Back in December 2023, a new entry in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap website announced that the company would soon add a feature that would allow users who have a personal Microsoft account to join in a work or school-created Teams meeting. Today, that feature is rolling out to members of the Teams Insider program.
In a blog post, Microsoft stated that in the past, if a person tried to sign into their personal Microsoft Teams account in a work or school-based Teams meeting, they would have to join as a guest. They also were limited to using the web-based version of Teams.
However, with this new feature, Teams Insider members can now access a work or school Teams meeting with their personal account in the Windows 11 version of the Teams app. In theory, this should offer those personal Team users a better overall experience compared to signing in as a guest on the web app.
This new feature will be rolled out in phases. The first phase will let personal account users access a work or school Teams meeting by tapping on a link to a chat or community in the Microsoft Teams (free) edition.
If you are not a member of the Teams Insider program and want to check out the new features, here"s how to sign up:
- First, go to the Teams (free) app and then to its app settings in
- Then find the Teams Insider program section in the app settings, or simply follow this link
- After that, just click on tap on the Join button and that will let you access the Teams Insider features.
- Finally, you will need to restart the Teams app to get access to the new personal Microsoft account access features.
There"s no word yet on when the other phases of this Teams Insider feature will launch, nor if this personal account addition will be included in the regular Teams apps.