🪄 Inform | 24 new M365 updates reviewed for you from last week

Hi Reader,

Last week, Microsoft dropped 24 new updates in the Microsoft Message Center (week ending Sunday 03 May 2026).

Microsoft Purview: Sensitivity label setting to block connected experiences now covers all content analysis in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Risk: Medium | User Impact: Medium | Admin Impact: Medium

The existing sensitivity label setting "Prevent some connected experiences that analyze content" will be extended to block all connected experiences that analyse content in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, not just a subset as before. The change applies automatically to any files already labelled with this setting, with no label reconfiguration needed. Compliance and helpdesk teams should be briefed, and organisations should review whether existing label configurations still reflect their intended data handling behaviour.

Action Required: Admin action needed

Key dates: Mid-May 2026 (preview start), Late June 2026 (GA complete) | ID: MC1297982 | Published: 1 May 2026

Microsoft 365 Copilot: Agent Registry Graph API retiring 15 June 2026, migration to Agent 365 API required

Risk: High | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: High

The existing agent registry Graph API will stop being supported from 15 June 2026. Organisations with agents self-registered via this API must re-register them using the new Agent 365-powered agent registration Graph API before that date, or those agents will stop functioning. The new API is available now. Agents created through Copilot Studio or Foundry are not affected. Development and platform teams responsible for custom agent lifecycle management should be identified and briefed immediately.

Action Required: Admin action needed

Key dates: 1 May 2026 (new API available), 15 June 2026 (existing API retirement) | ID: MC1297981 | Published: 1 May 2026

Exchange Online: Actionable Messages admin dashboard adds provider list export

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

Exchange administrators can now view and export the list of organisation-scoped Actionable Messages providers registered in the Outlook Actionable Messages admin dashboard. The feature is available by default after rollout, requires no configuration changes, and does not modify existing provider registrations or affect Actionable Messages behaviour in Outlook. Useful for audit, documentation, and operational readiness purposes.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: Early May 2026 (rollout start), Mid-May 2026 (rollout complete) | ID: MC1297983 | Published: 1 May 2026

Power Automate: Process Mining adds support for normalised schema data ingestion

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

Power Automate Process Mining will support a normalised, case-event entity-based data structure for data ingestion alongside the existing format. The change reduces storage requirements and speeds up the transformation and import phases of process mining. No configuration changes are required and the feature reaches general availability on 31 May 2026.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: 31 May 2026 (GA) | ID: MC1296281 | Published: 30 April 2026

Power Automate: New customisable process analysis workspaces available in process intelligence experience

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

Power Automate is adding a fully customisable analysis environment to its process intelligence experience, allowing users to build purpose-built workspaces using tab-based navigation, flexible grid layouts, and a library of visualisation components including process maps, variant analysis, and performance metrics. A unified filtering model applies filters across all tiles simultaneously. The feature reaches general availability on 31 May 2026 and requires no admin configuration.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: 31 May 2026 (GA) | ID: MC1296213 | Published: 30 April 2026

Microsoft 365 Copilot: New AI Reader role provides read-only access to Agent 365 usage and health

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

A new AI Reader role is being introduced in the Microsoft 365 admin center, giving designated users read-only visibility into Agent 365 usage, health, and configuration without requiring Global Administrator permissions. The role must be explicitly assigned and is not on by default. Existing roles, permissions, and policies are unchanged. Admins managing Agent 365 should identify anyone who needs monitoring or reporting access and assign the role accordingly.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: Early May 2026 | ID: MC1296473 | Published: 30 April 2026

Microsoft 365 Admin Center: New dedicated License Requests page for Microsoft 365 Copilot requests

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

A new License Requests page will be available under Billing in the Microsoft 365 admin center, giving Global, License, and User admins a centralised location to view and manage Copilot license requests submitted by users. The page is on by default after rollout. Organisations using custom policies that redirect requests to external systems will not see those requests here and are unaffected. No changes to existing roles, permissions, or user submission workflows.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: Mid-May 2026 (Targeted Release), Early June 2026 (GA complete) | ID: MC1296475 | Published: 30 April 2026

Microsoft 365 Copilot: Private community and event content will be used as grounding sources

Risk: Medium | User Impact: Medium | Admin Impact: Low

Microsoft 365 Copilot will begin drawing on content from private Viva Engage communities and private events when generating responses. Users will only see content they already have permission to access, and sensitivity labels from source content will appear alongside Copilot citations. The feature is enabled by default and cannot be turned off at the tenant level. Admins, compliance teams, and helpdesk staff should be made aware that Copilot responses may now reference this additional content.

