Teams: nine updates for meetings, Copilot and notifications

Key insights

• The new meeting controls group reactions and Raise hand under the React button.
• Meeting Recaps brings past recaps into one app and can generate an audio review.
• Planner can be added as a tab in private and shared channels.
• Teams lets users pause notifications for a chosen duration and test their screen position.
• Copilot can answer questions from selected chat text and from a natural-language Teams search.

Microsoft Teams adds changes to meetings, recaps, channels, notifications and Copilot, including a central place to revisit meeting recaps and Planner support in private and shared channels. These updates matter to Teams users who manage meetings, collaborate in channels, or want Copilot help without leaving a conversation. Scott Brant demonstrates the controls and workflows in a YouTube walkthrough, while noting that some features may already be available and others may still be arriving.

What's new

The changes described span nine areas rather than one single feature release. Meeting controls are simplified, with options gathered under a More menu and a separate AI control menu for Copilot, Facilitator and Intelligent meeting recap. Reactions and Raise hand are grouped under React, reducing the chance of choosing the wrong meeting action.

Teams also has a refreshed Copilot experience in its app bar, plus access to Viva Engage communities through the Communities area. A Meeting Recaps app provides a single place to revisit past recaps and offers an audio review option. These changes make meetings, communities and Copilot easier to reach within the Teams workspace.

For channels, the notable change is that Planner can now be added in private and shared channels, where Brant says it was not previously available. For notifications, users can pause them for a selected period and change where notifications appear on screen. Copilot also appears in Teams search and can be invoked from selected text in a chat message.

Who it is for and what you need

These controls are relevant to Teams meeting participants, channel members and people who use Teams for chat and search. The transcript does not identify specific Teams plans, tenant settings, regions or rollout rings for the features. It also does not establish that every feature is available to every user.

The Copilot functions have an explicit licensing caveat: Brant says the Copilot experiences he demonstrates require a paid or premium Copilot license. The material does not name a particular license SKU or explain whether each Copilot function has identical eligibility requirements. Check your organization's licensing and service configuration before planning a rollout.

Brant describes meeting controls as rolling out and says some of the nine changes may already be available while others are coming soon. No precise rollout schedule or administrative deployment controls are specified. For feature-by-feature availability, the demonstration alone is not enough to confirm what a particular tenant should see.

How it works

Several changes are user-facing settings or entry points. The transcript gives these paths for the demonstrated tasks:

1. Adjust meeting controls: In a meeting, use the AI control icon to access Copilot, Facilitator and Intelligent meeting recap. Use React for reactions and Raise hand. To revert the new controls, leave the meeting and go to Teams settings > General > Meeting > New meeting controls.
2. Open past recaps: Select the three-dot menu on the Teams app bar, search for Meeting Recaps and open the app. Choose Recap to open a recap, or select the headphone icon to generate and play an audio recap.
3. Add Planner to a channel: In a private or shared channel, select the plus icon to add a tab, choose Apps and search for Planner. The demonstration says you can attach an existing plan or create a new one.
4. Pause alerts: Select your profile icon, choose Pause notifications and set the duration. The walkthrough demonstrates a one-hour pause, which changes the user's status to Do not disturb. Edit the pause duration or remove it to return to the previous status.
5. Change notification position: Open the Teams menu > Settings > Notifications and activity. Select a position, such as bottom left, bottom right or top right, and use Test notification to preview it.
6. Use Copilot from Teams: Ask a question in the Teams search box, or select text in a chat message, open its context menu and choose Ask Copilot. The latter opens Copilot in a side panel using the selected message text as context.

The Copilot app is available from the Teams app bar in the demonstration. Communities provides access to Viva Engage communities, while the updated meeting controls consolidate actions that were previously spread across the meeting interface.

Limitations and open questions

The walkthrough is a practical user demonstration, not a complete rollout or licensing announcement. It does not provide official rollout dates, supported regions, exact license names, admin policies or a definitive list of prerequisites. In particular, the availability of the Copilot app refresh and the search and chat integrations should be checked in the tenant rather than assumed from the demonstration.

The transcript describes audio recap generation but does not specify its eligibility requirements, how long generation takes, or whether every meeting type can produce one. It also says Planner uses the integrated SharePoint storage of the private or shared channel, but does not describe permission behavior or file-management differences. Those implementation details remain unclear from the available material.

For Copilot in search, Brant demonstrates a broad natural-language question about a colleague and project, while acknowledging that the result may not be useful in every case. Search quality will depend on the question and the accessible content; the source does not explain data boundaries or troubleshooting. The earlier approach to reviewing recaps was to open meetings individually, according to the walkthrough; the new app provides a central alternative.

Sources

• Scott Brant’s Teams and Copilot feature walkthrough

Frequently asked questions

Can I add Planner to a private or shared Teams channel?

The walkthrough demonstrates adding Planner through the channel's plus icon, Apps, and a search for Planner. It says users can attach an existing plan or create a new one.

What license is needed for Copilot features in Teams?

The source says the Copilot experiences demonstrated require a paid or premium Copilot license. It does not specify a license SKU or give separate eligibility details for each function.

How do I pause notifications in Teams?

Select your profile icon, choose Pause notifications and set a duration. The demonstration shows a one-hour pause and says the status changes to Do not disturb.

Where can I find old Teams meeting recaps?

Use the three-dot menu on the Teams app bar and search for Meeting Recaps. The app also offers an audio recap option, represented by a headphone icon.