Microsoft Is Bringing Meeting Transfers to Outlook, but Classic Outlook Gets Left Behind

Microsoft is adding a new Outlook capability that will let meeting organizers transfer ownership of an existing meeting to another person instead of canceling it and creating a replacement.

According to MC1472028, organizations will be able to hand control of future meetings directly to another user. Microsoft plans to roll out the feature in three phases, with broader support for online meetings and Teams content arriving later.

Outlook meeting ownership transfers start later this month

The first phase will begin later this month and should finish rolling out by the end of October.

Initially, users will only be able to transfer eligible non-online meetings. Microsoft says draft meetings, canceled meetings, encrypted meetings, group calendar meetings, group mailbox meetings, and shared mailbox meetings will not support ownership transfers.

Once the new organizer accepts the transfer, future instances of the meeting will move to the new organizer’s calendar.

For most attendees, the change should require little action. Internal attendees will receive a silent update that preserves their existing meeting configuration, while external and on-premises attendees will receive new meeting invitations.

Teams meeting transfers are coming later

Phase 2 will extend ownership transfers to eligible online meetings, including Microsoft Teams meetings.

Microsoft will go further with Phase 3 by allowing organizations to transfer associated Teams meeting content. This will include meeting chat, meeting options, transcripts, recordings, agenda items, notes, and attendance reports.

Once Microsoft completes all three phases, organizations should be able to transfer most parts of an existing Teams meeting to another organizer without rebuilding the meeting from scratch.

Classic Outlook will not support the feature

Microsoft plans to make meeting ownership transfers available through Outlook on the web, New Outlook for Windows, Teams, and Exchange Online.

Classic Outlook will not support the feature, and Microsoft has not indicated that support will arrive later.

The decision comes as Microsoft continues changing how Outlook features differ between the classic and new clients. The company recently backed down on its planned Classic Outlook people card downgrade, while Outlook is also getting Copilot Chat directly inside the email composer.

Microsoft is also improving Teams administration, with Teams admins getting an easier way to restore data.

Via Neowin