Action Required: Communicate to users

Key dates: May 2026 (rollout start), Late June 2026 (rollout complete) | ID: MC1296480 | Published: 30 April 2026

Microsoft Purview: Data Security Investigations gains support for custom examination focus areas

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

Admins using Microsoft Purview Data Security Investigations will be able to define custom examination focus areas that guide how AI-powered deep content analysis prioritises sensitive information during an investigation. The feature is available by default to eligible tenants once rolled out and works within existing DSI permissions, policies, and workflows. No changes to data storage or access controls are introduced. Security and compliance teams should review how this fits into existing investigation playbooks.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: Mid-May 2026 (preview start), Late June 2026 (GA complete) | ID: MC1296479 | Published: 30 April 2026

Microsoft Teams: Together mode meeting view will be retired

Risk: Medium | User Impact: Medium | Admin Impact: Low

Together mode, including custom scenes and seat assignment functionality, will be permanently removed from Microsoft Teams meetings in June 2026. Users who regularly use Together mode will find the option gone from the View menu with no admin setting available to retain it. The gallery view remains the primary multi-participant layout. Organisations using branded meeting visuals should transition to organisation-approved background images via the Teams admin center. Helpdesk teams should be briefed ahead of the retirement.

Action Required: Communicate to users

Key dates: Early June 2026 (retirement start), Late June 2026 (retirement complete) | ID: MC1296478 | Published: 30 April 2026

Microsoft 365 Copilot: Anthropic models will be available as an AI provider option in Word

Risk: Medium | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Medium

Anthropic will be introduced as an additional AI model provider for Copilot in Word, operating as a Microsoft subprocessor. Outside the EU, EFTA, and UK, Anthropic models will be enabled by default and organisations must explicitly disable them if not wanted. In the EU, EFTA, and UK, the feature is off by default and requires admin enablement. Existing Microsoft 365 security, compliance, and governance controls continue to apply. Security and compliance teams should review before rollout.

Action Required: Admin action needed

Key dates: Mid-May 2026 (rollout start), Late May 2026 (rollout complete) | ID: MC1296489 | Published: 30 April 2026

Microsoft Teams Rooms: AI Assistant in Pro Management Portal extended to all portal roles

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

The AI Assistant in the Teams Rooms Pro Management Portal, previously available only to Global Admins, will now be accessible to all portal roles. Responses remain strictly scoped by existing RBAC permissions, so admins only see data for rooms and devices they already manage. At launch the assistant can answer inventory questions, provide tenant-level summaries, and offer setup guidance, but cannot make configuration changes or run automated diagnostics. No changes to existing roles or permissions are introduced.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: Late April 2026 (preview), Early May 2026 (GA) | ID: MC1296484 | Published: 30 April 2026

Microsoft Teams: Default app for opening Office files changes from Teams to Desktop or Web

Risk: Low | User Impact: Medium | Admin Impact: Low

Users who previously set Teams as their default for opening Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files will find that preference automatically reset to Desktop app or Web app. The change applies without any admin configuration and users can revert to Teams at any time through their Teams settings. File storage locations and permissions are unaffected. Helpdesk teams should be briefed to reduce support requests from users surprised by the change.

Action Required: Communicate to users

Key dates: Early May 2026 (rollout start), Mid-May 2026 (rollout complete) | ID: MC1296482 | Published: 30 April 2026

Microsoft 365 Copilot: Teams meeting content can now be added as references in Copilot Notebooks

Risk: Low | User Impact: Medium | Admin Impact: Low

Licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot (Premium) users will be able to add Teams meeting transcripts, chats, and shared materials as references in Copilot Notebooks, grounding AI-generated outputs such as presentations and briefs in meeting context. The feature is on by default where Copilot Notebooks are available and respects existing meeting permissions, retention settings, and governance controls. Admins should verify that Teams transcription, recording policies, and meeting access permissions are configured appropriately before rollout.

Action Required: Communicate to users

Key dates: Late April 2026 (preview start), Late May 2026 (GA complete) | ID: MC1296488 | Published: 30 April 2026

Microsoft 365 Apps: Current Channel update released (April 30 2026)

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

A new Current Channel update for Microsoft 365 Apps began rolling out on April 30 2026. Organisations with automatic updates configured via the Office CDN require no action. Organisations managing updates manually can download and deploy the update now. Full release notes are available in the Current Channel release notes documentation.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: 30 April 2026 | ID: MC1297137 | Published: 1 May 2026

Microsoft 365 Copilot: Calendar Agent automates routine meeting decisions in Outlook and Teams

Risk: Low | User Impact: Medium | Admin Impact: Low

Calendar Agent lets users set natural-language rules in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat that automatically accept, decline, follow, or remove cancelled meetings on their behalf. Users must explicitly enable agent actions, and the feature respects existing Outlook working hours, Copilot agent policies, and compliance boundaries. An activity history view shows all actions taken with explanations. No new admin controls are introduced and no changes to data residency, audit logging, or Purview enforcement. Currently rolling out to Frontier programme participants only.

