Microsoft rolled out a bunch of new features for Microsoft Teams in June. Calls, meetings, and Teams Rooms have all received updates. As usual, Microsoft gathered together all the new features in a blog post.

Here are the highlights from June, though the item missing from this list is more interesting than anything listed in the blog post:

• New calling agents
• Brand impersonation protection
• Redesigned in-meeting controls
• Bot detection
• Facilitator in Teams Rooms
• IntelliFrame people labels

Interestingly, Microsoft did not mention the controversial feature in Teams that allows your boss to see where you are when connected to Wi-Fi networks at work.

That feature drew criticism when first announced. Microsoft offered clarification and delayed the rollout, but "workplace check-in via Wi-Fi" is now generally available. The feature was previously known as "Automatic Update of work location."

I'm not sure why the feature was omitted from the post recapping everything that shipped to Teams in June. I thought I may have had my dates mixed up, but the Teams blog post from June 12, 2026 states (emphasis added):

"We’re introducing workplace check-in via Wi-Fi for Microsoft Places and Teams, designed to help employees coordinate in-person work by keeping their workplace location up to date when they’re in the office."

Based on Microsoft's phrasing, it seems like Automatic Update of work location should be included in the roundup.

My favorite new Microsoft Teams features 💬

Advanced file discovery and filters are the biggest addition to Teams for my workflow. The improved contextual search in Teams indexes every file uploaded to a channel. You can then filter for file type, sender, and date within a channel.

Slack has similar functionality and I use it often. I'm happy to see improved filters and file searching in Teams.

I also love the new Quick Share option in Teams. Sharing options can be accessed by hovering, right-clicking, using overflow menus, and using shared tabs. The fact that OneDrive and SharePoint content shared through Quick Share retains permissions helps ensure privacy.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Late yesterday, the United States Department of Defense announced a new agreement with Microsoft and Dell, aimed at consolidating and streamlining Microsoft software licenses across a huge variety of services and systems.

If you've ever worked in a big government department or corporation, you might know how complicated IT policies can be. Furthermore, you might be aware of how, over time, interweaving systems can become tangled and messy, as decades of technical debt accumulate and pile up. We might all be up to date running the latest version of Windows 11 at home, but your local airport, hospital, or bank might still be rocking Windows 7, or even older in some cases.

Few governmental departments are as complicated as the United States military apparatus. And Microsoft has long held contracts within the famed Pentagon for delivering things like Windows, Microsoft Office, and cloud services. Over time, the disparate cacophony of different provisions, license models, and service level agreements has become a tangled web of needless complexity and ongoing maintenance requirements. The Pentagon is taking action to cut costs, at least in theory.

The U.S. DoD announced that over the next five years, Dell will be tasked with consolidating and streamlining Microsoft services and software spread across the U.S. military apparatus, including its intelligence services and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Pentagon (via CNBC) says the deal will save U.S. taxpayers $422 million annually, despite the $9.7 billion upfront cost of the cleanup operation.

Dell has a long-standing partnership with Microsoft, as one of the largest PC makers on Earth and third-party suppliers of Microsoft services and licenses. Despite the contract ultimately going to Dell, it still further entrenches Microsoft in the United States government as its primary software and cloud provider.

Dubbed the "Microsoft Department of War Enterprise Software Agreement II Core Enterprise Technology Agreement," the funds reportedly come from existing budgets already allocated for Microsoft software purchases, covering Office suite and Azure servers and things like Active Directory. The goal is to centralize software purchasing into a single, more efficient vehicle, as opposed to the existing system of disparate and conflicting processes.

Dell stock reached an all-time high in after-hours trading on the news, hitting $305. Dell's stock price has risen by 129% in just six months, and follows comments from U.S. President Trump urging people to "go and buy a Dell," alongside Michael Dell's $6.5 billion donation to a Trump-backed charity investment fund for American children.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft is making it easier to access Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft 365 apps. But instead of adding a bunch of ways to access the AI assistant, Microsoft is giving users just two options.

The two main ways to access Copilot will be an icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen and through a contextual entry point like selecting text.

The streamlined approach keeps Copilot consistent across apps.

Copilot will also offer proactive suggestions from the Copilot button. Those actions will be accessible through keyboard shortcuts or hovering your cursor over the Copilot icon.

"Before you know it, Copilot will be editing your content directly from conversation," promises Microsoft in a Tech Community post.

Microsoft also updated the keyboard shortcuts that open the Copilot pane. Rather than having to press Alt + H, F, or X to open it, you can press F6. That shortcut moves focus to the Copilot button. You can then use the up arrow to navigate between suggestions.

Copilot shortcuts are being unified across Microsoft 365 apps, though the change is only rolling out to Outlook and Word at the moment. Eventually, the Microsoft 365 apps will support the below shortcuts.

People will have to wait a bit to use the Alt + C and Cmd + Control + I shortcuts in all Microsoft 365 apps. But the new Copilot button and other shortcuts are rolling out to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and will become generally available in June.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft Teams supports real-time collaboration and communication with its messaging and video conferencing features for meetings, file and app sharing, and more. Microsoft usually does a great job at keeping the platform up-to-date with sophisticated features designed to make communication seamless.

However, it's hard to ignore the users lodging complaints about the app's presence feature. For context, it's designed to let other people in your organization know your availability: Available, Busy, In a meeting, In a call, Do not disturb, Be right back, Away, and Offline.

Over the past few days, users have complained about how Teams' presence works, with some claiming that the status indicator will change from green to yellow after barely a few minutes of inactivity. Green means you're available for work, while yellow means you're away.

As a result, you need to go back and forth to the platform to avoid instances where it mistakenly marks your availability at your workplace as Away. Otherwise, a more permanent Out of Office status can automatically be set if you enable automatic replies: "If the user is using Teams during these periods of time, the user's presence is shown alongside the Out of Office indicator," Microsoft added.

Technically, this shouldn't be a big deal as long as you're still working. These kinds of collaboration tools are often susceptible to downtimes anyway, which can impact productivity significantly.

This opens up another discussion about an overreliance by organizations on collaboration tools, but that's a story for another day.

A quick look at the r/remotework subreddit on Reddit reveals that some bosses have seemingly turned into the Teams Status Police, constantly checking employees' availability.

My boss is obsessed with Teams status instead of actual work from r/remotework

"Microsoft Teams is the worst way to track someone! It changes your status to Away after just 5 minutes of no mouse movement, even if you are deep in work," another user lamented. "This hurts focus for millions of remote workers every day."

"Look away from your laptop for 1 second and MS Teams will say u left the country," another user joked.

"Teams sees you step away for water and immediately files a missing persons report," the jokes keep writing themselves. "Two minutes is insane… like sorry I blinked, and suddenly I’m “away”?" another user complained. "At that point, it’s not a status indicator, it’s a surveillance tool with trust issues."

I've reached out to Microsoft for a comment about the topic, and I'll update this post once more information is available. Elsewhere, Teams was on the spot again, specifically about its "Automatic Update of work location" feature, which was misconstrued as a micromanagement and employee surveillance tool.

However, Microsoft dismissed the claims, revealing that the tool is designed to foster collaboration. "Work location is an extension of the online-presence signal in Microsoft Teams and of the working hours control in the Microsoft 365 calendar," Microsoft clarified. "By bringing together working hours, work location, and online presence, users can more easily find out where their coworkers are working from in addition to whether they're available to connect."

More recently, Salesforce and Slack filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, accusing the company of anticompetitive practices over bundling Teams with its Office suite.

Have you had a similar experience with Teams' status indicator? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

On April 23, Salesforce and Slack filed a lawsuit against Microsoft in London’s High Court, accusing the company of anticompetitive practices related to its Microsoft Teams app.

Speaking to Reuters, a Salesforce spokesperson indicated that "Microsoft's practices harmed ⁠competition, using tying and bundling of Teams to ​limit customer choice."

Per Salesforce's lawsuit, Microsoft bundling Teams with its Office suite is described as a calculated move designed to limit customer choice and restrict fair competition in the workplace collaboration market.

A Microsoft spokesperson dismissed Salesforce's claims, further indicating that the antitrust case against it lacked merit:

"Salesforce’s complaint lacks merit, and we’ll make our case before the Court in due course. Slack's lackluster growth, compared to Zoom and Teams, was based on inferior capabilities when COVID-19 hit in ​2020, and had nothing to do with Microsoft." (via Salesforce Ben)

This isn’t the first time Salesforce has raised concerns about Microsoft’s business practices. Back in 2020, Slack filed a complaint with the European Commission, accusing Microsoft of abusing its market dominance by bundling Teams with its Office suite to stifle competition.

The complain further alleged that millions were forced to install Microsoft Teams without the ability to remove it. However, Microsoft dismissed the allegations, arguing that Slack’s struggles originated from its lack of integrated video‑conferencing features rather than any anticompetitive behavior.

But Microsoft caved to antitrust regulatory pressure, making some changes...

In 2025, Microsoft unbundled Teams from Office 365 in an attempt to dodge EU antitrust fines. For context, the European Commission launched a formal investigation into Microsoft for bundling Teams with Office 365 in 2023.

Microsoft made several commitments to the European Commission, including drastic changes in pricing for its core services. For context, it committed to offering Office 365 and Microsoft 365 without Teams at a lower cost, at around $2.20 (€2) less per user each month. As such, it started offering Teams as a standalone service for about $5.50 (€5) per user per month.

The tech giant also committed to improving how Teams works with competing platforms, making it easier for rival apps to integrate with Teams and other Microsoft services.

This is a developing story. I'll keep tabs on it as it unfolds and equally keep updated as new information becomes available.

Elsewhere, Microsoft is also facing a separate class‑action lawsuit, alleging that it set wholesale prices for Windows Server software higher on rival cloud platforms than on its own Azure service.

Do you think Microsoft is engaging in anticompetitive business practices by bundling Teams with its Office suite? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Salesforce and Slack just filed a lawsuit against Microsoft over anticompetitive business practices, specifically bundling Teams with Office. However, Microsoft dismissed the antitrust claims, citing that Slack's "lackluster growth" is centered on a lack of video-conferencing support, further indicating that it has nothing to do with Microsoft.

And now, Microsoft appears to be using a clever new way to get Teams users to subscribe to the long-established Teams Premium plan. It's an add-on license that allows organizations with Microsoft 365 subscriptions to enhance their user experience on the platform with extra features, including more personalized and intelligent meetings, enhanced protection, and more.

Now, Microsoft has integrated a prompt to buy Teams Premium in the app's title bar. For context, the Teams title bar, which features the three-dot menu where you'd ordinarily access settings like pinning, feedback, and even zoom level, now includes a new option to unlock Teams Premium (via Neowin).

The title bar usually goes unnoticed, but Microsoft’s new “Unlock Premium” banner beside the three‑dot menu has made it far more conspicuous, sparking controversy and backlash over the company’s design choices. According to Neowin, clicking on the option triggers a pop‑up showcasing its benefits. Users are also offered a 60‑day trial that doesn’t require a credit card.

Users have strongly expressed their thoughts about the recent change, saying "STOP ALL POP UPS AND DISTRACTIONS." Others have implied that, "This is just bad UX that leads to mistrust. Most importantly, this advertisement makes settings very hard to discover - who would think to click "unlock premium" if they want to change notification settings?"

Many have expressed their reservations about the change because it's often not within their purview within a business environment to make the change and unlock Teams Premium. Instead, it requires management or IT privileges to enable the add-on license. According to one frustrated user:

"As everyone else has said, the majority of us are not in a position within our organization to authorize a premium subscription, so please remove it from the interface/allow it to be dismissed. It makes it difficult to find teams settings, because the "..." menu is attached to the unlock premium button. Delete delete delete."

Microsoft was already accused by Mozilla of using "dark patterns" and deceptive tactics to force services like Copilot on Windows 11 users. It'll be interesting to see how the company handles more user enterprise-level complaints about this largely unwanted change in Teams.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft 365 and Outlook are down. Microsoft confirmed the outage today and has shared a couple of updates on the official Microsoft 365 Status account on X.

Downdetector also shows a spike in outages and issues that began around 4:50 AM ET. Outlook, Microsoft 365, and other Microsoft web experiences all seem to be affected.

It's not clear at this time how widespread the outages are or how many people are experiencing issues.

The timing of the issues is poor, since many are starting their work at the moment and are unable to use essential services such as Teams or Outlook.

Below are the most recent X posts about the outage, including an update clarify that things are improving and that Microsoft is monitoring the situation to "ensure the service fully recovers."

This is an ongoing news story and we will update this piece as more information becomes available. Microsoft also has a status page that is updated regularly.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Much has been made of Windows 11 coming along with hardware requirements that leave many, many older laptops out in the cold. But not being able to upgrade to Windows 11 doesn't have to mean you need to toss a perfectly usable piece of hardware on the giant e-waste pile.

Did you know that you can recycle your old laptop or desktop PC into a fully functional home server that could also help you reduce how much you're spending on subscriptions to cloud-based services?

Anyone can do this, and while you'll be ditching Windows, there are countless resources online to help you get where you need to be. A good starting point would be to set up Debian Linux on your machine for some of these projects.

Before you begin...

A few things to point out before we go any further.

Firstly, this isn't a comprehensive guide to setting up these projects. Merely suggestions on things you could do.

The other thing that needs to be remembered is that there are good and bad points to recycling an old laptop in this way. On one hand, you have a built-in UPS thanks to the battery; you have ports to connect drives to; and of course, a built-in display, mouse, and keyboard for accessing and troubleshooting your setup.

With a battery, though, comes the inevitability that batteries will go bad over time, and keeping one plugged in, charging 24/7, isn't advisable. So perhaps if you are using a laptop, consider shutting it down at night when you don't need it or, if you can, limiting how much the battery is charged.

With that out of the way, let's have a look at some fun projects you can reuse an old Windows PC or laptop for, with the added bonus of perhaps reducing your reliance (and spending) on cloud services.

1. Replace Microsoft 365 with Nextcloud

Nextcloud is a fantastic piece of software if you live inside the Microsoft 365 environment, but would love to not pay for it and have all your data under your own control.

There could be an entire article on what you can do with Nextcloud, but at its core, it's a self-hosted office suite where you can store files, create documents, get your email, host video calls, organize photos, keep your daily notes and to-do lists, and so much more.

Community-created plugins further expand what Nextcloud can do for you, and with apps for Android or iOS, you can access your files from any of your devices.

The whole point of Nextcloud is to create your own personal, private cloud. There are several ways to get set up, and you can find out everything you need to know from the Nextcloud website.

2. Home media server with Plex or Jellyfin

A home media server is the obvious choice, especially for reusing an old laptop since you don't need to run it 24/7. It also makes a ton of sense in the age of multiple different streaming services, and said streaming services continually losing content.

