MC1266027 - Microsoft Teams: New experience when users minimize the meeting window

Message Center

Summary

Microsoft Teams will introduce a new minimized meeting experience by mid-2026, allowing users to raise hands and send reactions without restoring the full window. Two minimized views—expanded (showing up to four videos) and compact—are available. The feature is enabled by default and requires no admin action.

Last Updated

May 6, 2026

Published Mar 30, 2026

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Service

Microsoft Teams

Tag

Updated message
Feature update
User impact

Platforms

Desktop
Mac

More information

Updated May 6, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

Introduction

We are improving the Microsoft Teams meeting experience when the active meeting window is minimized. This update helps users stay engaged in meetings while multitasking across other apps. With this change, users can perform key in-meeting actions—such as raising their hand and sending reactions—without restoring the full Teams meeting window. Users can also choose between two different minimized views, depending on how much meeting context they want to keep visible while they work.

This change does not affect the experience when users are sharing their screen in a Teams meeting.

This message applies to Teams for Windows desktop and Teams for Mac desktop. It is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 557179.

When this will happen:

  • Targeted Release: Rollout begins mid-May 2026 (previously early May) and is expected to complete by late May 2026 (previously early May).
  • General Availability (Worldwide): Rollout begins early June 2026 (previously mid-May) and is expected to complete by late June 2026 (previously late May).

How this affects your organization:

Who is affected:

  • All users who join and participate in Microsoft Teams meetings.

What will happen:

  • When users minimize a Teams meeting window, a new minimized meeting experience appears automatically.
  • Users can raise their hand and send reactions without restoring the full Microsoft Teams meeting window.
  • Users can choose between two minimized views:
    • Expanded view: Displays up to four participant videos.
    • user settings

    • Compact view: Does not display participant video and takes up less screen space.
    • user settings

  • The feature is enabled by default and does not require any admin configuration.
  • There is no change to the meeting experience while screen sharing.

What you can do to prepare:

  • No action is required.
  • Consider notifying users and helpdesk staff about the new minimized meeting views in Microsoft Teams.
  • Update internal training or support documentation if it references Teams meeting window behavior.

Compliance considerations:

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.

Version history

3 versions tracked

Updated 2 times since Mar 30, 2026. Microsoft Message Center only ever shows the current version; this archive preserves the history.

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  1. May 6, 2026 · 04:21 PMLatest · v3

    Changed: Body, End date

  2. Apr 14, 2026 · 04:33 PMv2

    Changed: Body, Tags, End date

  3. Mar 30, 2026 · 09:51 PMOriginal · v1

    Changed: Initial version