Hands-On Microsoft 365 Pulse – Weekly Updates (Week 3)

By João Ferreira Jan 19, 2026 Pulse 0 Comments

Microsoft 365 continues to accelerate into 2026 with updates designed to bring people closer and make work feel more connected. Viva Engage communities are coming directly into Microsoft Teams by March–April, giving organizations a seamless space for asynchronous conversations, without extra licenses or setup.

If you use the Researcher agent on Microsoft 365 Copilot to create deep, research-driven content, it is becoming even more versatile. You’ll now be able to export your reports into PowerPoint, PDF, Infographic, or even an Audio Overview, unlocking new ways to present insights and share knowledge across your organization.

On January 20th I’ll be on stage at M365 Con delivering a session on how to build beautiful SharePoint pages that keep your intranet fresh and engaging. I’ll wrap up the day in a conversation with Mark Kashman about Microsoft Lists, Copilot, and the relentless rhythm of updates shaping Microsoft 365. Exciting times ahead—hope to see you there!

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As always, there’s a bunch more to explore — check out the full list below. Let me know in the comments what your favorite update was this week, or what you’re hoping to see next. I’m curious to hear what caught your eye!

Microsoft Entra

Microsoft Entra: App Deactivation

Microsoft Copilot

Tenant setting update: Copilot capacity designation enabled by default

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): When using Agent Mode in Word, you will be able to manually select which model to use

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Researcher Output Formats

Microsoft 365 Copilot | PowerPoint now supports enterprise image libraries via AEM (Adobe Experience Manager)

New Content Moderation Settings for AI Prompts in Microsoft Copilot Studio and Power Platform

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Agent Mode in PowerPoint

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Agent Mode in PowerPoint

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): People Skills – Expanded AI inferencing for E3/E5 users

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): People Skills – Expanded AI inferencing for E3/E5 users

Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365): Agent Mode in PowerPoint

Microsoft Purview

Microsoft Purview eDiscovery | Direct export expiration change

Microsoft Purview compliance portal: Information Protection – Email attachment preview in Activity Explorer

Microsoft Purview | Information Protection – Content Explorer: Unscanned data and Classification History summary metrics

Endpoint DLP-sensitive data alerting retiring in Defender; use Purview DLP

Microsoft Purview: Data Loss Prevention- Additional Diagnostics for Data Loss Prevention and Information Protection

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention | Enforcement plane rename from Entra to Application

Outlook

Outlook: Save an Event as a Draft on iOS

Save a meeting event as a draft in Outlook on iOS

Outlook: Open and Send Outlook File Templates

Outlook: Open and Send Outlook File Templates

Microsoft 365 Apps

Updates available for Microsoft 365 Apps for all channels

Updates available for Microsoft 365 Apps for all channels

Microsoft 365: Drawn electronic signatures with eSignature for Microsoft 365

Microsoft Defender

Data Security Posture Agent is now available in preview

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps – Improvements to Microsoft 365 connector configuration page

Power BI

Power BI: End of support for on-prem SharePoint web part

Retirement of Power BI Q&A

Windows

The January 2026 Windows security update is now available

Windows Deployment Services (WDS): Hands-free deployment hardening (Phase 1)

Windows Backup for Organizations expands to first sign-in restore

Initial deployment phase for Kerberos RC4 hardening begins with the January 2026 Windows security update

Take Action: Out-of-band update to address issues observed with the January 2026 Windows security update

Feature Update: Gradual Rollouts restoration in Windows Autopatch

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge: Cross-platform policies in the Edge management service

Microsoft Edge: Protected Clipboard

Microsoft Edge: Watermarking Protection

Microsoft Viva

Microsoft Viva: Viva Glint – New Permissions

Export Viva Engage admin settings from Engage Admin Center

Microsoft Viva: Viva Glint – Survey Designer Role

Microsoft Viva: Viva Glint – Navigation improvements in Reporting

Microsoft Viva: Viva Glint – Navigation improvements in Reporting

Microsoft Teams

Improvements to meeting threads in Microsoft Teams channels

Microsoft Teams: Choose your “Enter” key behavior in Teams Chat Settings

Microsoft Teams: Queues app historical reporting supports 45 days of data

Microsoft Teams: Automatic removal of EXIF data from shared images

Teams Displays – Immediate action required to restore functionality after withdrawn app version

Create custom templates for immersive events in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams: Viva Engage communities in Teams

Microsoft Teams: Organization evaluation score for apps and agents

Microsoft Loop

More users will be able to create Loop workspaces

Power Platform

Power Platform – Track, manage and scale Copilot adoption in PPAC new functionality

Power Automate

Power Automate – Debug easily into condition actions at runtime

Power Automate – View property value expanded inline in the new cloud flow designer

Power Apps

Power Apps – Content Security Policy enforcement for Power Apps code apps

People Skills

People Skills: AI skill inferencing expanded to E3/E5 licenses

Dynamics 365

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys – Maximize event ROI with paid registration, seamless payment integration

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights- Data – Select appropriate field values from a list when working with segments conditions

Dynamics 365 Contact Center – Enhanced Dialpad for DTMF Tones