IT change communications

What’s changing:

• The Office Portal at portal.office.com now redirects to a new Microsoft 365 Copilot experience at m365.cloud.microsoft.
• Users will no longer see the familiar Office landing page. Instead, this new page focuses on Copilot features.
• To access apps like Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint online, users must now:
  • Go to m365.cloud.microsoft
  • Click “App” from the left-hand menu

Installing office desktop apps:

• The self-service installer for Microsoft 365 desktop apps has also moved.
• Users can still install the apps, but the entry point is now through the Copilot interface under the "App" section.

What you need to do:

• Bookmark the new portal: m365.cloud.microsoft
• Use “Dixons Digital” as an alternative launch point if you previously used portal.office.com to open Office apps.
• If installing Office apps, guide users to the “App” section within the new portal.

No immediate action is required, but users should be made aware of the navigation change to avoid confusion.

What’s changing:

• Microsoft is updating the Teams user interface to combine chat and channel conversations into a single, streamlined layout.
• This change has already been in place for non-education tenants and is now being rolled out to education users as the default, only for those using the list layout.
• Grid layout users will not see this change.

What’s different:

• Conversations and replies are now more compact, making it easier to follow discussions in one continuous view.
• The experience matches what’s already seen in many non-edu Teams accounts.
• There's no longer an option to switch back to the old layout once the new UI is applied.

What you need to do:

• Be aware of the UI change if you’re using the List layout in Teams.
• No user action is required, but the experience will look different, especially in how conversations appear in channels.

More information:

• For a full visual overview, see Microsoft’s guide:
   New Chat and Channels Experience in Microsoft Teams

Effective from July 1 2025, Microsoft will disable the text prediction feature by default across the following Outlook platforms:

• New Outlook for Windows
• Outlook on the web (OWA)
• Outlook for iOS and Android

What’s changing:

• Text prediction (the greyed-out inline suggestions while typing) was previously turned on by default.
• After this change, users will no longer see suggestions unless they manually re-enable the feature.

What you need to do:
 If you'd like to continue using text prediction, follow the steps below to turn it back on:

• Outlook on the Web (OWA):
   Settings → Mail → Compose and reply → Enable Text predictions
• New Outlook for Windows:
   Settings → Mail → Compose → Enable Text predictions
• Outlook Mobile (iOS/Android):
   Settings → Account → Compose options → Enable Text predictions

This is a permanent change to the default setting, it will not be re-enabled automatically.

What’s changing:

• The “Files” tab in Teams channels has been renamed to “Shared” to align with similar changes in 1:1 and group chats.
• The “Shared” tab now includes enhanced capabilities for working with files in channels.
• Users can still access all files and folders stored in the SharePoint document library linked to each channel.
• The Shared tab is divided into two views:
  • In library: all existing files tab functionality is preserved here, showing the SharePoint files and folders.
  • In posts: displays all files and links that have been shared in channel posts, providing quick access to recently discussed content.

What you need to do:

• No user action is required.
• Users should be aware that the files tab is now called “Shared” in channels.
• Encourage users to explore both In library and In posts views to find files efficiently.

What’s changing:

• Microsoft is rolling out a new unified calendar experience in Teams for Windows, Mac, and the web.
• The calendar integrates Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Places to improve collaboration.
• The new calendar works consistently across Teams, Outlook (desktop and web), and Places.
• A “New calendar” toggle will appear at the top right of the Teams calendar.
• The new calendar will be on by default, but users can switch back to the classic calendar if preferred.

What you need to do:

• Users can try the new calendar experience or switch back to the classic calendar using the toggle.
• No other action is needed.

What’s changing:

• Starting September 1, 2025, Loop components in Word for the web will no longer be interactive.
• Instead, users will see a read-only placeholder with a link to open the Loop component externally.
• Users of the Word desktop app will not be affected; Loop components remain fully interactive there.

What you need to do:

• Be aware that Loop components won’t be editable inside Word for the web anymore.
• To interact with Loop components users must either use the desktop Word app or click the link to open the component externally.

What’s changing:

• Microsoft is removing the Reuse Slide feature from the PowerPoint Ribbon by July 31, 2025.
• This change is intended to simplify the interface and reduce redundant functionality.
• Users will no longer see the Reuse Slide option in the Ribbon after the change is applied.
• Slide reuse will still be possible using these alternatives:
  • copy and paste slides between presentations
  • duplicate existing presentations and edit as needed

What you need to do:

• Be aware that the Reuse Slide button will no longer be available in PowerPoint.
• Use copy-paste or duplicate presentation methods to continue reusing content.