Plex and Jellyfin are but two options, but they're both popular for their own reasons and both really easy to use. In essence, you run the server from your computer, point it at a location that's hosting your media files, be it on the same device, another PC, or a NAS, and then watch said content on your PC, TV, smartphone, or tablet.

The most time-consuming aspect is collating the media. But you can easily rip your collection of Blu-ray and DVD discs and digitize them to view through Plex or Jellyfin.

It's worth it in the end, though, because nobody can take away your favorite movies and shows if you have a local copy. Why rely on Netflix when you can build your own?

3. Network-wide adblocking with Pi-hole or Adguard Home

I wouldn't recommend using an old laptop solely for the purpose of creating a network-wide adblocker. A Raspberry Pi is a far more efficient way of doing that.

But, if you're dabbling with projects and creating a little home server, then setting up Pi-hole or AdGuard Home is something easy to do.

Both have their fans, and I've used both, but I personally lean more towards AdGuard Home, as it's always felt a little more beginner-friendly. In essence, both of these act as a DNS server that will intercept ads on any device you point at it.

There are limitations to exactly what can be blocked, so don't expect a magic wand, but both are highly customizable. Find out more about Pi-hole and AdGuard Home at their respective GitHub repos.

4. Build your own NAS to back up your files

Nextcloud is a decent way to share files, but that's not what it's built for. If you've ever wondered if you really need a NAS in your life, you can recycle an old PC and just build one yourself.

Why even bother? How much are you spending on cloud storage every month? Do you really need to if you can build your own solution?

A couple of platforms you could try are TrueNAS and OpenMediaVault, both of which are installed as an OS rather than on top of something else. But both are capable of turning your old PC into a NAS to use at home.

Whether it's your media library, backing up photos, or just a place to store your files, you don't necessarily need to buy a NAS to have one if you already have an old PC lying around.

5. Host your own password manager

If you're paying for a password manager such as 1Password, have you considered that you could host it yourself?

One increasingly popular way to do this is using VaultWarden, an open-source, self-hosted tool that is compatible with BitWarden apps and browser extensions.

Everyone should use a password manager, and it should be secure, but that also doesn't mean you have to pay for it. Maybe hosting your own is a better idea?

You'll still get the same end result but without paying, and you have total control over some of your most sensitive data.

There are countless different things you can do with an old laptop to give it a second life, and these are just some suggestions that might set you on the right path.

Other useful places to check out are r/homelab, which is stacked with enthusiasts for this type of thing, and of course, YouTube. Building a server at home is becoming more and more popular, and there are so many resources at your disposal.

This video by YouTuber Tech by Matt is also worth a watch if you're thinking of reusing your old laptop in this way. He takes a slightly different approach, but it's an extensive walkthrough that you could find helpful.

If you've done something similar to this already, be sure to share your own tips and tricks in the comments below!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft Teams has a slew of new features to improve communication and reduce clutter. Clearing your notifications, finding unfinished drafts, and entering text in messages are all easier thanks to the latest batch of updates to Teams.

As always, Microsoft broke down all the new features and Teams devices in an extensive blog post, so I'll highlight the biggest changes following a quick list of everything that's new.

What's new in Microsoft Teams in March 2026

• View and manage activity in other accounts and organizations
• Enhanced organization chart in profile card
• Easily find unsent drafts
• Live meeting indicator for threaded channels in Teams
• Simplified controls for managing external collaboration in Teams
• Teams image viewer improvements
• Control the Enter key in Teams chat
• Keyboard shortcut to mark all as read in Teams chats and channels
• Teams Action in Spotlight on Mac
• Share files and Loop components in external chats
• Annotations on single shared window during meetings
• Audio Recap — Expanded Language Support
• Copilot in Teams Phone live calls, powered by Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
• Voice and face profile enrollment dashboard for admins
• Teams shared display mode and peripheral detection available for GCC-H
• Stay Available When You're Active: Accurate Presence in Teams on the Web
• EXIF data will be removed from images shared on Teams
• New Workflows app experience in Teams

Clearing notifications in Microsoft Teams

If you're in a bunch of Teams chats and channels, you're likely used to a cluttered feed of unread notifications. Some notifications are important, but others can be brushed off or cleared away since you caught up elsewhere.

A new shortcut in Microsoft Teams lets you mark all Teams chat and channel messages as read by pressing SHIFT + ESC.

Control the Enter key in Microsoft Teams

It only took a decade, but Microsoft finally lets you choose how the Enter key behaves. You can now toggle between sending a message or starting a new line in the settings.

It's a small change that should reduce how many messages are sent accidentally.

If you set Teams to start a new line when you press enter, you can still send a message with a keyboard shortcut by pressing CTRL + ENTER or CMD + ENTER depending on if you're on Windows or macOS.

Finding drafts in Microsoft Teams

You no longer have to dig through chats to find unsent drafts in Microsoft Teams. The app now gathers all your drafts into a single location, making it easier to follow up and finish messages.

Best new Microsoft Teams features 💬

Since I work remotely, I appreciate, and loathe, a crowded inbox. I also hate digging through chats and channels to find unsent messages. The latest changes to Microsoft Teams ease those pain points for those on the platform.

Microsoft also released a bunch of other features last month. I'm curious to see if any of those stand out more than the ones I highlighted above. Let me know about your favorite new Microsoft Teams feature in the comments.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft is actively hiring to improve the user experience for consumers, including changes to Microsoft 365 and Windows 11. For example, Microsoft's Rudy Huyn shared last week that he's building a new team to improve Windows apps.

And now, Omar Shahine, known for product reviews and artificial intelligence newsletters, has been hired by Microsoft. In the post on X announcing the new job, Shahine indicated that he'll mainly focus on bringing OpenClaw and personal AI agents to Microsoft 365.

He explains that he plans to usher in a new generation of proactive workplace assistants, designed to help users get work done more effectively and efficiently and "lighten your load by taking on tasks end-to-end."

"As part of this mission, I’ll be partnering with the OpenClaw and M365 community to bring the energy of this work to our customers," added Shahine. "We’ve already hit the ground running with a fully integrated Teams plugin for OpenClaw, and I can’t wait to help usher in the era of personal agents at work."

Is more AI in Microsoft 365 a good idea?

While Microsoft announced plans to end the dreaded "microslop" in Windows 11 by reducing where Copilot and its integrations appear across the operating system, it doesn't seem like the exact same principles will apply across its entire stack, especially Microsoft 365.

This week, Microsoft announced that "Copilot Cowork" is now available via its Frontier program, making it an opt-in experience for Microsoft 365 users before it ships to broad availability.

That said, I'd argue that Copilot Cowork is a clear attempt by Microsoft to deliver more value to its new 365 E7 AI subscription tier for $99/user/month. Investors have raised concerns about the tech giant's exorbitant spending on AI and infrastructure (and its planning to spend an additional $146 billion in 2026) as it could be well on its way to the worst quarter since the 2008 financial crisis.

Despite Microsoft's massive investment in AI, only 3.3% of Microsoft 365 and Office 365 users who interact with Copilot actually pay for it. However, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella insists Copilot's daily user base has grown “nearly 3x year-over-year.”

Perhaps more concerningly, some investors have openly voiced concerns that AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic could potentially develop AI agents that could one day replace established productivity suites such as Microsoft 365 for free.

Just like Clawdbot, OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant that leans heavily on large language models (LLMs) to handle tasks such as clearing your inbox, sending emails, managing your calendar, and checking you in for flights.

At the beginning of the year, Clawdbot burst onto the scene, touted as a productivity booster in corporate settings. However, there were critical security concerns and complaints lodged by users, indicating that it's prone to malicious prompt injections and other vulnerabilities.

It will be interesting to see how Microsoft will handle the security concerns when integrating OpenClaw into Microsoft 365 and what user reception will look like.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft isn't just scaling back Copilot in Windows 11, it's also reducing access to Copilot Chat for certain Microsoft 365 commercial customers. Starting April 15, 2026, Copilot Chat users without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license will not be able to access Copilot in Office apps, at least directly.

At the moment and until the change takes effect next month, those with a work or school account and a qualifying Microsoft 365 business subscription can use Copilot Chat in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote without an additional license.

After the cutoff in April, that functionality will be limited to the Microsoft 365 Copilot app for those without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Notably, Copilot in Outlook will sill work with inbox and calendar grounding for Copilot Chat users after April 15.

The change is explained in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center (MC1253858) and was first highlighted in a Discord channel.

"Starting April 15, 2026, Copilot will no longer be available in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for Copilot Chat users. To ensure a high-quality experience, we are reserving the full Copilot experience in these apps—with advanced reasoning and model choice—for users with a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license. If you would like users to access these experiences, you can provide a Microsoft 365 Copilot license."

Copilot Chat forms a unified chat experience across Microsoft 365 apps, Microsoft Edge, and the Microsoft 365 Copilot app. The tool can be used to analyze data, create content, and help you interact with supported apps.

Microsoft will have to update its support page and record a new video. At the moment, the Copilot Chat in Microsoft 365 support page specifically states that you can access Copilot Chat in Microsoft apps "all at no extra cost, and you don't need a Copilot add-on license."

The company lists everything you can do with Copilot Chat even if you don't have a Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on. Admittedly, those options are limited compared to those paying a premium, but they are more than nothing (at least for now).

If you have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, you won't see any changes. Those with a license will still be able to interact with Copilot Chat in apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

To reduce confusion, Microsoft will add in-product labels for users and admins. Those without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license will see "Copilot Chat (Basic)." Users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license will see "M365 Copilot (Premium).

💬 Are there too many Copilots?

Microsoft seems to have a different version of Copilot for each of its apps. Even within specific apps, there are often multiple different versions of Copilots.

Even reading Microsoft's message about the upcoming change to Copilot Chat requires thorough reading to make sure that don't mix up Copilot Chat, Copilot Chat (Basic), and M365 Copilot (Premium).

I believe that for years, Microsoft has tossed the term "Copilot" at the wall to see what sticks. Recent changes made by the tech giant suggest the term carries little weight.

Does the term "Copilot" mean anything to you? Do you use any Copilot tools? Let us know in the comments.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

The second Tuesday of each month is known as Patch Tuesday. Windows 11's Patch Tuesday update included a bunch of good upgrades — a welcome change from the issues that plagued the OS recently. But another flagship Microsoft product, Office, had a pair of vulnerabilities flagged.

Codenamed CVE-2026-26110 and CVE-2026-26113, the vulnerabilities could be used to execute code locally. Both vulnerabilties require local access, making them harder to exploit.

If an attacker gain local access to your PC, they have a better chance of being able to do damage or steal data. While Microsoft notes that "local access" makes them harder to exploit than a typical web-based attack, there is a major catch for the average user.

When 'Local' isn't really local

Microsoft titling these as "Remote Code Execution" while requiring "Local Access" seems like a contradiction. Microsoft explains the distinction this way:

"The word Remote in the title refers to the location of the attacker... The attack itself is carried out locally. This means an attacker or victim needs to execute code from the local machine to exploit the vulnerability."

In other words, an attacker could send you a file remotely but the file would need to be processed locally.

The catch is that since the Office Preview Pane is a valid attack vector for these vulnerabilities, a local user does not need to double-click a file or "Enable Macros" to be at risk. Simply clicking an email to see its preview in Outlook is enough to "locally process" the file and let the attacker in.

How to stay safe

Microsoft has already released patches for all supported versions of Office. If you’re still running Office 2013 (which is now past its end-of-support date), you won't be receiving this fix.

To secure your system:

• Open Windows Update and check for the latest updates.
• Ensure the latest Microsoft 365 or Office 2016/2019/2021 updates are installed.
• If you can't patch immediately, consider disabling the Preview Pane in Outlook and File Explorer (this can be done through the View menu).

If you head over to the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), you'll see hundreds of security advisories that were published on March 10, many of which are marked as "Important."

The Office vulnerabilities highlighted here are among a much smaller set that are marked as "Critical."

It's worth updating to address all the vulnerabilities, of course. To make sure your PC is secure, ensure that Windows and Office have been updated to their most recent versions.

🗨️ How do you handle security updates?

Microsoft’s automatic update system is the unsung hero of Windows security, handling thousands of fixes like this every year behind the scenes. Do you trust the "set it and forget it" approach, or do you still prefer to manually check your update history just to be sure everything landed correctly? Let us know in the comments!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Yes, Copilot is still here, and Microsoft 365 (Office) is now expanding it with 'Wave 3'. If you missed the concept of its waves in the first place, they essentially refer to the batch rollouts of major features for Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Wave 1 was the initial introduction of Copilot in Microsoft's Office apps, with the AI assistant first appearing in documents, emails, and presentations. Wave 2 expanded Copilot across Microsoft's ecosystem, introducing new collaboration tools like Copilot Studio and deeper integration across Microsoft 365.

Now Microsoft is moving into Wave 3, which allows users to build their own AI agents directly within Microsoft 365 apps to help with their specific daily workflows, alongside new capabilities in apps like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook (via Microsoft).

The company is also introducing Microsoft 365's premium 'E7' bundle — the "First Frontier Suite". It bundles the existing top-tier 'E5' enterprise subscription with advanced security, analytics, and compliance tools, alongside Copilot, and a new Agent 365 offering into one package.

What’s new in Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 3?

This update brings improvements to Copilot’s chat features, allowing users to easily modify documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and emails directly from the chat interface. Plus, Microsoft is introducing Work IQ, a new intelligence layer that uses an organization’s data, collaboration history, and internal content to help Copilot better understand the context of your specific workplace.

Copilot is also adding support for additional models, including Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's GPT. Eventually, we'll see an introduction to Copilot Cowork, which is currently in preview, allowing AI agents to carry out longer, multi-step processes over time rather than responding to single prompts.

And finally, there's that new Agent 365 addition, which is essentially a management platform for organizations to monitor and govern their tailor-made AI agents. Agent 365 will release on May 1, 2026, and will cost $15 per user — that "Frontier Suite" E7 bundle will also launch on May 1, 2026, at $99 per user, including Agent 365, Microsoft Entra, Defender, Intune, and Purview.

🗨️ Will your business use these new Copilot additions?

Whether you like Copilot in Windows (Microsoft has at least eased off consumers and is no longer pushing it quite as aggressively), it's definitely here to stay on the Microsoft 365-led business side.

At least this latest software expansion could prove useful for some businesses eager to adopt agentic AI, potentially easing tedious, repetitive workloads and freeing up time for more important, human-driven tasks.

With all that said, let me know your thoughts in the comments, and make sure to take part in our poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Last week, it looked like Microsoft was getting ready to ship a new AI-powered software bundle for Microsoft 365, dubbed E7, which would include Microsoft Copilot and a new AI agent hub — Agent 365.

