Summary
- Microsoft Teams is adding a highly requested multitasking feature.
- This feature will make it easier to keep multiple conversations visible and improve workflow.
- Microsoft also plans to add pop-out windows for meetings next month.
One of the biggest wins for Microsoft Teams is that it’s easy to use, but you still need to know some of the important tricks for flawless communication. However, since Microsoft keeps updating Teams with new features and improvements, you also need to keep learning about those to get the best experience. And the best part is that Microsoft is quite open about telling the world what Teams features it’s currently working on and when to expect them.
Microsoft has once again updated its Microsoft 365 Roadmap page with mentions of a bunch of new features for Teams and other Microsoft 365 apps and services. The most exciting of them, especially if you’re a Teams user, is perhaps a new multitasking feature that keeps multiple conversations visible at the same time.
You’re already familiar with Microsoft’s new multitasking feature
The new Teams feature Microsoft is currently working on isn’t anything groundbreaking. In fact, it already exists in Teams but has a different purpose. Currently, you can pop out Teams chats using the Open chats in new window option to work on several things at once. However, this doesn’t work if you want to open Teams channels in a separate window. Now, the good news is that Microsoft is finally getting rid of this limitation.
On the Microsoft Feedback portal, users have long been asking the software giant to add the ability to open Teams chats and channels in a separate window. Microsoft partially acted on it by adding the pop-out window only for chats and not extending it to channels. And if you’re one of those who have been missing the pop-out window capability for Teams channels, the wait will soon be over.
According to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap page, Microsoft Teams will get the ability to open channels in a separate window in November this year (Feature ID: 509110). So, this means you’ll be able to keep multiple conversations visible at the same time and not need to jump back and forth inside one window.
Although Microsoft hasn’t specified this on its Roadmap page, you’re unlikely to be able to open the same channel twice, just like how Teams doesn’t allow users to open the same chat in multiple windows. What’s more likely to happen is that you’ll be able to resize and rearrange those channel windows however you want, just as is the case with chat windows.
Don’t take the release timeline for granted
The release timelines mentioned on the roadmap page are always subject to change, so don’t be surprised if Microsoft delays this feature to a later month. But if everything goes as planned, in addition to the pop-out feature for channels, Teams will also get pop-out window capability (Feature ID: 503109) for meetings next month.
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