Microsoft Removes Together Mode From Teams After Nearly Six Years

Microsoft confirmed that it will retire Together Mode in Microsoft Teams starting June 30, 2026. The company will also remove scenes, custom scenes, and seating assignments from Teams meetings.

Together Mode launched during the remote work boom

Microsoft introduced Together Mode in July 2020 as part of its broader push to improve remote collaboration during the pandemic-era surge in video meetings.

The feature placed meeting participants inside shared virtual environments designed to make conversations feel more natural and social compared to traditional grid-based layouts. Together Mode quickly became one of Teams’ most recognizable visual features, especially for classrooms, webinars, and large corporate meetings.

Microsoft says the feature adds unnecessary complexity

According to Microsoft, retiring Together Mode will simplify the Teams meeting experience while reducing engineering complexity and fragmentation across devices.

The company says the removal should also lower cognitive load for users while allowing engineers to focus more heavily on core meeting improvements such as video quality, platform stability, and overall performance optimization.

Microsoft added that users in Targeted Preview and Public Preview channels will lose access to the feature earlier than the wider rollout.

Gallery View becomes the recommended replacement

Microsoft now recommends Gallery View as the primary replacement for Together Mode.

Gallery View supports up to 49 participants simultaneously and dynamically scales depending on device capabilities and meeting layout conditions. Microsoft also continues pushing features such as Spotlight, participant pinning, branded backgrounds, and dual-display support as alternative meeting customization options.

Custom branding workflows are changing

Organizations that previously relied on Together Mode scenes for branding purposes will also need to adjust their workflows.

Microsoft is encouraging companies to switch toward branded backgrounds instead of custom Together Mode environments. The change particularly impacts businesses that used custom virtual seating layouts for presentations, webinars, and internal events.

Microsoft says Together Mode removal begins June 30, 2026 across Teams environments.

In other recent Teams-related developments, Microsoft clarified how AutoRecording works inside Teams meetings. The company is also developing new anti-phishing protections after another reported case involving attackers abusing Teams for espionage-related activity.