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

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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...

External Sharing in SharePoint and OneDrive is changing: What You Need to Know

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In an ongoing effort to create a more secure environment by default, Microsoft is introducing an important security update that will affect how external users access content shared through SharePoint and OneDrive. Starting July 1, 2025, any links shared with external users before your organization enabled Microsoft Entra B2B integration will no longer work.

This change applies to all organizations that have already enabled or will enable SharePoint and OneDrive integration with Microsoft Entra B2B (Most organizations I have looked into so far). External users trying to use old links will see an error message saying the organization has updated its guest access settings. To regain access, the content must be reshared.

Highlights of how the change affects organizations who have enabled B2B:

  • All external sharing will require guest registration. External users must be added as guests in your Microsoft Entra directory.
  • Access will be managed through Microsoft Entra B2B Invitation Manager. This provides better tracking, lifecycle management, and control over guest access.
  • Multi-factor authentication (MFA) may be required. If your organization enforces MFA for guests, they will need to complete MFA before accessing shared content.
  • New sharing links will only work for registered guests. Anonymous access will no longer be supported in this model.

This means that external collaboration becomes more secure and auditable, but also requires a bit more setup and communication with your external partners. This change may have an impact on how you govern guest lifecycle management, from invitation to deactivation. Also verify your conditional access requirements for guests.

This update is a smart move by Microsoft to bring more control and visibility to external collaboration. While it may cause some short-term inconvenience, it’s a good opportunity to review and improve your sharing practices.