Well, Microsoft has now confirmed that the rumored AI-centric E7 subscription tier does exist and is slated to launch on May 1. Plus, the Agent 365 platform for managing AI agents across Microsoft 365 and third‑party services is also slated to ship to broad availability on the same date, priced separately at $15 per user per month.

The software giant describes the complete E7 bundle as "the First Frontier Suite," which will cost $99/user/month. Previously, I had described Microsoft's new AI-powered package as "the E5 enterprise tier, but with AI offerings on top."

Since Microsoft’s AI‑powered E7 subscription tier includes both Microsoft 365 Copilot and Agent 365, the $99 price point might feel like a bargain, or, as The Register's reporting on Gartner's research puts it, “priced below purchasing these capabilities à la carte.”

💬 Will the new tier offer value to Microsoft 365?

According to business research firm Gartner, the discount on Microsoft's new E7 subscription tier isn't as impressive as it might seem, as it only trims 13.2%. Its analysts believe that "bigger bundles should get bigger discounts."

Perhaps more interestingly, it says that Microsoft 365's E3 and E5 subscription tiers give more value for money with better discounts regarding what they have to offer.

In that, Microsoft seemingly shipped Microsoft 365's new AI-powered subscription tier to meet the need for a plan "with multiple tools stitched together" over what Microsoft 365 E5 has to offer.

Microsoft 365 E7 ships with productivity and security apps, Microsoft Copilot, and its new AI agent hub right out of the gate. Still, skepticism surrounds the subscription tier, particularly the Agent 365 offering, which Gartner calls "a work in progress with limited net new functionality to justify its $15 pupm [sic] price point."

Microsoft’s $99 E7 premium tier launches May 1. Do you think it’s worth the price? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft is replacing classic Outlook, gradually, and now even more gradually if you can believe it. The long-running desktop Outlook app is being replaced with a newer client called Outlook for Windows, with the goal of unifying Outlook across Windows, web, and mobile.

However, that transition does not appear to be going as smoothly as Microsoft hoped. It was recently revealed that the opt-out phase of the migration has now been pushed back by at least another year.

Now you might be wondering what the opt-out phase actually is, or where the opt-in phase fits into all of this. Well, that is where the migration timeline comes in.

The Microsoft’s Outlook migration timeline

Microsoft began the transition to the new Outlook for Windows back in 2022 with a private preview for testers. A public version followed in 2023, allowing users to try the new client if they opted in, and, honestly, I did not realize it had already been that long.

By late 2024, the new Outlook for Windows reached General Availability. That effectively meant it was ready for broader commercial use, and by December 202,4 Microsoft retired the Windows Mail app and replaced it with the new Outlook.

In 2025, Microsoft began pushing the transition further by automatically moving personal Microsoft accounts and some businesses to the new app. That rollout continued throughout the year as Microsoft tried to accelerate adoption.

Now in 2026, Microsoft has extended the deadline for enterprise users to prepare for the next stage. The opt-out phase will now begin in March 2027 instead of the original April 2026 target.

Microsoft says adoption of the new Outlook is picking up pace, according to TheRegister, but pushing the opt-out phase back another year suggests plenty of organizations are still not ready to make the jump.

That is not too surprising either. Outlook sits at the center of many business workflows, and when tools like that change, even small differences can create issues for people unfamiliar with the new software.

With support for classic Outlook continuing until at least 2029, it looks like this transition is going to remain a slow and gradual one for quite some time yet.

🗨️ Do you like the new Outlook app for Windows?

Have you or your business made the transition to the new version of Microsoft Outlook for Windows yet or are you still holding off?

Let me know in the comments and make sure to take part in the poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

At this point, it's hard to have missed Apple’s reveal of the $599 MacBook Neo, which definitely targets laptop buyers on a budget.

With a price tag like that, it should be an appealing package to macOS users (and those who never tried it). That, and it might put real pressure on the Windows laptop market, lighting "monstrous fire" for competition, as our Senior Editor Zac Bowden predicts.

Then again, maybe Microsoft needn't worry too much, because even Apple couldn't resist a shout-out for iconic Office apps in Microsoft 365 during a video demo of the MacBook Neo.

In a brief look at the laptop's recently used apps in macOS, Microsoft Word appears before being on the Start menu equivalent's dock, where it stays. Apple’s own equivalent, Pages, is notably absent. Score.

Did Apple say the quiet part out loud?

Now I have to make a small, possibly terrifying self-admission. I generally prefer Apple's hardware, especially compared to many Windows laptops. However, for software, I still use Windows 11 as my main operating system. Yes, I understand the hypocrisy, considering I'm part of Windows Central — I get it.

That being said, seeing Microsoft’s apps in the spotlight during Apple’s MacBook Neo demo was certainly something to behold, and it isn't the first time Apple has highlighted Office either. If you didn't know, Apple has its own "iWork" suite, which includes Pages (like Word), Keynote (PowerPoint), and Numbers (Excel).

Adding a fun touch of irony to the situation, three of the most-used apps shown on the MacBook Neo were Microsoft's, including the very same trio of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Can it be implied that Apple acknowledges how more people use Microsoft Office's suite of apps over their own iWork? Maybe.

I mean, Apple even shows Microsoft Word being dragged onto the dock, where it will presumably live permanently, quietly taunting Pages over what will likely never be.

So, despite Apple offering direct competitors, many still rely on Microsoft’s long-established Office apps. Universities and broader education also play a role here, as many provide students with free access to Office, which is the exact audience Apple is targeting with the MacBook Neo.

In the interest of fairness, Apple shifts things slightly in its shorter 35-second TV spot. In that version, the MacBook’s dock shows Apple’s full iWork suite instead, with no Office apps in sight. Microsoft gets the feature-length slot.

🗨️ A quiet admission or just standard marketing?

Did Apple really show how dominant Microsoft Office apps are, or was the MacBook Neo simply showing that it can run the apps students are familiar with? Does it put the Windows laptop market in any danger for the same reason?

Let me know in the comments!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

A few months ago, we learned that Microsoft Teams was on the verge of shipping a controversial tracking feature to its video conferencing tool. Initially, it seemed as though it would act as a kind of lapdog for your boss, automatically reporting your exact live location when connected to your company's Wi-Fi, for better or worse.

Well, the software giant has now updated how this tracking works in its Microsoft 365 Roadmap, specifically highlighting that it will ship as an opt-in experience, which means it'll be disabled by default. Plus, it clarifies how it works with its prerequisites and limitations, and how organizations can configure it (via PCWorld).

It's a small relief, particularly as the feature sparked backlash among most users, particularly those in our community. Claims that "Microsoft is blurring the lines between coworker collaboration and IT oversight" came alongside others suggesting hyperbole like “There must be a team at Microsoft tasked with making Teams worse.”

I even previously speculated how its exact-location tracking feature aligned closely with Microsoft's return-to-office plan, questioning whether it is merely coincidental or a deliberate effort to maximize workplace efficiency through surveillance and micromanagement.

According to Microsoft:

What's more, Teams users will be able to decide whether they want to share their location with coworkers. Microsoft categorically stated that it won't have access to this data, as locations can only be shared within the users' organization.

The company indicated that the feature supports two distinct location signals:

• Planned work location. User-entered intent. Users can create a recurring work plan in the Outlook or Teams calendar Settings, and one-off plans directly in the calendar grid.
• Actual work location. System‑detected or manually set location, based on check‑in.

So, as Microsoft describes it, "Automatic Update of work location" is a Teams-specific feature that helps its users "spend less time manually updating their status and more time enjoying in‑person collaboration."

Teams will clear a user's location at the end of their working hours, and shouldn't be updated if they connect outside of their designated work hours. Plus, it only works if your buildings are set up for it, using compatible devices and wireless access points to pinpoint particular rooms. If this isn't the case, it'll only show whether a user is working remotely or, indeed, in the office.

🗨️ Teams' tracking isn't for keeping tabs, but for collaboration?

Finally, Microsoft has made it clear that "Automatic Update of work location" is not a tracking tool and will not be used to track employee attendance. "The feature is designed to facilitate collaboration, not compliance or oversight," it says, which certainly seems reasonable.

Importantly, it shouldn't deter users from manually setting or clearing their work location, nor will it give admins access to historical location data. Its rollout has been delayed several times, and it now seems the launch timeline has been pushed from this month to April 2026 again.

What are your thoughts on the new Teams location feature being advertised as a collaboration booster? Let me know in the comments!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft has had many nicknames over the years, but few have stuck quite like “Microslop.” The term gained traction as it invested heavily in AI, with some users growing concerned about the direction of Windows and the increasing push to ship AI features without much user choice.

Now, in the official Copilot Discord server, it appears Microsoft has had enough. The company has blocked the term “Microslop,” preventing users from posting it in the community, if only briefly.

Microsoft blocks “Microslop” in Copilot Discord

Thanks to reporting by WindowsLatest, we have seen proof that Microsoft, or at least someone on the Copilot team managing the newly launched Discord server, had blocked the term “Microslop.”

After joining the server myself, it appears that since WindowsLatest reported on the situation, the term has been re-enabled. However, the server remains in chaos, with users spamming a range of content, including material that is not safe for work.

While “Microslop” is currently no longer blocked, many users had already attempted to bypass the filter using variations of the word during the time the term was blocked anyway.

This ultimately led to the server being temporarily locked down. Although it now appears accessible again, the community feels largely unusable in its current state, and it is difficult to see that changing any time soon.

When the server first launched in December 2024, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), promoting the server, users were initially engaging in far more constructive discussions, according to WindowsLatest. Now it seems to have attracted the attention of people frustrated with AI’s growing presence in Windows, and it is not hard to understand why.

Copilot does not appear to be seeing the level of adoption that Satya Nadella and Microsoft might suggest. Despite billions being invested into AI, and other areas of the company such as Xbox facing pressure, reports indicate that only 3.3% of Microsoft 365 users actively use Copilot.

Satya maintains that usage is growing, claiming nearly three times year-over-year growth. However, growth figures can sound impressive in isolation, and tripling a small base does not necessarily translate into widespread adoption.

I have made my thoughts on AI clear since it became a standard part of daily life. While I recognize there are genuine use cases, particularly in medicine and science, its broader utility outside those fields still feels largely unproven, at least to me.

🗨️ So where do you land? Have you joined to riot or are you a quiet bystander like myself?

Are users overreacting, or is this a sign that frustration with AI in Windows is reaching a tipping point?

Let me know in the comments, and make sure to take part in our poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft is one of the world’s most sought‑after companies, boasting a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion at the time of writing. That prominence stems largely from its innovations and investments in software, particularly through the Microsoft 365 suite and Windows as an operating system.

While Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella admitted that Bill Gates' software factory vision for Microsoft has helped guide the company for decades, he indicated that "it's no longer enough." He indicated that the tech giant was now doubling down on security, quality, and AI transformation as its core business priorities.

And now, the company's plans are taking shape, at least according to a report by Business Insider's Ashley Stewart, as Microsoft is considering releasing a new AI-powered software bundle for Microsoft 365.

Microsoft offers two enterprise tiers, E3 and E5, which provide businesses with a variety of services, including productivity and security apps. But as it now seems, the tech giant is getting ready to ship a long-rumored "E7" bundle, which could include Microsoft Copilot and its new AI agent hub, Agent 365.

We could think of it as the E5 enterprise tier, but with AI offerings on top. According to sources with close affiliations and knowledge about Microsoft's plan, the company is exploring both per-seat and consumption-based pricing models for E7, with potential charges reaching up to $99/user/month for its E7 AI software bundle.

💬 What do you think about AI being bundled into Microsoft 365?

It remains unclear when Microsoft plans to actually make its new offering broadly available. Interestingly, the company recently announced that it will reevaluate its AI strategy in Windows 11, potentially streamlining or even removing features that users find less valuable, such as Copilot integrations in apps like Notepad and Paint.

Following Microsoft’s FY26 Q2 earnings report, investors remain cautious about committing further capital to the company’s costly AI initiatives. Despite revenue growth, concerns persist that Azure and Microsoft 365 application growth fell short of expectations, while heavy AI infrastructure spending weighed on margins.

For context, the company spent $88.2 billion on capital expenditures last year. The executive indicated that most of the capital has been channelled to serve AI to enterprises and major AI labs, including OpenAI and Anthropic.

Last year, a report by The Information claimed that Microsoft's internal AI efforts were taking an unexpected turn with projected cuts and sales goals for its Azure AI products across the board.

The report further claimed that Microsoft's salespeople were struggling to meet goals, primarily due to the lack of demand for its AI products. While market share trends told a different story, Microsoft denied the claims.

CEO Satya Nadella indicated Copilot AI is seeing massive use, growing "nearly 3x year-over-year," but a separate report claimed that only 3.3% of Microsoft 365 and Office 365 users who interact with Copilot Chat actually pay for it.

It'll be interesting to see whether Microsoft's reported E7 tier for its Microsoft 365 offering will attract interest among users if/when it ships.

Do you think an AI-powered Microsoft 365 bundle will help Microsoft drive more user interest and Copilot sales? Let me know in the comments.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft is introducing an AI watermark policy for Microsoft 365, controlled through its Cloud Policy service. In a post-AI world, that is not necessarily a bad thing. More transparency is generally a positive move.

Right now, the feature applies to just audio content generated or altered using Copilot and other AI tools within Microsoft 365, with watermarked videos set for next month.

For now, the policy must be manually enabled by administrators. The watermark also cannot be customized, so its wording and placement will remain fixed.

Even if you decide to leave the watermarking feature disabled, the content will still contain metadata indicating that Copilot was used.

How Microsoft’s AI watermark policy works

The policy itself is managed through the Cloud Policy service for Microsoft 365, and can be found under the “Include a watermark when content from Microsoft 365 is generated or altered by AI.” That gives organizations control rather than leaving decisions up to individual users.

For watermarking to apply, administrators must manually set the policy to Enabled. It is not switched on by default.

If the policy is set to Disabled or left as Not configured, no visible or audible watermark will be added to video or audio content.

The scope is also specific. It applies only to video and audio content generated or altered using AI within Microsoft 365. It does not extend to every file type.

There is also little room for customization. Admins cannot change the wording or placement of the watermark, so what Microsoft provides is what users will see or hear.

It is also important to clarify that this policy does not apply to images, that’s its own separate thing. Image watermarking is handled separately and is controlled at the user level instead.

Even if an organization chooses not to enable visible or audible watermarks, Microsoft still embeds additional details into the content's metadata, but this is just for images as of now, and they’re working on doing the same for audio and video.

That can include which AI model was used, which app generated the content, and when it was created.

Audio watermarking is already available. Video watermarking is expected to roll out in March 2026.

