Microsoft has officially announced the retirement of the Together mode feature in Microsoft Teams, effective June 30, 2026.
Confirmed by Microsoft Product Manager Katarina Tranker via the Microsoft 365 Insider Blog, the move signals a strategic push toward streamlined meeting layouts designed to enhance performance, usability, and cross-platform consistency.
Together mode, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed meeting participants to appear together in a shared virtual environment such as an auditorium or classroom.
Teams Together Mode Retired
While popular for virtual engagement, Microsoft now considers its core function superseded by the enhanced Gallery view.
The following changes will take effect with the retirement:
- Together mode toggle removed from the meeting “View” menu
- All standard and custom scenes, including seat assignments, have been discontinued
- Branding use cases through Together mode were eliminated
- Branded backgrounds and visual effects are designated as official alternatives
Microsoft cited growing fragmentation across Teams platforms, desktop, mobile, web, and Teams Rooms as a primary driver. Maintaining multiple layout options, including Gallery, Large Gallery, Together mode, and dynamic views, introduced unnecessary complexity for both end users and developers.
Key motivations behind the decision include:
- Reducing cognitive load for users navigating meeting controls
- Eliminating cross-platform rendering inconsistencies
- Accelerating core meeting feature development
- Improving overall application performance and scalability
The updated Gallery view now supports up to 49 simultaneous participants. It dynamically adjusts video tiles based on real-time device performance and network conditions, effectively replacing Together mode’s core value proposition.
Although Together mode is not a security feature, its removal carries indirect security benefits. Simplifying the Teams rendering architecture reduces the potential attack surface associated with complex UI pipelines and custom scene-processing areas, which can introduce unexpected vulnerabilities in enterprise collaboration software.
From a technical standpoint, retiring Together mode reduces rendering complexity and backend processing overhead, delivering tangible improvements in:
- Video stability and frame rates
- Bandwidth efficiency on low-performance or constrained network devices
- Consistent rendering behavior across all supported platforms
Microsoft also plans to reinvest freed resources into advanced video enhancements including super-resolution, noise suppression, and improved color accuracy features that directly support secure and reliable enterprise communications.
To maintain meeting engagement without Together mode, Microsoft recommends the following Gallery view capabilities:
- Pin participants to keep key speakers persistently visible
- Spotlight presenters to direct audience focus
- Deploy branded backgrounds via the Teams Admin Center
- Utilize dual-screen setups for enhanced collaboration workflows
Enterprise administrators can manage and push branded background policies through the Teams Admin Center to maintain visual consistency across the organization.
The feature retirement begins June 30, 2026, following Microsoft’s standard phased deployment strategy. Organizations enrolled in Targeted Release or Public Preview channels may encounter the changes earlier.
IT administrators are strongly advised to:
- Monitor the Microsoft 365 Message Center for platform-specific timelines
- Proactively communicate the transition to end users
- Update internal meeting guidelines to reflect the new Gallery-first layout approach
The consolidation reflects Microsoft’s broader effort to deliver a more predictable, optimized, and security-conscious collaboration experience across enterprise environments.
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