports and documentation due to changes in agent counts; no action is required.

mc.merill.net

Meeting-created Planner plans expire after 180 days of inactivity

MC1479508 makes Planner plans created from Teams meetings expire and delete after 180 consecutive days with no task activity. Only new meeting-created plans are in scope, tracking starts at rollout so nothing can be deleted earlier than 180 days after it, and activity means creating, editing or deleting a task; opening a plan does not count. Organizers get email notices 30 days and 7 days before deletion with a Keep plan option, tasks in Loop and meeting notes are untouched, and deleted plans are recoverable for 30 days by admin request. Rollout worldwide begins early October 2026 and completes mid-October 2026.

Why it matters: it is a deletion default with a 180-day clock starting at rollout, so anyone treating meeting plans as a record of work needs to know the Keep plan step.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Microsoft SharePoint Online: Select page canvas elements for Copilot-assisted editing

SharePoint Online now lets page authors with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license select specific page canvas elements for targeted Copilot editing, improving precision and user experience. This feature is generally available worldwide with no action required.

mc.merill.net

App Governance permissions change for three Entra roles

MC1479503 brings Microsoft Defender XDR Unified RBAC to App Governance in Defender for Cloud Apps and changes what three Entra roles can do. Cloud App Security Administrator gains permission to view and manage App Governance policies. Compliance Administrator loses the ability to manage policies or to enable and disable App Governance in Settings. Compliance Data Administrator loses the ability to enable and disable it. Rollout worldwide begins mid-October 2026 and completes late October 2026.

Why it matters: compliance admins quietly lose a capability, so any runbook that has them toggling App Governance needs reassigning before mid-October.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Interim time zone guidance for Alberta, British Columbia and Morocco

Three time zone changes affect Windows devices. Morocco moved to UTC+0 on 20 September 2026 and the fix shipped with the September 2026 Windows security update. Alberta and affected Northwest Territories locations move permanently to UTC-6 and most of British Columbia to UTC-7 on 1 November 2026; the new (UTC-06:00) Mountain Time (Alberta) and (UTC-07:00) Pacific Time (British Columbia) zones shipped in the September 2026 non-security preview update for Windows 11 26H2, 26H1, 25H2 and 24H2 and reach the remaining Windows and Windows Server versions in the October 2026 security update. Devices that set the time zone automatically pick the new one; others need a manual change.

Why it matters: unpatched devices in those regions will show the wrong time from 1 November, which breaks meeting times and scheduled automation.

m365admin.handsontek.net

Purview auto-labeling capacity rises to 500,000 files a day

Roadmap item 571309 raises the maximum Information Protection auto-labeling capacity for SharePoint and OneDrive from 100,000 to 500,000 files per tenant per day, so sensitivity labels and protection settings reach more data at rest sooner. The roadmap entry lists GCC, GCC High and DoD as its cloud instances with no Worldwide (Standard Multi-Tenant) entry, and general availability is dated November 2026.

Why it matters: a fivefold increase is the practical unblock for Copilot readiness labeling backlogs, but commercial tenants are not named on the entry.

microsoft.com

Microsoft 365 Copilot: Use Microsoft Agent 365 agents as connected agents in declarative agents

Microsoft 365 now supports Microsoft Agent 365 agents using the Agent2Agent protocol as connected agents in declarative agents, expanding integration options. Administrators manage and approve these agents via the Microsoft 365 admin center. Rollout began late August 2026, enabling enhanced AI interactions and workflows.

mc.merill.net

Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace now available

Partner Center opened Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace to eligible partners, with Marketplace-focused skilling, milestone-based benefits and up to 30,000 USD in Azure sponsorships on the Premium tier, which also unlocks Partner Marketing Center Pro and a named engagement manager.

learn.microsoft.com

Change Management Best Practices to Drive Value with Agent Builder

Microsoft Copilot blog guidance for AI centres of excellence, learning and development and change management teams on scaling agent creation and usage with Agent Builder, which is included in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

techcommunity.microsoft.com

Microsoft SharePoint: Retirement of SharePoint Page Agent (Frontier)

Microsoft will retire the SharePoint Page Agent (Frontier) for SharePoint Online starting mid-October 2026, completing by mid-November 2026. Users must switch to creating and refining pages directly with Copilot in SharePoint. Existing content remains accessible with no migration needed. Organizations should update training and workflows accordingly.

mc.merill.net

Delegated prompt publishing for organization prompts

This release follows the availability of organization prompts, providing admins the ability to upload custom prompts for their organization in the Copilot app home screen. Now, admins can delegate organization prompt publishing to users, AAD security groups, and distribution groups. These delegated users and groups will be able to create, edit and delete organization prompts at the tenant level through the Prompt Lab, without having to access the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Admins can continue t...

mc.merill.net

Discover & Add Skills from the skill catalog

With the Skills catalog in Copilot Studio, makers can discover, reuse and selectively share approved organizational skills instead of recreating the same instructions and workflows for every agent. The shared catalog powered by Microsoft 365 App Store enables shared skills to extend across experiences such as Copilot Studio M365 copilot, and Cowork, helping organizations standardize proven ways of working while maintaining centralized governance.

mc.merill.net

Use Copilot Chat after a call in Queues app

After a recorded call is completed, use Copilot in the Queues app to quickly catch up on key details, uncover insights, and resolve customer issues faster without having to manually search through a transcript or listen back to a recording. Navigate to the unified call history in the Queues app, select the recorded call record, and launch the Copilot Chat sidecar from within the Recap tab. You can then ask Copilot to generate a summary or answer questions about specific details related to the ca...

mc.merill.net

Copilot Analytics - Export metrics from Agent Dashboard

Users can export de-identified, row-level agent metrics and attributes from the Agent Dashboard. Exported data provides detailed insights into agent usage and user-level agent interactions across the organization, with personal identifiers removed.

mc.merill.net