I don't personally rely on Copilot, and my own experiments with AI have occasionally produced some odd results. Just recently, I was told the AMD RX 9070 XT was not a real GPU when asking a hardware question, despite having one sitting inside my computer.

Still, these changes make sense. In a world where AI-generated content is becoming increasingly common, more transparency is hard to argue against. Oh, and it also does not yet apply to Government cloud contracts, and I don’t know how I feel about that admission.

💬 Passing it over to you!

Do you think AI-generated content should always be clearly labeled in tools like Microsoft 365? Let us know in the comments and make sure to take part in our poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Last year, I reported on a new Microsoft Teams feature, which raised controversy and privacy concerns among most users. The feature in question automatically updates a user's work location when their device is connected to an office Wi-Fi network — becoming your boss's lapdog, by snitching on your live location.

Shortly after the post became viral, Microsoft quietly changed how the feature works, as highlighted below:

"When users connect to their organization's Wi-Fi, Teams will soon be able to automatically update their work location to reflect the building they're working from. This feature will be off by default. Tenant admins will decide whether to enable it and require end-users to opt-in."

While this might be a long shot, I speculated that the feature incidentally aligns with Microsoft's return-to-office (RTO) plan. For context, Microsoft employees working within 50 miles of a Microsoft office will be expected to work onsite for at least three days per week by the end of this month.

To that end, it's anyone's guess whether Microsoft's controversial Teams feature shipping to broad availability around the same time its RTO plan is taking shape is a mere coincidence or a deliberate attempt to intensify workplace surveillance and micromanagement.

But as you may know, Microsoft has changed the rollout timeline for the controversial Teams feature multiple times. It was initially expected to ship in December 2025, but the software giant changed the rollout to January 2026.

More recently, the company changed the rollout time for the controversial Wi-Fi location tracking feature to mid-March this year. The company didn't provide any details about the reason behind the delayed rollout of the feature.

Windows Central conducted a poll to gauge readers’ opinions on the controversial feature. The results showed that nearly half of the respondents (47%) believe the feature should be removed entirely.

27% of the participants indicated that the feature felt invasive and like surveillance, while just 12% said it's useful for workplace efficiency and safety.

Teams' new Wi-FI location tracking feature feels almost comical, blurring the line between useful and invasive

It's apparent that the new Teams feature is unpopular among most users if the sentiments shared across social media are anything to go by. According to mister_empty_pants on Reddit:

"Microsoft is blurring the lines between coworker collaboration and IT oversight.

IT wise, yes the info was always there. But nobody is asking IT to snitch on you. The entire point of this is that your boss just has to click your name on Teams and now they know where you are. No IT requests, no privacy/ethics concerns, no breach of trust. It's just right there at any time.

What's the next step? The same tracking but for your phone? Microsoft letting your boss look at your screen? Sending your boss daily reports on click rates, words typed, program usage, etc?"

Microsoft Teams is about to become a lapdog for your boss — automatically snitching on your live location when connected to the office wi-fi from r/technology

Interestingly, some users seem unfazed by the change, claiming that most Microsoft products and services already ship with this feature in some shape or form. "Most Microsoft products already meet the criteria for what we'd normally call spyware. What's another drop in a flooded bucket?" a Reddit user indicated.

Some users came up with some interesting ideas on how to bypass the new Teams feature's invasive nature, suggesting using a wired connection at the office instead of Wi-Fi. "I just won’t install teams on my phone then, and when I’m working remote they can’t find me anyway they can just message me and I’ll answer from the laptop," another Reddit user indicated.

On the other hand, some users suggested that Microsoft's efforts were seemingly misplaced and indicated that it should redirect them to fix some UI and UX elements in its Windows operating system. "God forbid they spend time to make the Windows search actually search my computer again," a user indicated.

After reviewing hundreds of comments, it’s clear that users either want the feature scrapped entirely or simply don’t care, since many work remotely. "I swear there must be a team at MS that is just tasked with making Teams worse," a user indicated on Reddit.

💬 How do you feel about Teams’ new Wi‑Fi tracking feature?

Teams’ latest Wi‑Fi tracking tool has raised real questions about privacy, boundaries, and how far workplace software should go. We want to hear your take. Does this cross a line, or is it just another “productivity” feature in a modern office?

Drop your thoughts below and join the discussion!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft is going to remove Contact Masking, a feature that allowed users to hide suggested recipients from appearing when composing emails or adding people to the Cc field.

When you typed a name or email address, Outlook would suggest contacts based on your previous interactions. If you clicked the X next to a suggested name, Outlook would “mask” that contact, preventing it from appearing as a suggestion again

Admittedly, this is a feature I did not even know existed. That is probably because I quietly left Microsoft Outlook behind, partly due to frustrations I know many others share, and moved over to Thunderbird instead. For the most part, it has been a far more enjoyable experience.

Still, as tempting as it is to throw shade, I will hold back, just a little bit anyway. Instead, let’s take a closer look at the feature Microsoft is removing, what it actually did, why it is going away, and a few other Outlook annoyances worth mentioning.

Why Microsoft is removing contact masking

On the surface, it sounds harmless enough. The problem is that the change did not just affect Outlook. Masking a contact also removed it from suggestions across other Microsoft 365 services, including Teams and Microsoft 365 Search, which is where much of the confusion began.

While users could undo hiding a contact, the option only appeared briefly after masking it. According to Microsoft, that short window added to the confusion, and there are currently no plans to replace the feature or add anything similar.

Outlook has had its fair share of missteps lately. Just last month, it became “completely unusable” for some users, and the month before that, it somehow let spam overrun Sean’s inbox, our own news writer here at Windows Central.

Contact Masking is set to be removed on March 31, 2026, for all Outlook users across desktop, mobile, and the web (via Neowin).

Did you ever use Contact Masking in Outlook?

What do you think? Was Contact Masking a useful feature, or did it cause more problems than it solved? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to take part in the poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Generative AI has evolved from mere chatbots that generate text and images based on prompts. The technology is now more sophisticated, and its impact can already be seen in the job market, with executives from top AI research labs like Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei claiming that it's on the verge of phasing out entry-level white-collar jobs as soon as 18 months from now.

However, AI hasn't completely reached its prime time, primarily due to reluctance from some users to adopt it into their workflows, citing privacy and security issues. The latest example comes from Microsoft itself, where it has identified a bug impacting 365 Copilot Chat, allowing the service to access and summarize confidential emails without consent since late January.

According to Microsoft: "The Microsoft 365 Copilot 'work tab' Chat is summarizing email messages even though these email messages have a sensitivity label applied and a DLP policy is configured. Users' email messages with a confidential label applied are being incorrectly processed by Microsoft 365 Copilot chat." (via BleepingComputer).

Microsoft began rolling out Copilot Chat across its productivity tools, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote, for users with a Microsoft 365 license, aiming to make Copilot a personal AI assistant for work.

The bug, tracked under CW1226324, impacted Copilot Chat and allowed the service to incorrectly access, read, and summarize emails saved in a user's inbox, across their sent and draft folders, which included messages explicitly labelled as confidential to restrict unauthorized access by automated tools.

Microsoft has narrowed down the issue to an unspecified code error, indicating that it already began rolling out a fix for the bug at the beginning of February 2026. "A code issue is allowing items in the sent items and draft folders to be picked up by Copilot even though confidential labels are set in place," the software giant added.

The company is monitoring the situation closely and is even reaching out to affected users to establish whether the fix is working. It's still unclear when Microsoft will complete the rollout of this fix. What's more, it hasn't categorically indicated how many users were impacted by this issue.

So, my take is that AI might seem like a productivity booster, alleviating the effort factored in to handle repetitive and redundant tasks, but it still feels too half-baked to be fully implemented into our workflows with the trust to maintain a high standard of professionalism (and confidentiality).

Over to you

Microsoft admits Copilot exposed confidential emails due to a bug. Do you still trust AI? Let me know in the comments.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft's Exchange Web Services (EWS) API has been on its way out since an initial retirement announcement in 2018, but we now have some concrete dates as to when it will officially disappear forever.

Beginning October 1, 2026, Microsoft is rolling out a "phased, admin-controllable disablement plan" that will eventually wrap up with a complete EWS shutdown in Exchange Online on April 1, 2027. Microsoft highlights the fact that these EWS changes only apply to Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online; no changes to EWS are expected in Exchange Server.

That leaves users and admins six months to prepare for the disablement plan, and Microsoft offers some advice to help make the transition as smooth as possible. The plan is to disable EWS one tenant at a time via the EWSEnabled property. A new AppID Allow List is also expected in early 2026, which is essentially an admin whitelist for app access to EWS.

Three values are supported in the EWSEnabled property:

• True: Starting October 2026, only apps in the new Allow List are allowed to access EWS.
• False: Starting October 2026, all EWS is blocked.
• Null: Starting October 2026, all EWS is allowed and the Allow List is ignored.

Microsoft confirms that any tenants with their status still set to Null in the EWSEnabled property on October 1, 2026, will be automatically changed to False, blocking any applications in the tenant.

That's fine if you want to leave EWS blocked, but if not, you should take some proactive measures. Admins who change EWSEnabled to True and create an Allow List before the end of August 2026 will not be included in the automatic rollover to EWSEnabled False on October 1.

Failing to do anything and re-enabling EWS after it's blocked will result in a service interruption. And once April 1, 2027 rolls around, EWS will be permanently disabled, and the EWSEnabled property will be removed.

Microsoft also claims that it might perform scream tests where it turns off EWS temporarily in order to sniff out any missed dependencies before the final shutdown. The company says it will release more info in "the coming weeks."

Why is Microsoft retiring Exchange Web Services (EWS)?

Microsoft's EWS is a cross-platform API that makes it possible for a wide range of apps to access Exchange mailbox data, including messages, calendars, and contacts.

EWS has been around for almost two decades since it got its start in 2007, and it was indeed a useful tool. However, as Microsoft states, "it no longer aligns with today's security, scale, or reliability requirements." In 2023, the company announced it was going forward with its plan to retire EWS, but didn't provide a clear roadmap for the process. That's now changed with this update.

Replacing EWS is Microsoft Graph, a more modern API that provides access to Windows, Microsoft 365, and more. Its feature list is nearly on par "for the vast majority of EWS scenarios," and Microsoft urges users to begin migrating apps to Graph now.

Do you regularly use Microsoft EWS? Are you concerned about the migration process? Have you already made the switch to Graph? Let me know in the comments section!

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Microsoft Teams kicked off 2026 with a wave of updates. While much of the news focuses on high-end hardware for conference rooms, there are three specific features that arrived last month that will change your daily workflow.

Microsoft outlined the new features in a recent blog post, though some of the highlights are "coming soon" rather than immediate additions. That is because the company is focusing on features being shown off at the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2026 conference in Barcelona, Spain.

For example, Microsoft highlighted Express voice enrollment, which isn't arriving until March. That feature will eventually make it easier to register your voice profile for AI features like voice isolation and speaker recognition. However, there are plenty of tools you can use today. Here are the best new features currently available in Microsoft Teams.

Best New Microsoft Teams features

I've highlighted the biggest changes below, plus some shortcuts or small features you should try.

1. Pin Teams window on top

It is now possible to pin Microsoft Teams on top of your other apps, allowing you to keep it visible even if you click a different window. This improves multitasking and removes the need to use a third-party app, such as PowerToys, to pin windows on top.

Without the option to pin Teams on top of other apps, clicking into a PowerPoint presentation, notes app, or other program would hide your Teams call. The new option is especially useful for those on laptops or in single-monitor setups.

Screen and Windows sharing on macOS through native picker

2. Teams channels Shared tab

Microsoft renamed the Files tab in channels to the Shared tab. The newly named tab shows current files as well as previously shared files from channel posts. But the big change is the inclusion of links.

The Shared tab now includes both shared files and links from channel posts and conversations.

You can sort those files and links by date.

Previously, locating a file could be difficult within Teams unless you knew where you initially received the file. Searching is now simplified with the introduction of the Shared tab.

3. Screen & Window Sharing via macOS Native Picker

Microsoft Teams now includes the option to use native macOS screen sharing functionality. The feature, which requires you to opt-in, presents an experience for screen sharing that will feel more native on macOS and align with the operating system. It is also a more secure method of screen sharing.

Screen sharing using the native picker on macOS does have limits. Notably, it prevents giving away or taking control of meetings within Teams. Because of that, some will likely consider the new option to be a downgrade.

Luckily for those who prefer the older method of screen sharing, that option remains available.

Tips and shortcuts to try

The following tips and tricks help you take advantage of new features and options within Teams to streamline your workflow:

• Try this shortcut: Press Win + Ctrl + T to pin your next meeting.
• Check out reactions: You can now see reactions and more types of notifications in messages without having to open the Teams app, just view the notification.
• Type without stress in Teams compose: Teams can now autocorrect messages within the compose box. Just type and see the app fix typos.

Which new Microsoft Teams feature are you most eager to try? Let us know in the comments! 👇

Meta just released a Surface Keyboard and Touchpad that could transform work within virtual reality. A new feature for the Meta Quest 3 allows you to use a virtual keyboard on any flat surface, such as a desk or table.

The new feature has nothing to do with Microsoft Surface, but it is a handy feature for those who want to get work done within VR.

It's currently in testing in Horizon OS v85 PTC (Public Test Channel). The feature is limited to the Meta Quest 3, meaning you cannot use it on the Meta Quest 3S or other headsets from Meta.

Many think of gaming first when the topic of a VR headset comes up, but the Meta Quest 3 can also be used for work. Windows 11 integrates with Meta Quest headsets, allowing you to extend a PC to a set of virtual monitors. You can also stream Windows 365 through the cloud to a Meta Quest headset.

Working on a PC inside VR did not technically require a physical keyboard, but one was needed in practicality.

Virtual keyboards are fine in a pinch, but they do not provide a great typing experience. It's not like the movies where you can type at full speed while tapping at the air. Holding your hands up can also be tiring, so much so that extended typing sessions are impractical.

A physical keyboard will still be better for typing in VR. The tactile feedback and ergonomics of a physical keyboard will beat typing directly on a desk or table in almost all circumstances. But the Surface Keyboard is a solid middle ground between a physical keyboard and an awkward floating digital one.

I would argue the touchpad functionality will make a bigger difference for those working in VR. Navigating the web or a virtual desktop by pinching your fingers in the air or swiping around your hands can be quite frustrating.

A video shared by Yoon Park, Principal Designer at Meta Reality Labs, shows smooth scrolling on the web with a gesture and navigating within Microsoft Word using the touchpad.

For context, take a look at the video below shared by my colleague Nicholas Sutrich. It was taken a couple of years ago to demonstrate the web versions of Office working on a Meta Quest 3.

