Microsoft announced on 14th May that it will retire Together Mode in Microsoft Teams starting from June 30, 2026. This marks the end of the most popular meetings platform used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, from next month, the feature will no longer be available. Together Mode was mainly designed to support and show people in the meeting, with a Gallery view and a virtual environment, such as a classroom, virtual conference, and others. It makes you feel like you were sitting in the room with everyone. However, as hybrid or in-person meetings began, the feature relevance decreased.
What Changes as Teams Together Mode Retires in June 2026?
As stated by Katarina Tranker, Product Manager on Teams, “We’re always working to make meetings easier to join, simpler to manage, and better for everyone, regardless of the device or network conditions.”
This change helps simplify the meeting experience, reduce complexity behind the scenes, and focus on other improvements that benefit every Teams meeting, including video quality, stability, and performance.
Tranker further stated that the core need for which Together Mode was designed will be fully met by the modern Gallery view, which can display up to 49 participants at once. With this, the following changes will take place:
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- The Together mode toggle will be permanently removed from the meeting View menu.
- Alongside, organizations that used Together Mode scenes to showcase their brand can transition to company-provided branded backgrounds, including frosted-glass designs, to maintain a professional, consistent visual identity during meetings.
Why did Teams Together Mode Did Not Stay?
Together Mode initially created a lot of buzz about how the feature worked, but the fact is that it is the kind of thing people try once or twice before concluding that it's a feature they don’t need to use. So, Together Mode worked well for large team meetings, structured hand-calls, and other meetings. However, it was lacking in some respects. As the pandemic slowed and the hybrid mode returned to routine, the gallery view was preferred most of the time.
Gallery Mode, a Great Upgrade for Teams Meetings
The Gallery mode is a great feature that works with built-in tools like pin and spotlight to keep those presenting and participants visible. You can start experimenting with different scenarios in Gallery mode. Microsoft aims to make the change, as a single Gallery experience can:
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- Make the meeting interface easy and deliver consistent experience across devices.
- Deliver higher and stable video quality in meetings.
- Free engineering capacity to focus on foundational video enhancements.
Availability
Together Mode will be removed gradually across platforms following the Teams deployment process.
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