Microsoft Places Finder in Outlook: what it replaces and how to enable it

Finding a meeting room in Outlook has long meant using Room Finder: a flat list of resources with little sense of where those rooms actually are. It did the job, but it treated space as an abstract concept, disconnected from buildings, floors, and the way people move through an office. That model worked when offices were static.

Microsoft Places Finder replaces Room Finder in Outlook. It relies on the same Exchange room and workspace data, but changes how that data is surfaced. Instead of starting with a room list, users navigate by place: country, city, building, floor.

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By João Ferreira Feb 17, 2026 Microsoft Places 0 Comments

Microsoft Places roadmap highlights announced at ISE

At ISE, Microsoft shared several updates and upcoming capabilities for Microsoft Places, alongside a clearer outline of what is expected to land over the next six to nine months. The announcements focused primarily on reservation experiences, workplace presence, spatial data, and extensibility, rather than introducing a single flagship feature.

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By João Ferreira Feb 13, 2026 Microsoft Places 0 Comments

How to Add Images to Microsoft Places Rooms and Desks

Microsoft Places has come a long way since its first preview release, back when it didn’t even have an admin interface. Fast‑forward to today, and admins can create and manage rooms and desks directly from the admin center. Capacity, amenities, names, zones… everything is there.

Well, almost everything. There’s still one small detail missing in the Places admin experience, and for someone visual like me, it makes all the difference: the ability to add an image that represents the room or desk.

Even though Microsoft Places doesn’t expose this option in the UI yet, there is a way to add these images today.

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By João Ferreira Feb 6, 2026 Microsoft Places 0 Comments

Bringing Microsoft Places from Digital to Physical with Appspace Kiosks

This week felt a bit different, so I’m bringing something from my day‑to‑day work at Appspace into the blog. At ISE in Barcelona we showed, for the very first time, the kiosk integration for Microsoft Places. As a Product Manager who loves creating integrations on top of the Microsoft platform, seeing this come to life in the physical world was a great moment.

Microsoft Places gives organizations a digital layer for their workplace, from maps to space information and everything needed to keep spaces managed and used more efficiently. What we’ve done at Appspace is take that digital layer and give it a physical presence through our kiosks and workplace devices, so people can actually interact with Microsoft Places data as they move through an office.

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By João Ferreira Feb 5, 2026 Microsoft Places 0 Comments

Microsoft Places licensing — what changed and why it matters

Microsoft Places licensing has shifted from a per‑user, Teams Premium‑based model to a per‑space model centered on the new Teams Shared Space license. In practice, end‑user experiences like Places Finder and Places Explorer are now included for virtually all M365 users with calendar access, while advance desk booking, auto‑release, and space analytics are unlocked by licensing the physical spaces themselves.

Let’s put this in context with a short story. Imagine Contoso Workspace, a 600‑person hybrid company that wants everyone to see maps and book desks, but only cares about managing 120 actual desks and meeting rooms. Under the old model they had to consider licensing people; under the new one they just license the spaces they manage. This guide walks you through everything you need to know about the change and how to adapt fast.

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By João Ferreira Feb 2, 2026 Microsoft Places 0 Comments

How to Enable Microsoft Places Public Preview

Exciting news for those eager to streamline their workplace coordination: Microsoft Places is now in Public Preview! This fresh addition to the Microsoft suite is designed to simplify your calendar management and provide insights into your colleagues’ work locations. Although not all features are currently available, you can begin exploring its capabilities today.

In this blog post, I’m explaining how administrators can activate Microsoft Places globally across their organization or selectively for certain user groups.

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By João Ferreira May 15, 2024 Microsoft Places 0 Comments

Microsoft Places is Available in Public Preview

Microsoft Places is a fresh addition to Microsoft 365 that transforms the way we think about work flexibility. It’s a tool that guides employees in making smart choices about their work arrangements. Whether it’s deciding who to work with, the best way to work, when to work, or picking a location, Microsoft Places is there to help. This leads to better productivity and teamwork.

With Microsoft Places, you can sync up your office days with your team. It’s all about finding the perfect spot and time to work, reserving spaces and meeting rooms when you need them, and focusing on important interactions with your team and new colleagues.

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By João Ferreira May 13, 2024 Microsoft Places 0 Comments