Sutrich's setup from back then had a physical keyboard on a desk. Near the end of the video, you'll see a floating keyboard pop up.

Here's how to sign up for Meta Quest PTC, as outlined in a Meta support document:

1. On your phone, open the Meta Horizon app.
2. Tap Menu at the top of your Horizon Feed.
3. Tap Devices.
4. Select the headset you want to find to join Meta Quest PTC with.
5. Tap Headset settings, then tap Advanced settings.
6. Tap the toggle next to Public Test Channel to try to join Meta Quest PTC.
   1. If the toggle doesn't work, Meta Quest PTC is currently full and not available.

The Quest 3 is arguably the best consumer headset for gaming, but Meta is clearly pushing to make it a legitimate workstation. Does a virtual "Surface Keyboard" make you more likely to strap on a headset for work, or is VR destined to remain a gaming-only platform for you? Let us know in the comments.

Microsoft Excel has a new AI tool for productivity. Agent Mode in Excel, which is part of Microsoft 365 Copilot, is now generally available on Windows and macOS. It was already available for the web and will roll out soon to macOS as well.

Agent Mode in Excel is an AI tool designed to be your partner. It supports multi-step workflows, and you can chat with it using natural language. The tool applies changes to your workbook directly, so you don't need to copy and paste suggestions.

Microsoft outlined several scenarios for Agent Mode in Excel when announcing the web version of the tool:

• Create workbooks: Generate new content directly in Excel, grounded in both existing workbook data and web search results to bring in relevant context.
• Scenario modeling: Run what-if analyses for revenue, budgets, or forecasts and model advanced scenarios with adjustable assumptions.
• Data analysis: Generate analyses of large datasets, highlight anomalies, and surface trends with formula-driven analysis.
• Formula generation: Fix broken formulas or and generate dynamic formulas that connect across your workbook data, including explanations for complex calculations.
• Data visualization: Create pivot tables, charts, and dashboards—all through natural conversation. Generate native Excel artifacts that recalculate and update based on changes to the underlying data.

Agent Mode in Excel entered public preview in September. Following feedback from those who participated in the preview and those who have used the web version, Microsoft has made several improvements to Agent Mode in Excel.

Most notably, Agent Mode is now supported in Excel for Windows and macOS. The feature is integrated into Copilot in Excel, so it should be easy to locate without much of a learning curve.

Microsoft also integrated web search into Agent Mode in Excel, which allows the tool to bring in up-to-date information from the web.

Users also have the choice to use models from OpenAI (GPT-5.2) or Anthropic (Claude Opus 4.5).

The default for Agent Mode in Excel is to have Copilot choose the best model for you, but you can also select to use a specific model for any prompt.

To use Agent Mode in Excel, you need to have one of the following: Microsoft 365 Personal, Microsoft 365 Family, Microsoft 365 Premium, or a commercial Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

Agent Mode is not available in the EU or UK at this time.

Do you use Copilot professionally? How does it change your workflow? Let us know in the comments!

An Austrian privacy regulator has ruled that Microsoft illegally set tracking cookies on a school‑issued device used by a child, even though the issue stemmed from how the school deployed Microsoft 365 services rather than anything Microsoft directly controlled. The decision argues that because Microsoft’s services delivered the content that placed the cookies, the company still shares responsibility for the consent failure — a finding that could have far‑reaching implications for cloud providers operating in tightly regulated environments.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools rapidly shifted to online platforms like Microsoft 365 Education and Google Workspace for Education to ensure students weren't held back from learning.

In June 2024, None of Your Business (noyb), a European Digital Rights non-profit organization based in Vienna, Austria, filed two complaints concerning Microsoft's 365 Education in schools with the Austrian DSB.

The digital privacy group claimed that Microsoft was illegally tracking students via its 365 Education platform, further claiming that the company had attempted to shift responsibility for access to local schools.

The first complaint was decided in October 2025, marking a significant victory for the digital privacy group, as the Austrian data protection authority (DSB) ruled that Microsoft had violated the right of access under Article 15 of the GDPR.

Microsoft was ordered by the authority to provide more information about the data transmitted. It was also required to provide clear explanations of what it meant when using the terms "internal reporting," "business modeling," and "improvement of core functionality."

And now, the authority has decided on the second complaint about Microsoft's alleged use of unlawful tracking cookies in its 365 Education platform. The authority established that Microsoft had acted unlawfully by placing tracking cookies on the devices of a minor using its 365 Education platform.

While speaking to The Register, a Microsoft spokesman indicated that:

"Microsoft 365 for Education meets all required data protection standards and institutions in the education sector can continue to use it in compliance with GDPR. We are reviewing the Austrian data protection authority's latest decision and will decide on next steps in due course."

To that end, Microsoft has four weeks to comply and stop using tracking cookies on the devices of the minor. The school and the Austrian Ministry of Education claimed that they weren't aware of Microsoft using tracking cookies on minors before "noyb" raised the issue.

The ruling underscores a growing shift in how regulators interpret platform responsibility: cloud vendors are increasingly expected to enforce compliance even when customers misconfigure their deployments. As privacy enforcement becomes more expansive and less tolerant of configuration mistakes, cloud providers may need to rethink how they design consent flows, documentation, and safeguards to avoid being pulled into similar disputes.

Should Microsoft be punished for tracking kids? Share your thoughts in the comments and cast your vote!

Microsoft has confirmed a major outage is impacting its Microsoft 365 services in the North America region, taking out apps and services such as Outlook, Purview, and Defender

"We've identified a portion of service infrastructure in North America that is not processing traffic as expected," Microsoft confirms. "We're working to restore the infrastructure to a healthy state to achieve recovery."

That was a statement issued by Microsoft over two hours ago, with the latest updates stating that the company is "rebalancing traffic across all affected infrastructure to ensure the environment enters into a balanced state. We’re proceeding as quickly as possible and this approach will help us identify any additional actions needed for recovery."

• Some of the impacted service functions include, but may not be limited to:
  • Sending and receiving email through Exchange Online, including notification email from Microsoft Viva Engage as well as subscription email for Microsoft Fabric users. Users may be receiving a "451 4.3.2 temporary server issue" error message when attempting to send or receive email through Outlook.
  • Collecting message traces.
  • Searching within SharePoint Online and/or Microsoft OneDrive.
  • Accessing the service portals, including Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Defender XDR, and the Microsoft 365 admin center.
  • Creating chats, meetings, teams, channels or adding members in Microsoft Teams. Additionally, some users may be unable to create breakout rooms
  • Receiving presence or location information in Microsoft Teams.
  • Existing or new meeting options for Facilitator in Teams may not be honored.
  • Applying and managing sensitivity labels, interactive operations on reports, and artifacts with sensitivity labels in Microsoft Fabric.

Many users are continuing to report service outages in the North America region, which is stopping people from accessing their emails and more. The company has identified the problem and is rolling out a fix, meaning services should be restored soon.

There's a good chance that if you open your email inbox and check your spam messages, you'll see a phishing attempt centered around someone impersonating a company. Among all the phishing messages sitting in your spam folder (and potentially your normal inbox), you'll probably see one alleging to be from Microsoft.

According to Check Point, 22 percent of all brand phishing attempts in 2025 had an attacker imitating Microsoft.

It's easy to make a joke along the lines of, “Everyone is safe from those phishing attacks because they know there's no way in hell they use Copilot." But the reality is that phishing attacks often center around impersonating tech giants, and it's safe to assume they're effective, or attackers would swap away from that method.

People rely on companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Apple. The amount of data those companies have is alluring to bad actors. If someone were able to gain access to your main accounts, they could likely obtain personal information, financial details, and more.

One of the easiest ways for a malicious actor to gain access to your accounts is to trick you into entering your details.

"The continued dominance of Microsoft and Google reflects their central role in identity, productivity, and authentication workflows—making stolen credentials particularly valuable to attackers," said Check Point.

In the final months of last year, Check Point Research identified a campaign designed to trick Roblox users. The campaign utilized a malicious site with a "lookalike domain" with links that led to another site that looks almost identical to the official Roblox page.

Similar campaigns are used to mimic Netflix, Facebook, and other popular sites, including Microsoft.

Out of the top ten imitated brands, only one is not a tech company:

• Microsoft – 22%
• Google – 13%
• Amazon – 9%
• Apple – 8%
• Facebook (Meta) – 3%
• PayPal – 2%
• Adobe – 2%
• Booking – 2%
• DHL – 1%
• LinkedIn – 1%

Microsoft even gets a bonus percentage point since LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft.

Phishing attacks appear convincing and build on people's trust and familiarity with certain companies, according to Check Point. "Attackers increasingly rely on polished visuals, subtle domain manipulation, and multi-stage flows that closely mimic legitimate user experiences—often leaving victims unaware that their credentials have been stolen," said the cybersecurity company.

While some older advice, such as keeping an eye out for typos, is still a good idea, phishing scams have become more convincing over the years.

Here are some rules to help you reduce your risks:

• Do not click links marked as urgent or that emphasize they are "about to be deleted."
• Check the actual email address of the sender, not just their sender name.
• Use an authenticator app or some method of multi-factor authentication.
• Keep an eye out for "lookalike" characters. Attackers can use characters from different alphabets that look like normal letters but appear a bit "off."
• Don't respond to pressure. If an email uses aggressive or pressuring language, it is likely a scam.
• When in doubt, throw it out: If you think something feels off or looks suspicious, delete it. You can always get in touch with companies in other ways.

Make sure to report any phishing attacks or scams to Microsoft or your email provider. Companies improve their security models based on information received.

What's the most obvious scam you've seen in your inbox? Let us know in the comments!

With the lost art of physical albums and printed photographs, everything has seemingly gone digital. Right now, you can simply take a photo on your phone and upload it to the cloud, then delete it from your phone's storage for extra space.

In a perfect world, the process should be as simple as I just described, but unfortunately, this isn't always the case. Over the past few years, multiple people have run to social media to express their frustrations after losing access to their fondest memories and even confidential work information.

In June 2025, a OneDrive user took to Reddit to express their frustrations, indicating that Microsoft had randomly locked their account without any warning. The user revealed that they lost access to their account after moving 30 years' worth of photos and work.

The user submitted 18 compliance forms in an attempt to have the issue resolved, but the efforts were rendered futile. While it's still unclear whether the user ever got any assistance, the issue seems to be persistent.

A Windows Central reader facing the same predicament recently reached out to me, expressing his frustrations:

"Two days ago I was stung by this very same issue losing decades of purchased content (mainly Xbox and subscriptions), documents, emails, access to third party services at the whim of an AI.

On NYE I took a photo of my kids watching a film while in silly positions in our living room without even thinking about it. The next morning my OneDrive was blocked for potential child abuse. My email was still working (I checked) so I launched an appeal using my MS email. A few hours later, I found out that email was also disabled. I immediately reappealed the same day with an alternative email. It quickly became clear that the photo from the night before was the culprit, as it was the only thing not synced to my other devices."

The user says that the photo wasn't inappropriate. "I think the AI scan was triggered because the angle showed one child wearing pink clothes slightly overlapping the youngest child, who also has pink clothes and arms behind their head," he added.

While the user admits that the composition of the photo is slightly confusing with poor lighting, "any human looking at the image for more than a second would see there is no issue."

They made an appeal to have the account restored, but the ban was upheld. "There are no other routes for me to contact MS at present, phone numbers are all AI bots with no escalation path, contact forms all require a sign in."

This case isn't unique; there's a ton of videos and posts across social media about this specific issue. "I think they should have to go to jail for this," another user lamented on TikTok. "If you're unaware, for last few years, Windows has come with a piece of malware called OneDrive." The user claimed that if you're not careful, the app will spontaneously delete files from your computer.

Microsoft lack of transparency about OneDrive Backup's changes is to blame for the confusion

Microsoft shipped Windows 11 version 25H2 to broad availability on September 30, 2025, with a new Start menu and improved gaming experience. But what you might have missed is that the OneDrive Backup feature is also enabled by default when you sign in with a Microsoft account on a new PC (via ZDNet).

As such, your folders like Documents, Pictures, and Desktop are moved into OneDrive, which is why some users have been complaining that they can't access their data and files directly from their PCs.

Prior to Microsoft's recent changes to its OneDrive Backup feature, users had to locate files and manually transfer them back to their designated folders when disabling the feature. However, the recent changes have made the process a tad easier, allowing users to automatically move files to where they should be in their local profiles.

According to the outlet, when adding an account to an existing Windows 11 installation, Microsoft's Out of the Box Experience (OOBE) will include an option to "Only save files to this PC," though it is easy to miss, especially if you are rushing through the setup process.

This gets a bit complicated when using a Microsoft account to sign in during a Windows 11 clean installation, regardless of whether it's a new or existing account. However, when adding your Microsoft account, you'll be notified that "We'll also back up your files and photos on this device to OneDrive to help keep them safe."

You won't get the option to save your files locally during the setup process. As such, this changes your settings and backs up files from your local Documents, Pictures, and Desktop folders to OneDrive.

The new changes aren't limited to Windows only, either. If you're using a pre-release version of Microsoft 365 Personal or Family, new files create on Word or any other productivity app will be automatically saved by default in OneDrive.

It's worth noting that if you're saving your files locally, you can access them in the usual location across your default folders in your user profile. However, if you have enabled the OneDrive Backup feature, the files are moved to OneDrive. The files will remain on your local PC and are synced to the cloud.

As a result, the local folders (even though they are empty) remain on your Windows PC despite being moved and backed up to OneDrive. This is the issue being flagged up by most users across social media. It's not that Microsoft has deleted your files from your local folders; they have just been relocated and synced to OneDrive because the backup feature was enabled by default when upgrading to Windows 11, version 25H2.

While it's easy to look at this whole situation as an opportunistic business strategy by Microsoft to bolster its cloud services, the recent changes also protect you against the absolute loss of your data to malware or when your device fails or gets stolen.

What are your thoughts on Microsoft's new changes to OneDrive's sync system? Let me know in the comments and cast your vote in the poll!

What you need to know

• The Windows app for Sway will be retired on June 1, 2026.
• Sway users will continue to be able to use all of the app's features through the web.
• Sway is a free app that gains enhanced functionality when you are subscribed to Microsoft 365.

Despite incorrect reports, Microsoft did not rebrand its Office apps this month. But the tech giant is about to retire the desktop version of one. On June 1, 2026, the Windows app for Sway will no longer be available.

Sway will continue to be available as a service after that cutoff date, but users will need to use its web client. No Sway content should be affected by the switch, and the feature set of Sway remains unchanged.

The news was shared recently through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center (archived here):

"To streamline and modernize the Sway experience, Microsoft is retiring the Sway Windows desktop application (Win32 client) effective June 1, 2026. This change aligns with our efforts to simplify app management and encourage use of the web-based version, which offers the same capabilities with improved accessibility and support. Users can access all current and future Sway features, as well as their content, through the browser interface at sway.cloud.microsoft."

