Microsoft unveils revamped chat and channels experience for Teams

Microsoft today announced a redesigned chat and channels experience in Microsoft Teams. The company claims this update will help users work more efficiently and effectively. Previously, Teams had separate sections for chats, teams, and channels. With the redesign, Microsoft is bringing everything into one place, allowing users to continue conversations without switching context.

New filters, including "Unread," "Chat," "Channels," "Meetings," and "Muted," will help users easily triage their messages. When returning to Teams after a break, they can simply click the "Unread" filter to catch up on all unread conversations across chats, channels, and meetings in one place.

The new @mention view brings together all messages directed at a specific user into a single interactive list. Instead of searching through multiple conversations for @mentions, users can now access them with a single click.

The new "Favorites" section in the left navigation bar is enabled by default, displaying all pinned chats and channels from the previous experience. New custom sections will allow users to organize conversations from chats, channels, meetings, Teams bots, or AI agents into one place. Microsoft Teams will support up to 50 sections and 50 items per section.

Sending a new message in channels is now easier. Users can create a chat or channel post from the same place, eliminating the need to navigate to the specific channel first.

Microsoft will not force this new combined chat and channel experience on users. Instead, it will offer controls allowing users to customize their experience based on their preferences. Users can choose to view chat and channels separately, see message previews, or display all channels in a single list.

This new chat and channel experience will be available on both desktop and mobile. Customers with access to the Microsoft public preview will be able to try out the new experience starting in November. You can learn more about this new experience in the video below.

Finally, Microsoft also revealed that it will begin testing threaded conversations with Teams users this quarter, expanding testing in early 2025. Threaded conversations will be broadly available in mid-2025.