Microsoft is unlocking the "Full Potential" of Private Channels in Microsoft Teams: What You Need to Know

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It has been a while since I posted something just about a Microsoft Teams update, as a lot have been Copilot in Teams to be honest. But here is a real Microsoft Teams update I think is worth knowing about, and it involves Security and Compliance as well. Microsoft is rolling out a "major" update to private channels in Teams, starting in late September 2025 and continuing through mid-December. This biggest change in this update is a shift in how private channel data is stored from individual user mailboxes to a dedicated channel mailbox. Not only will this simplifie compliance management, it will also and align private channels with shared channels, making governance and experience more consistent across Teams. This update promises to increase the support up to 1000 channels per team and 5000 members per channel, removing previous limitations. Teams will also allow meetings to be scheduled directly within private channels, enhancing collaboration.  For organizations using Micr...

Email OTP Verification coming to Teams Meetings

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Microsoft introducing a new security feature in Teams that will enable enforcements of Email OTP verification for meetings. This new policy, "Anonymous users can join a meeting after verifying," will be available in the Teams Admin Center for all organizations.

This feature is available only for meetings created by organizers with a Teams Premium license.

The feature is in public preview, but should be rolling out in GA any time soon. The update will roll out automatically.
Admins should consider to update the new meeting policy setting from “By e-mail code” to “No” by mid-February if they wish to continue blocking all unverified users (If "No" is the current setting). The policy is described in this article.