Action Required: Communicate to users

Key dates: Late April 2026 (rollout start), Early May 2026 (rollout complete) | ID: MC1296874 | Published: 30 April 2026

Microsoft 365 Copilot: Legal Agent for Word brings AI-assisted contract review to legal teams

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

Legal Agent is a new Copilot experience built into Word that helps legal professionals identify contract risks, compare clauses against internal playbooks, and generate redlines using Word's native tracked changes. It is available by default once a tenant is enrolled in the Frontier Public Preview program, requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, and is currently limited to US-based tenants. No separate admin toggle or installation is needed beyond Frontier enrolment and licence assignment.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: Late April 2026 (preview) | ID: MC1296877 | Published: 30 April 2026

Exchange Online: Dynamic distribution groups will populate membership immediately on creation and modification

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

Dynamic distribution groups with 5,000 members or fewer will have membership available immediately when created or modified in Exchange Online, replacing the previous wait of up to two hours. Groups larger than 5,000 members are unchanged and continue to populate via a background process within two hours, though a new warning message will now appear at creation or modification time. The routine 24-hour refresh cycle is unaffected. Internal documentation referencing the two-hour wait should be updated.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: Late May 2026 (rollout start), Early June 2026 (rollout complete) | ID: MC1294524 | Published: 28 April 2026

OneDrive: Sync limit on Windows increases to 1 million items per device

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

OneDrive sync on Windows will support up to 1 million items per sync instance, up from the current 300,000-item limit. The increase is available first through the Insiders ring in Public Preview and is intended for organisations with very large OneDrive or SharePoint libraries. Devices that do not meet the minimum hardware requirements are unaffected and continue syncing at the existing limit. Performance for high volumes of read-only files and accounts under legal hold is not yet fully optimised.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: Late April 2026 (preview) | ID: MC1294528 | Published: 28 April 2026

SharePoint Online: New Power Automate trigger and action available for SharePoint form workflows

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

Two new Power Automate capabilities are coming to SharePoint forms in preview: a "Form submitted" trigger that starts flows when a SharePoint form is completed, and a "Get form metadata" action that retrieves form structure dynamically, removing the need to hardcode field IDs. Together they enable scalable automation for approvals, notifications, and routing based on form submissions. Existing SharePoint permissions apply and no additional configuration is required. Document generation scenarios require enrollment in the AI in SharePoint Public Preview.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: Early May 2026 (preview start), Late May 2026 (preview complete) | ID: MC1294519 | Published: 28 April 2026

Microsoft Edge: Work browsing history can be shared with Microsoft 365 Copilot Search to improve relevance

Risk: Medium | User Impact: Medium | Admin Impact: Medium

When enabled by an admin, Microsoft Edge for Business will share selected work-related browsing history from work profiles with Microsoft 365 Copilot Search to surface previously visited pages more prominently in search results. The feature is controlled by the ShareBrowsingHistoryWithCopilotSearchAllowed Edge policy and is only active when Copilot Search is configured in the admin center. Users will have a visible opt-out setting in Edge. Personal profiles and consumer accounts are not affected. Security and privacy teams should review before rollout.

Action Required: Admin action needed

Key dates: Early May 2026 (rollout start), Mid-May 2026 (rollout complete) | ID: MC1294523 | Published: 28 April 2026

SharePoint Online: New Power Automate action enables automated document generation from SharePoint forms

Risk: Low | User Impact: Low | Admin Impact: Low

A new "Generate document from form" action will be available in Power Automate, allowing structured inputs from forms, lists, or Excel to be mapped to SharePoint document templates and stored automatically. The capability supports workflows such as contracts, invoices, and HR onboarding. It is opt-in, available only to organisations enrolled in the AI in SharePoint Public Preview, and has no effect on existing workflows.

Action Required: Review

Key dates: Early May 2026 (preview start), Late May 2026 (preview complete) | ID: MC1294518 | Published: 28 April 2026

Exchange Online: TLS 1.0 and 1.1 support for POP3 and IMAP4 connections will be retired

Risk: High | User Impact: Medium | Admin Impact: High

Exchange Online will stop accepting POP3 and IMAP4 connections that use TLS 1.0 or TLS 1.1 from July 1, 2026. Connections using these legacy versions will fail outright. Modern email clients are unlikely to be affected, but legacy applications, embedded systems, and older devices connecting via POP or IMAP must be audited and updated to support TLS 1.2 or later before the rollout begins. Third-party vendor validation may also be required.

Action Required: Raise CAB Request

Key dates: 1 July 2026 (rollout start), 31 December 2026 (rollout end) | ID: MC1293480 | Published: 27 April 2026

Microsoft 365 Apps: Excel Desktop must be updated to maintain Power Platform Analytical Dataflows connectivity

Risk: High | User Impact: High | Admin Impact: High

Excel Desktop builds older than 16.0.17932.20732 will lose the ability to connect to Power Platform Analytical Dataflows after May 27, 2026, when the legacy endpoint begins retiring. The required build is available now. Retired Office versions will not receive the update and will permanently lose connectivity. No tenant-level configuration changes are needed beyond ensuring devices are updated. Organisations using these dataflows must act before the deadline to avoid disruption.

Action Required: Raise CAB Request

Key dates: 27 May 2026 | ID: MC1293484 | Published: 27 April 2026

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Disclaimer: Everything here is shared to help you understand your options and make informed decisions. It's informational only, not prescriptive. Your organization's unique context, existing configuration and processes, risk appetite, and team capabilities always matter most when deciding what's right for you and your organization.