New Year, New Momentum: Here are three Copilot updates to get you started into 2026

It's a new year, so I thought I'd start the year by mentioning three features already released, or soon going to be released. One of the features improves the workflow of sharing files with comments, the other improves the application specific Copilot, and the last feature makes it easer to find the nest available timeslot for a 1:1 meeting. As with all of my other posts, timelines can shift, and the timelines in this post is as written in the Message Center at the time of posting. AI-Summary experience when sharing files. With this new feature, copilot intent to help users share files with clearer context in just a few steps. Users will get the capability to generate a concise summary of a file and include it when sharing from the File Explorer share dialog or the OneDrive activity center. This will make it easier to share the context of a file and giving the receiver a faster understanding of what a document or file contains before they open it. General Availability announced...

Microsoft Teams: Enable transcription policy by default

Microsoft is about to update its Teams default policy settings for transcription services. Previously, transcription was turned off by default for new tenants. With this update, transcription will be enabled by default for new global policies created for new tenants. This change aims to streamline the adoption of transcription and enhance the use of AI features within Teams.

For tenants without customized policies, the new default settings will apply, impacting these tenants by enabling transcription by default. However, tenants with customized policies for user-level or group-level assignments will remain unaffected by this change. This update aligns transcription with the default policy for recording, which is also enabled by default in the Teams admin center. The update applies to Teams for Windows desktop and Teams for Mac desktop.

Although existing policies will not be changed, admins are advised to familiar themselves with the new settings and apply them if needed (or wanted) in the organization. The policies will be available as part of the regular Teams policies found in the Teams Admin Center. 

This update is associated with the Roadmap ID 468282 and should be complete by the end of March.