Even if you've used Microsoft 365 for years, you may not be familiar with Sway. It's a lesser-known application for creating presentations, newsletters, and reports.

Above is an example Sway presentation shared by Microsoft. It's a shame so few people know about Sway, since it can be used to create dynamic presentations.

Sway serves as more of a companion to PowerPoint and other Microsoft 365 apps than a replacement. It's a cloud-first application that supports embedding a wide range of content.

While Sway is a free app that anyone with a Microsoft account can use, you get more options with a Microsoft 365 subscription. The main difference is that Microsoft 365 subscribers have significantly higher limits for items, such as images, videos, and embeds.

Oddly, Microsoft does not mention Sway on its product page for Microsoft 365. Even clicking around to see more details fails to make any mention of Sway appear. But I promise you that Sway does exist. I've used it.

I think it's fair to say that Sway is a bit of a forgotten product from Microsoft. The official website for Sway still says "Do more in Sway with Office 365" despite the link below that text taking you to the buy page for Microsoft 365.

Then again, the Office 365/Microsoft 365/Microsoft 365 Copilot branding has always been a bit muddled.

Have you ever used Sway to make a presentation? Let us know in the comments below!

The internet can be a tricky place sometimes. This week, you've likely seen stories or Reddit posts about Microsoft Office being rebranded to Microsoft 365 Copilot. While a rebrand did happen, it was an app that was rebranded and that change occurred a year ago. So, what gives?

First, a quick refresher. In January 2025, Microsoft made the decision to rename its Microsoft 365 app as "Microsoft 365 Copilot." That was the second major rebrand for the app. It was known as "Microsoft Office" for years before it shifted to the Microsoft 365 moniker.

The new name is awkward and doesn't reflect the main reason people use Microsoft. While a Microsoft 365 subscription now includes Copilot and a bunch of other services, many still associate the service primarily with the Office apps.

The change was made more awkward when it became clear the Microsoft 365 Copilot app icon was difficult to distinguish from other Microsoft apps.

Our Executive Editor Jez Corden commented on the change at the time and his comments hold true today:

"The rebrand of Microsoft Office was dumb to start with, trampling on a legacy spanning decades. The second rebrand attaching Copilot is even more dumb, and follows the Copilot+ PC thought process of firmly putting the cart several miles before the horse. Copilot hasn't earned the right to be showcased alongside a technological cultural milestones like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word."

Corden's comments are warranted. Microsoft's obsession with AI is hurting the experience of general consumers. "Microslop" is trending on social media following a blog post from Satya Nadella that asked people to stop calling AI "slop."

Microsoft's leaders were snubbed by TIME, suggesting people do not view the tech giant as an innovator in AI. The company is also getting outpaced by Google and other competitors.

But there's one major difference between Corden's comments and the comments shared on social media over the last few days — Corden said what he said when the news was... new.

While I can't claim the following is the original source of the trending topic this week, it appears to be one of the first mentions of the Microsoft 365 Copilot rebrand this week to gain traction (pardon the language):

That information is true, but it lacks the context that the change happened a year ago and that the rebrand was of an app. Microsoft Office is still a term used by the tech giant. Once people caught onto that fact, a surge of corrections occurred, such as the Reddit post on the topic being removed.

I'm not defending Microsoft. I think the rebrand exemplifies the company's obsession with AI. I also agree with Steven Sinofsky — yes, that Steven Sinofsky — that Microsoft made the change to increase Copilot usage metrics.

I just think people should know the change is almost 12 months old at this point.

Should Microsoft promote Google products in ads? Do you think Chrome's inclusion was a mistake? Let us know in the comments.

Microsoft 365 is about to go up in price, and users in the UK are getting a friendly reminder of that fact. Earlier this week, Microsoft sent an email to some subscribers about the price hike.

This increase has been known for quite some time. I first got an email about it in July (my subscription renewed in August). But it seems Microsoft wants to make sure people know about the change, so it is sending out a reminder.

I believe this email may be sent out to those who are about to have their plan renewed, since the text refers to the price increase on February 14, 2025.

The new price has been live for new subscribers for months on Microsoft's website.

Here's what the email says:

"Thank you for being a valued Microsoft 365 subscriber. To reflect the value we’ve added over the past decade, address rising costs and enable us to continue delivering new innovations, we’re increasing the price of your subscription.

Effective 14 February 2025, the price for Microsoft 365 Family subscriptions will increase from GBP 79.99* per year to GBP 104.99* per year. To continue with the new price, no action is needed—your payment method on file will be automatically charged. To make changes to your subscription plan or turn off recurring billing, visit your Microsoft account at least two days before your next billing date.

By maintaining your subscription, you’ll enjoy secure cloud storage, advanced security for your data and devices and cutting-edge AI-powered features, along with all your other subscription benefits. Experience a whole new life for your favourite apps with Microsoft Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook, plus create stunning designs and edit photos in a flash with Designer. Thank you for choosing Microsoft."

The company also shared links on how to cancel Microsoft 365 and how to switch your Microsoft 365 subscription.

Discounts on Microsoft 365 in the UK are not as good as deals in the US. I have found some small discounts that can help you save a few quid.

You can stack Microsoft 365 for up to five years, meaning you can extend your subscription by purchasing codes at a discount. If you know you need Microsoft for a long time, it's worth stacking.

If you're in the US and received a similar warning, you can check out my roundup of the best Microsoft 365 deals.

Canceling Microsoft 365

I've subscribed to Microsoft 365 since before that was even the name of the subscription. I've had some form of Microsoft 365/Office 365 since Microsoft shifted to a subscription-based model. The upcoming price increase is enough for me to genuinely consider other options.

I use Microsoft 365 daily. I rely on Word, Excel, and OneDrive in both my professional and personal lives. But subscription fatigue is real and the cost of living keeps going up.

When Microsoft's latest reminder about the price increase hit my news desk, I spoke with my wife about how much she uses Microsoft 365. I use it the most out of anyone in our family, but I wanted to double-check I wouldn't hurt anyone else's workflow by canceling or changing our plan.

I have some time to decide since the new price increase won't go into effect until February 14, 2026 (Happy Valentine's Day from Microsoft). Between now and then, I'll look into iCloud storage plans, using the web version of Office exclusively, and turning a computer into a NAS.

Microsoft Ignite kicked off this week, and we've already seen some major announcements from the company. Many of those announcements center around agents, which have been a hot-button topic lately. The newly announced Microsoft Agent 365 will help organizations manage and deploy agents.

Agents are AI tools designed to automate specific tasks. Microsoft says people can "think of agents as the apps of the AI era," which is quite bold considering how essential apps have become.

Agents can streamline tasks, perform repetitive actions and analyze data. Importantly, they can act across different environments.

An IDC study sponsored by Microsoft predicts there will be 1.3 billion agents by 2028. To help people manage and deploy those agents, Microsoft has created Agent 365.

Agent 365 works with agents created using Microsoft's tools, such as Copilot Studio or Microsoft Foundry, or open-source frameworks. Microsoft outlined five key capabilities of Agent 365 during Ignite 2025:

• A registry to give you a single source of truth for all the agents in your organization
• Access control to manage agents and limit their access to only the resources
  required to perform specific tasks
• Visualization—a unified dashboard and advanced analytics to see connections
  between agents, people, and data, and monitor agent behavior and performance in real time
• Interoperability to equip agents with apps and data to simplify human-agent
  workflows
• Security to help protect agents from threats and vulnerabilities and detect,
  investigate, and remediate attacks that target agents

Agent 365 is about managing agents even if they are not made by Microsoft. But Microsoft does have a growing army of agents within its software suite.

Microsoft 365 Copilot will also feature dedicated Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents. Agent Mode in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will allow users to work interactively with Copilot.

A similarly named Agent Mode in Copilot Chat will bring together web data and referenced files to help create content.

Outlook has some agent features on the way as well, though our Senior Editor Zac Bowden covered those in a separate piece.

The Windows 11 Taskbar is about to get an agentic upgrade as well, though the agentic nature of Windows has drawn criticism.

A post on X by Microsoft's Windows lead Pavan Davuluri received so many negative responses that Davuluri disabled replies to his post. He later responded to the criticism and assured people that the Windows team is listening to feedback.

It's safe to say Microsoft is hoping for a warmer reception when AI agents roll out to Windows 11, Microsoft 365, and Copilot than when the concept of an agentic OS was first discussed by Davuluri.

Microsoft has announced a new subscription plan that brings together the best of Microsoft 365 and Copilot Pro dubbed Microsoft 365 Premium. Up until now, both Microsoft 365 and Copilot Pro have been separate subscriptions, costing up to $12.99 a month for Microsoft 365 and $19.99 a month for Copilot Pro.

Microsoft 365 Premium combines access to Microsoft's Office suite and Copilot Pro features for $19.99, which includes higher usage limits, and access to Copilot Pro features such as Copilot Labs and Actions.

"Microsoft 365 Premium combines everything in our Microsoft 365 Family and Copilot Pro subscriptions—and then some—for just $19.99 per month, bringing together the productivity apps you know and trust with our most advanced AI features and our highest usage limits available today" says Microsoft Executive Vice President, Yusef Mehdi. "This new subscription was built specifically for any individual looking to tackle the most demanding productivity tasks, from conducting deep research into a new business idea to nailing an important presentation at work."

Here's everything the new subscription comes with:

• Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook desktop apps with Copilot built in
• Access to Researcher and Analyst—powerful reasoning agents announced for our commercial customers earlier this year (available in the Microsoft 365 Copilot desktop app today and coming soon to the Word, PowerPoint, and Excel apps)
• Early access to innovative features like Office Agent and Agent Mode that transform a single prompt into expert-quality documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. 
• Our highest usage limits for select features like 4o image generation and Voice (coming soon) in the Microsoft 365 Copilot, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook apps
• Highest usage limits for select features like 4o image generation, Podcasts, Deep Research, Vision, and Actions in the Copilot app
• Access to our new Photos Agent in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app (coming soon)
• 1 TB of secure cloud storage per person
• Microsoft Defender advanced security

In addition to the new subscription, Microsoft is also updating all of the Office app icons, including Word, PowerPoint, Teams, and Outlook, with shiny new rounder iconography. The new icons are expected to rollout to all Microsoft 365 subscribers in the coming weeks.

Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family will continue to exist, and you can check out the pricing plans at this link.

Microsoft is pitching a recent shift of AI agents in Microsoft Teams as more than just smarter assistance. Instead, these agents are built to behave like human teammates inside familiar apps such as Teams, SharePoint, and Viva Engage. They can set up meeting agendas, keep files in order, and even step in to guide community discussions when things drift off track.

The company is also keen to underline the guardrails in place. Security, compliance, and admin controls remain front and center, hopefully giving businesses confidence that these agents won’t step outside approved boundaries.

Unlike tools such as ChatGPT or Claude, which mostly wait for prompts, Microsoft’s agents are designed to take initiative. They can chase up unfinished work, highlight items that still need decisions, and keep projects moving forward. By drawing on Microsoft Graph, they also bring in the right files, past decisions, and context to make their suggestions more useful.

Beyond meetings and project plans, these agents handle the smaller but time-consuming tasks that often pile up. They can send out reminders, generate updates, and handle routine communications so people can focus on bigger priorities.

They also keep an eye on accountability. When follow-up tasks or edits are agreed upon, the agents make sure they’re logged, assigned, and tracked through to completion. The idea is to reduce the chances of important work slipping by unnoticed.

On top of that, the agents study how teams collaborate over time. They look at meeting habits, project progress, and how shared documents are used. From this, they can suggest ways to improve workflows and help groups work together more effectively.

Milestones, the Agent Store, and what’s coming next

The Facilitator agent for Teams is now generally available, meaning anyone using Teams can access it without being limited to preview programs.

Microsoft has also launched the Agent Store back in May, a hub where organizations can find, deploy, and manage agents. The store features both Microsoft-built and partner-built options, giving businesses more flexibility in how they use the technology.

These agents aren’t cut off from one another. They can collaborate, with Microsoft pointing to examples like the Project Manager agent assigning tasks based on meeting notes captured by the Facilitator. It’s a clear step toward what it calls “multi-agent teamwork.”

Looking ahead, Microsoft is also developing an Interpreter agent for real-time translation in Teams meetings. With nine languages in testing, the feature could play a big role in global communication, and it’s an area the wider AI industry is racing to improve. This is something I personally find exciting, and it feels like many companies are doubling down on it lately, with Meta Ray-Bans Displays and Apple AirPods also offering real-time translations — though those are focused more on in-person conversations.

Whether these new agents truly transform how people work remains to be seen. Microsoft already requires its employees to use AI tools, and it’s clear AI is here to stay. These agents are simply the next step in Microsoft’s push to weave AI deeper into everyday workflows. Still, the ambition is impressive, and the idea of AI teammates could genuinely help improve productivity.

Microsoft 365 remains one of the best subscriptions available in terms of value. It jumped up in price recently, but it goes on sale if you know where to look. Right now, you can get one year of Microsoft 365 Family for $99.99.

I've lived in the UK for over a decade and love being on this side of the pond. I do occasionally get homesick, especially in autumn (or "fall" as they say back home). It could be because my birthday is in October and I have fond memories of crackling leaves, birthday parties, and football. But the biggest reason I get homesick is that I can't take advantage of Microsoft 365 Family going on sale this time each year.

Okay, not really. But it is a good deal and you should take advantage of it.

What comes with Microsoft 365 Family?

Microsoft 365 Family provides access to several apps and services, including the Office suite and OneDrive. The family plan is for up to six people, making it a bargain compared to Microsoft 365 Personal if you have more than two people on the plan.

With a Microsoft 365 Family subscription, all users on the plan can use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Designer. Each user also gets 1TB of OneDrive storage.

Other benefits include full access to Clipchamp, the PC Manager app, and the Microsoft Defender monitor app.

Microsoft 365 Family requires a subscription, so you'll have to pay a bit each year or each month. Microsoft allows people to purchase Office 2024, but you only get access to the apps once and have to pay for upgrades.

If you want to keep your Microsoft apps up to date and get the best experience, Microsoft 365 is the best option.

You can "stack" Microsoft 365 subscriptions for up to five years. Stacking refers to adding time to your current subscription. It allows you to grab Microsoft 365 at a better price and extend your membership rather than hoping Microsoft 365 goes on sale right as your subscription expires.

Microsoft 365 is my longest-standing subscription. I've literally had a subscription since day one. Microsoft rebranded Office 365 to Microsoft 365 and active subscriptions transitioned over.

