“It may feel different at first”: Microsoft Teams will stop you from leaving meetings or raising your hand accidentally

Microsoft is moving the Raise Hand icon and the button to leave a meeting within Teams.

If you've ever raised your hand accidentally in a Microsoft Teams meeting, you'll appreciate a change that's on the way to the communication app. In June, Teams will move a few items around within meetings to reduce mis-clicks and make the app easier to use.

The Raise Hand icon will now be grouped under Reactions, which should prevent people from raising their hand when they mean to response in a meeting with an emoji.

The Leave button will be placed on the right of the meeting window to separate it from other controls.

Microsoft details the changes on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap. The Verge spotted the change, which is currently scheduled to roll out in June 2026.

Dates on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap are subject to change, so the feature could be delayed or moved forward. Since the planned rollout is a few months away, we should see it enter testing soon.

At the same time, Microsoft will also roll out a change to Teams that allows you to customize the meeting toolbar. After the update ships, you'll be able to pin, unpin, and reorder controls within a meeting.

If you spend a lot of your day in Teams meetings, you know that hunting around for buttons can waste a lot of time. Clicking the wrong one can also bog down a meeting since the presenters may stop to ask if you have a question when you just meant to click an emoji.

When explaining the changes, Microsoft said things "may feel different at first." I'm curious to know how you feel about these changes. Are you happy to see controls moved within Teams meetings or would you prefer they stay in the same place? Let me know in the comments below and vote in our poll!

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