That name shift was met poorly by some, but it made more sense than "Microsoft 365 Copilot," which is the current name of the mobile app.

While the Office apps are likely the most recognizable apps that come with Microsoft 365, the subscription includes an ever-growing catalog of apps and services.

If you're firmly in the Microsoft ecosystem, subscribing to Microsoft 365 is a no-brainer. With it, you can sync your files across all your devices, edit documents just about anywhere, and keep content backed up to the cloud.

But that doesn't mean you should pay full price for Microsoft 365. The subscription goes on sale regularly and you can stack your subscription, so you should take advantage of the current deal that drops Microsoft 365 Family to $99.99 per year.

It's just a shame that the deal is only available in the United States or I'd grab it myself.

Microsoft Word now saves files to the cloud automatically. AutoSave has been around for a while, but until recently it was an opt-in feature. Now, anything you create in Word will be saved to the cloud by default.

The change rolls out with Word Version 2509 (Build 19221.20000) or later.

When AutoSave is enabled, Word will save a document to the cloud right away. The name of that document will be based on the date. You can then change that file name or the location where the file is saved through "Save" within Word (also accessible through Ctrl + S shortcut).

That setup could result in several files with similar names if you are not careful, but it also prevents files from getting lost if you forget to save or your PC crashes.

Microsoft lists the following advantages to saving items to the cloud in a Tech Community post:

• Increased security and compliance: Files saved in the cloud are automatically protected by your company’s security rules and labeling, so you don’t have to take extra steps to keep them safe and compliant.
• Never lose your progress: You don’t have to worry about losing your work – creation in the cloud means your document is automatically saved for you as you go.
• Flexible file control and storage: You’re in charge of your files – you can choose what they’re named, decide where they’re saved, and organize them your way. Store them in OneDrive, SharePoint, or other locations to keep everything just where you want it.
• Access from anywhere: Files you create in Word for Windows are instantly available on your Android or iOS device, or in a web browser. When you make changes on one device, they sync everywhere.
• Easy collaboration: It’s easy to work with others – just share your cloud file to start collaborating right away, add comments, and make changes together. AutoSave keeps your work updated in real time.
• Copilot and Agent support: From the moment you create a file, you can use Copilot and Agent features right away. This lets you get AI-powered help whenever you need it as you create or update your documents (NOTE: A Copilot Chat or Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required).

All of my Word documents are saved to the cloud. I've used AutoSave for years, and it has always served me well.

I jump between several devices, including two different PCs, a tablet, and my smartphone. I also frequently share files to collaborate.

I don't think any of Microsoft's arguments for using the cloud will surprise anyone. But one specific sentence stuck out. When discussing the flexibility of cloud storage, Microsoft said:

"You’re in charge of your files – you can choose what they’re named, decide where they’re saved, and organize them your way. Store them in OneDrive, SharePoint, or other locations to keep everything just where you want it" (emphasis added).

Microsoft did not specify where else you could save your files by default, but it seems likely you could use cloud storage services made by companies other than Microsoft.

Word allows you to change the default location of where files are automatically saved. I haven't been able to test the feature yet, but it seems likely that you could set Google Drive or Dropbox as the default location in Word.

While I personally use OneDrive as my primary cloud storage solution, it's always nice to have other options. A workplace or organization may use Google Drive or Dropbox primarily, making flexibility important.

User backlash

The change to AutoSave was only announced this week, so there's limited feedback at this point. I have seen some complaints, however.

User ViliusS shared the following comment in response to Microsoft's Tech Community post:

"You are completely out of touch on how your customers are using Word. Ever saw a desktop of simple user with tens of zero byte documents named "New Word Document1.docx", "New Word Document2", etc.? What we will get with this "feature" is 100s of empty documents in our OneDrives which are never deleted.

This feature is such a poor design from user perspective that I can think of another ten ways how it breaks and produces unforeseen consequences. Not to mention legal and compliance implications."

Another comment simply states, "NO!" in capital letters.

Where do you fall on the change? Let us know in the comments below.

Copilot is on the way to Microsoft Excel. Or rather, more Copilot is being packed into the popular spreadsheet program. A new COPILOT function is rolling out now to users in the Beta Channel and should make its way to more users soon.

The COPILOT function allows you to use natural language prompts within a spreadsheet. For example, you can use the function to reference cell values and categorize data. Because it is a function, COPILOT can be used alongside other functions.

"It can be painful and time-consuming to wrangle data, summarize feedback, categorize information, and brainstorm ideas," explains Microsoft in a blog post.

"The new COPILOT function in Excel for Windows and Excel for Mac is here to save time and supercharge your workflows! Just enter a natural language prompt in your spreadsheet, reference cell values as needed, and watch Copilot instantly generate AI-powered results."

Another benefit of COPILOT being a function is that results and calculated values update automatically when information is changed. That's standard for functions within Excel and is much more flexible than if you used Copilot or another AI tool outside of the app and then imported the results.

To use the COPILOT function, you can go into any cell and press the equals sign and type Copilot. You'll then be presented with the following:

=COPILOT(prompt_part1, [context1], [prompt_part2], [context2], ...)

The prompt part of that text is used to direct Copilot. The context part can be used to reference information from your spreadsheet, such as a cell or a range of cells.

Using AI as an asssitant

AI receives a lot of criticism, often justifiably so. There are many companies that appear to cram AI into apps in ways that are not needed. Microsoft was accused of this when it added Copilot to Notepad.

The new COPILOT function falls into a different category. By making it a function rather than just a tie-in to a web app or web version of an AI tool, the results created with the COPILOT function are useful. It feels like an extension of Excel that allows you to use natural language to perform tasks that would normally require expert knowledge of Excel.

The ability to classify data stands out to me. I often use Excel to receive feedback. The team I manage is small enough that I can go through feedback individually, but I could easily see the classification feature coming in handy.

In the example video shared by Microsoft, the presenter shows the COPILOT function being used to categorize feedback about a coffee machine, adding a visual indication of the overall thoughts of each piece of feedback, and summarizing the feedback into a sentence or paragraph.

Microsoft's blog post highlights that the same functionality can be used for support tickets and tagging information.

I'm far from a competitor in the Excel World Championships — yes, that's a thing — but I can see how COPILOT could streamline a workflow and add value to a spreadsheet.

Microsoft shares some tips and tricks for using the COPILOT function in its blog post. The tech giant also notes some important limits of the feature. The COPILOT function uses data from Copilot, so it cannot grab live web data or retrieve information from an internal business document.

You can import documents into Excel to provide access to that information to COPILOT.

At the moment, the COPILOT function supports 100 calls every 10 minutes and up to 300 calls per hour. Microsoft plans to raise those limits in the future.

To use the COPILOT function, you need to be a Beta Channel user and have a Microsoft 365 Copilot License.

Microsoft 365 is bringing one of the best recent additions to OneNote over to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Those apps now include a fountain pen and a brush pen, giving you more options for taking notes.

Both pens rolled out to OneNote last year and can now be added to the Draw tab in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. They became popular for adding artistic flourishes to notes and annotations.

Unlike standard digital pens, the fountain pen and brush pen produce strokes with natural variation, mimicking the feel of writing on paper and avoiding the “too perfect” look of many digital tools.

"We know that many of you loved the Fountain pen and Brush pen introduced in OneNote on Windows a year ago, and we’re excited to bring them to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint," said Microsoft in a Tech Community post.

"Now, you can unleash your expressiveness and creativity with the Brush pen when adding ink and annotations in PowerPoint or Excel, or write your notes in Word with a bit more flourish using the Fountain pen."

The fountain pen replicates its real-world equivalent by allowing you to draw thin lines for detailed lettering. You can control how thick a line is with speed or pressure.

The brush pen is directional, meaning the thickness of your pen strokes depends on the angle of your stylus.

Mike Tholfsen, who is a product manager on the Microsoft Education team demonstrated the fountain pen in OneNote last year. That same pen is now available in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

To use the new pens in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, you need to be running Version 2508 (Build 19127.20000) or later of those apps. At least for now, the functionality is limited to Windows.

Considering macOS lacks pen support, the feature may not ever ship to that platform. But we could see the tools added to the Microsoft 365 apps on iPadOS or Android.

How to add pens to the Draw tab

Even if you don't use the fountain pen or brush pen, you may appreciate the additions. The new tools can make the drawing section of apps feel crowded, so Microsoft added the ability to add or remove different input methods.

You can also drag drawing tools around within that section to reorder them.

Here's how you can add the new pens to the Draw tab in supported Microsoft 365 apps:

• Open the Draw tab in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
• Select "Add" to add the fountain pen or brush pen.
• Click or press and hold any drawing tool and then drag it left or right to reorder your tools.
• To delete any drawing tool, press and hold or right-click, then select "Delete."
  • Alternatively, you can expand the options for a specific tool and select "Delete Tool."

While you're in that section, you can add multiple copies of specific tools. For example, you could add two highlighters set to different colors.

Microsoft 365 is about to gain a few more apps, at least if you're on Windows 11. As early as this month, Microsoft 365 users will be able to use the new People, File Search, and Calendar apps.

Those Microsoft 365 companion apps are expected to ship some time in the coming weeks, according to the Microsoft 365 roadmap. But dates on that map are always subject to change.

That roadmap entry was updated on August 11, so there's a good chance that the planned August release date will happen.

First announced in April of this year, the Microsoft 365 companion apps provide quicker and easier access to contacts, files, and calendar events. They live within the Windows 11 taskbar.

Microsoft breaks down the three companion apps on a support page:

• People companion: Allows users to quickly look up anybody in their enterprise and browse organizational charts, view contact information, and easily communicate with colleagues.
• File Search companion: Enables users to quickly find Microsoft 365 files, preview file contents, send files to colleagues, and easily access recently used documents.
• Calendar companion: Lets users quickly access their Microsoft 365 calendar, view upcoming events, join meetings, and search appointments directly from the Windows taskbar.

The tools are powered by Microsoft Graph, which can access data from Microsoft 365, Microsoft Entra, and other Microsoft cloud services. As a result, search functionality is robust and flexible.

For example, you can search for contacts within the People companion app by entering a name, title, location, department, or skills a person has.

While you could jump into a specific app, such as Teams, to find a contact, the People companion app provides a shortcut and also gathers together information from other apps.

To use the People companion app, you'll need to be part of a Microsoft 365 plan that includes Teams.

The File Search companion works in a similar way, bringing in information from OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, Outlook, and other services.

The Calendar companion app draws data from your Microsoft 365 calendar to show appointments and other events.

At the moment, you need to be part of the Microsoft 365 Insider Program for Business to use the companion apps, but that should change in the near future. The apps are also limited to Windows 11.

New Microsoft 365 apps

When you think of Microsoft 365, you may think of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. While those are some of the flagship apps of the suite, they're far from the only apps available.

Over the years, Microsoft has expanded its library, adding OneDrive, Teams, and Copilot. Business and Enterprise users also get access to SharePoint, Exchange, and Loop — depending on which plan they have.

Microsoft 365 apps and services extend across a broad range of app types. While those apps and services are powerful and can help with productivity, heavy usage results in a massive amount of data that can be difficult to sort through.

Several newer features from Microsoft aim to simplify that process by bringing together information from across the Microsoft 365 suite. The new Microsoft 365 companion apps do that as well, but in specific areas.

For a company that primarily specializes (in addition to cloud computing solutions) in software, Microsoft is remarkably terrible at committing to its software.

Since I fell in love with technology, I’ve stubbornly convinced myself that I love Microsoft’s software products, but years of disappointments and the arrival of a new smartphone (the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 we reviewed) have broken the spell — I’m tired of fighting Microsoft to use its products.

I’m taking this opportunity to partially divorce myself from my Microsoft dependency, because I genuinely can’t trust this company to actually care about anything that doesn’t translate to short-term profit. All that matters to the current Microsoft is its bottom line, and that apparently isn’t Windows, Office, Xbox, or any of the other products I’ve relied on for so long.

My love/hate relationship with Microsoft

I was always a nerd, but my journey as a tech nerd began somewhere around 2013-2024. I no longer consider myself a “baby” in the industry, but I still started a lot later than many of my coworkers and editors.

Back then, I was mostly falling in love with the ambitious rise of the flexible and unapologetically chaotic Android on mobile devices, the stable and admittedly boring domination of Windows on laptops and desktops, and the intricacies of high-end audio equipment (at the time far out of reach for my teenage budget).

When I knew I’d be getting my very first smartphone, my wishlist included devices like the Motorola Moto X and Nokia Lumia 1520. What I got? The entry-level Nokia Lumia 520 — and I adored that tiny phone and its square tiles.

My family had an original Xbox growing up, and my grandparents impulsively bought my siblings and I an Xbox 360 S. The combination of these factors converted me into a hardcore Microsoft fan, and the more I dived into the company’s consumer offerings, the deeper I fell.

I changed my angsty Gmail for Outlook, paid for a Microsoft 365 subscription, and wholeheartedly committed to Windows, including buying the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL, a Surface Pro 4, and an Xbox One S across the span of a few years. It’s cliché to say, but I feel it in my heart — those were the golden days for me.

I eventually had to give up my beloved Windows phone for Android (we all know why), my job drew me away from Surface to companies like Lenovo and HP, and I became disillusioned with many of Microsoft’s other products… even the steadfast Xbox brand that held a tight grip on my heart has shaken my faith. So what happened?

Like people avoiding therapy, Microsoft hates commitment

Microsoft is so massive, it regularly deals with numbers too vast for any human to properly visualize. Microsoft is on track to become worth $4 trillion, highlighting the immense success the company continues to see with Azure and the cloud.

Because of the sheer size of this corporate entity, Microsoft has put a lot of eggs into a lot of baskets. There aren't many areas in technology Microsoft hasn't dabbled in, but there are just as many abandoned experiments, dying projects, and forgotten initiatives.

Microsoft has the resources and expertise to pursue the latest trend or attempt to create new ones, but it's also famously terrible at actually following through on anything that isn't an immediate success.

There are literally multiple websites dedicated to tracking the Microsoft Graveyard, with everything that Microsoft has killed (and it's not even fully up to date). Windows phones, Windows Mixed Reality, Skype, Surface Duo, Cortana, Kinect, Zune — I could go on forever, and I've not even mentioned all the canceled video games and shuttered studios.

Despite being one of the largest and most successful companies, Microsoft is seemingly incapable of creating lasting consumer-facing products.

Half-baked first attempts, obvious lack of continued investment, constant backtracking and overhauling, unnecessary cannibalization from overlapping Microsoft projects, inconsistent and unreliable communication, shameless trend-chasing — Microsoft suffers from it all and never learns from its mistakes, leading to a lot of shattered potential (and a whole lot of lost jobs).

Microsoft is allergic to commitment, unless you're an enterprise, the cloud, or artificial intelligence. Yes, we can't forget Microsoft's messy charge into AI — much of which no one even asked for, but that hasn't stopped Microsoft from pushing its employees to rely on its AI tools.

We recently put together a list of 5 good products that it feels like Microsoft has forgotten about, and not even 24 hours later, it was announced that Microsoft shut down its Movies & TV service completely. You can't make this stuff up.

Like my colleague Jez Corden said, Microsoft has made it impossible to be a fan of Surface, Xbox, and Windows itself.

It's time to make some space — hello, new phone!

Don't get me wrong, I understand that failures, shutdowns, and pivots are inevitable in the tech industry, and companies have to make difficult decisions to survive. Google has its own graveyard that's just as depressingly impressive as Microsoft's.

The difference is that Google's ecosystem feels stable for consumers, while Microsoft has drifted from disappointment to disappointment, oftentimes forgetting to even tell us that it abandoned yet another product.

Microsoft is still going to play a massive role in my life, but I'm honestly tired of fighting this company to be a fan. It feels like Microsoft doesn't actually want to be a consumer-facing business, and it certainly hasn't earned an iota of trust from consumers in recent memory.

This company feels fickle and directionless, driven only by the greed of its higher-ups and shareholders. When Microsoft fails, though, it's the consumers and regular employees who suffer, because the executive paychecks certainly don't.

So, now that I'm getting a shiny Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 to replace my trusty Fold5, I'm going to cut a bit of Microsoft out. I'll still use Xbox, Microsoft Edge, Outlook, OneDrive, Phone Link, and Microsoft Authenticator, but everything else is out.

No more fighting with Microsoft Launcher not working properly or playing nice with foldables. No more waiting for the SwiftKey keyboard to get a meaningful update that isn't some random AI injection. No more wading through the bloated OneNote app that doesn't even have my Sticky Notes.

I'm dropping To Do, I'm certainly never using Microsoft Teams (it's just bad), and Microsoft has done nothing to actually convince me to care about Copilot or any of its other AI things. There are lots of other random Microsoft experiments that I'm no longer paying attention to, as well.

I'll be relying more on Samsung, Google, and other third-party solutions for my software needs moving forward, and I don't have much faith in Microsoft to regain my trust in the future.

Mercedes-Benz has announced that it's partnering with Microsoft to deliver a suite of productivity features in its cars that will allow drivers to remain connected to work while away from the office. Whether you're driving to work, from work, to the store for groceries, or to dinner with family, there's now no excuse to not attend that Teams meeting in your schedule.

Attending a Teams meeting with your car is quite the flex, and it'll even use the cars built-in camera so that everyone stuck in the office can see how nice of a car you have, subtly reminding them that they probably don't make as much money as you. Mercedes says that this feature abides by safety laws and won't show the driver other people's cameras or shared screens while driving.

"To minimise distraction and maximise safety while driving, the meeting video stream turns off automatically as soon as the camera is activated. As a result, the driver will never see any shared screens or slides – and the camera can be turned off at any time" says Mercedes-Benz.

Mercedes also says it's the world's first car OEM to enable the in-car camera for use with Microsoft Teams, as well as delivering integration with Microsoft Intune that enables the car to be enterprise compliant. "Customers can log in with their business accounts and switch between applications effortlessly, taking productivity while on the move to a new level."

The Meetings for Teams app is built for Mercedes new in-car OS called MB.OS. The Teams app will show the driver their schedule for the day, including any upcoming meetings as well as quick access to frequent contacts should you need to call or message a colleague with your voice while at the wheel.

It's not just Microsoft Teams that is coming to Mercedes-Benz cars either. The company has announced that the cars will also integrate with Microsoft 365 Copilot, letting the driver chat with a generative AI to complete productivity tasks within the Office suite.

"This will be one of the world’s first application of its kind in a car and will help users prepare for upcoming meetings with the aid of advanced AI. Using voice prompts, drivers can summarise emails, retrieve or query client preferences and details, and manage daily tasks without distraction."

Mercedes-Benz says these new features will be available on the new CLA, and will likely trickle down to some older cars with built-in selfie cameras too, though that's not guaranteed. The features will also require an active "Entertainment Package Plus and Data" volume.

Of course, these features are clearly designed for executives who can afford nice cars and to work away from the office on a frequent basis. It's likely not a feature most people would want to have in their car, but if you drive a company car for work, and are away from the office regularly I can see how it might be useful.

That said, most people will likely prefer just using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and attending their Teams meetings that way. You get most of the same features, just without the ability for it to integrate with the built-in cameras inside the car.

Microsoft 365 is down to its lowest price in months. You can now get one year of Microsoft 365 Personal for $64.99 or one year of Microsoft 365 Family for $99.99.

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are the best-known apps that come with Microsoft 365. But subscribers also gain access to Microsoft Defender, Microsoft Editor, select features in Microsoft Teams and Clipchamp, plus 1TB of OneDrive storage per user.

I keep track of the best Microsoft 365 deals all year. Getting one year of Microsoft 365 Personal for $64.99 is an excellent deal. Not only is it more affordable than the retail price of the subscription, it is less than the cost of Microsoft 365 before the price hike.

Microsoft raised the price of Microsoft 365 earlier this year. Personal plans jumped from $69.99 to $99.99 annually, and Family plans went from $99.99 to $129.99.

While Microsoft did not blame the price increase on AI features or Copilot integration, it's difficult to not make that connection. Microsoft 365 now includes some AI credits and gets you access to Copilot within Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote.

Stacking Microsoft 365 subscriptions

If you already have a Microsoft 365 subscription, you can still take advantage of the current deals. Microsoft allows you to stack Microsoft 365 subscriptions for up to five years.

Stacking refers to adding additional time to a subscription. Many Xbox gamers are familiar with the practice since it is also possible to stack Xbox Game Pass Core.

Stacking lets you grab a subscription at a discount even if you're already a subscriber. It's a great way to save money and I wish more services supported it.

How to redeem Microsoft 365

When you purchase Microsoft 365 through StackSocial (or other sites), you'll receive a code. Here's how to redeem that code:

1. Go to https://account.microsoft.com/services
2. Sign in with the Microsoft account tied to your subscription
3. Select "Redeem a code or prepaid card"
4. Enter the code from StackSocial

As a reminder, you can stack up to five years of Microsoft 365.

Earlier this month, a report emerged that the Denmark Ministry of Digital Affairs would shift away from using Windows and Microsoft Office in favor of Linux and LibreOffice. Now, it appears the ministry will only shift away from Office but continue using Windows.

Politiken, which reported on the situation, has amended its original piece, as spotted by PC Gamer. The Denmark Ministry of Digital Affairs will migrate from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice gradually over the coming months.

The move is being made in the name of digital sovereignty. Caroline Stage Olsen, Denmark's Minister for Digital Affairs, said the following:

"It is not about isolation or digital nationalism. We should not turn our backs completely on global technology companies – many of them provide solutions that we benefit from. This applies both today and in the future. But we must never make ourselves so dependent on so few that we can no longer act freely. Too much public digital infrastructure is currently tied up with very few foreign suppliers. This makes us vulnerable."

The above quote was translated using Edge's built-in translation feature, so it may not be an exact representation of Olsen's LinkedIn post.

While the ministry moving to LibreOffice is noteworthy, it's not as big of a deal as abandoning Windows. It's still a technical undertaking, but it's not nearly as massive a migration as changing operating systems.

Other governments and organizations have tried open-source software before, but many of those changes were made for financial reasons. Denmark stepping away from Microsoft Office will be done primarily in the name of digital sovereignty.

Microsoft recently expanded its Sovereign Cloud offering. The tech giant announced a package of solutions focused on digital sovereignty. Those solutions give companies greater control over their data.

The offering ensures that European data remains within Europe and that it can only be handled by Microsoft employees who are based in Europe.

Microsoft did not mention Denmark or any specific governments when announcing its sovereignty-focused solutions. The announcement did, however, occur shortly after initial reports stated Denmark's Ministry of Digital Affairs would shift away from Windows and Office.

As data sovereignty becomes more of a priority, Microsoft will need to increase its solutions to match demand.

Denmark's Ministry of Digital Affairs will move away from Microsoft services, including Windows and Office 365. The ministry will shift to Linux and LibreOffice as replacements, as reported by Politiken.

The migration will happen over time. Half of the ministry's staff will move to LibreOffice and Linux between June and August. The rest of the staff is expected to follow suit between September and November.

We've seen government offices shift away from Windows and Microsoft products before, but the reasons cited have usually been cost related. While using Linux and LibreOffice will save some money, Denmark's Ministry of Digital Affairs highlighted a different reason for the move: digital sovereignty.

Denmark wants to have control over its own data and systems. Denmark's Minister for Digital Affairs Caroline Stage Olsen said:

"It is not about isolation or digital nationalism. We should not turn our backs completely on global technology companies – many of them provide solutions that we benefit from. This applies both today and in the future. But we must never make ourselves so dependent on so few that we can no longer act freely. Too much public digital infrastructure is currently tied up with very few foreign suppliers. This makes us vulnerable."

The above quote was translated using Edge's built-in translation feature, so it may not be an exact representation of Olsen's LinkedIn post.

Copenhagen, which is both Denmark's capital and most populous city, already planned to cut Microsoft services. The Copenhagen Audit Committee also spoke of digital sovereignty.

"If we suddenly can't send emails or communicate internally because of a political fallout, that's a huge problem," said the committee.

Aarhus, the second-largest city in Denmark, also had plans to become independent from Microsoft. Politiken reported on the two largest cities in Denmark announcing plans to cut ties with Microsoft software.

The ministry has a backup plan in case the move runs into issues. “If phasing out proves to be too complicated, we can revert back to Microsoft in an instant,” said Stage Olsen.

LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky will now also oversee Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 Copilot. Roslansky will continue as CEO of LinkedIn, which runs mostly autonomously from Microsoft, but he will also be responsible for Microsoft's most famous applications.

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and the new Microsoft 365 Copilot will all fall under Roslansky's leadership.

CNBC reported the news. Microsoft sent an internal email about Roslansky's new role. The CEO has since discussed his additional role on LinkedIn:

"Office is one of the most iconic product suites in history. It has shaped how the world works, literally. The reach and impact of Office are unmatched. I’m coming into this role in a new, exciting era. Productivity, connection, and AI are converging at scale. Both Office and LinkedIn are used daily by professionals globally and I’m looking forward to redefining ourselves in this new world."

Roslansky has been at LinkedIn for sixteen years, the last five of which have been as CEO. He joked that he "hadn’t even added an ‘Open to Work’ badge" on his profile when sharing the news on LinkedIn.

Roslansky will continue to report to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella regarding LinkedIn. He will report to Microsoft Executive Vice President for Experiences and Devices Rajesh Jha in relation to the new role over Office.

Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016 for $26.2 billion. LinkedIn runs largely independently from Microsoft.

"A big part of this deal is accelerating LinkedIn’s growth. To that end, LinkedIn will retain its distinct brand and independence, as well as their culture which is very much aligned with ours," said Nadella shortly after Microsoft acquired LinkedIn.

That independence was emphasized by Roslansky (emphasis added):

"While I continue to be the CEO of LinkedIn, an independent subsidiary of Microsoft, I’ll also be stepping into a broader role, leading Microsoft Office and M365 Copilot."

Roslansky also shared his excitement to "lead two of the most impactful professional products in history."

If you've just graduated from school or are about to graduate, you will soon lose free access to Office 365. Microsoft provides Office 365 to eligible institutions, giving educators and students access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat.

Once you've donned your cap and gown, you'll stop receiving student discounts. Unfortunately, it's not just food delivery and streaming services that will cost more now that you're no longer a student.

While it's no longer free, you can save 30% on Microsoft 365 through a limited-time deal. Of course, you can take advantage of the deal even if you aren't a recent graduate.

StackSocial's deal cuts the price of Microsoft 365 from $99.99 to $69.99 per year. That subscription gets you access to Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and ad-free Outlook. It also comes with 1TB of OneDrive storage.

Some lesser-known perks include Microsoft Editor, Clipchamp premium filters, and Microsoft Defender.

Microsoft 365 Personal is meant for one user and supports signing in on up to five devices at once. The Microsoft 365 apps are available on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

If you've grown up in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem or are used to the Office apps, there's a good chance you'll want to stick with them after graduation.

There are free alternatives to the Office apps, such as Google Docs and LibreOffice, but Microsoft's applications remain the standard at many workplaces and organizations.

Getting 1B of OneDrive storage is a major benefit of Microsoft 365. I use OneDrive to back up all my photos and videos. I have to share large folders of game footage and images with other American football coaches and the team I run. The storage capacity of OneDrive means I don't have to worry about file sizes.

Microsoft 365 increased in price earlier this year, making this 30% discount even more valuable for anyone who relies on the Office apps.

Microsoft is working on new icons for several of its applications. Earlier this year, the tech giant sent a survey to select users asking for feedback on new icon designs.

"At Microsoft, we're always striving to improve our products and create a user experience that truly resonates with you," read the email sent in April. "Today, we're excited to invite you to participate in a brief 15-minute survey that will help us better understand your preferences and opinions about our exploration of different iconography designs for Microsoft 365."

That survey included potential new icons for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, OneNote, and Defender. Now, those who enjoy the new icons can download and use them, albeit unofficially.

Reddit user Thunder_Ruler0 cleaned up the leaked icons and created high-resolution versions of each of them. The resulting icons look clean, especially considering they're based on fuzzy source material and the artist created the upscaled versions in a couple of hours.

Thunder_Ruler0 shared a Google Drive folder with the icons in their Reddit post.

I like the look of all the new icons, but the Outlook icon may gain the most attention. In addition to having a modern design, the Outlook icon is yellow. That would be a return to form since the Outlook icon was changed from yellow to blue over a decade ago.

As far as I can tell, the new yellow Outlook icon is only a fan creation by Thunder_Ruler0. The survey sent out by Microsoft last month only showed a blue Outlook logo.

Outlook 2013 introduced a blue logo for the app, marking a major shift from preceding versions of Outlook. Until that point, Outlook had a yellow logo that clearly differentiated it from other Microsoft services.

Word, OneDrive, Yammer, Defender, and Outlook all have blue logos in 2025. Microsoft's icons differ in shape, but I would love to see more color variation across the Microsoft software suite.

If you prefer the refreshed Outlook icon in blue, it is also available in Thunder_Ruler0's Google Drive folder.

As for actually using the yellow Outlook icon, you may have more luck switching to it for Outlook (classic). The new Outlook is a store app, so customizing its icon is tricky. You can create a desktop shortcut for the app and change its icon through Properties, though I haven't had any luck getting the custom icon to appear in the Start menu.

Which Outlook icon is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!