This Microsoft Teams update will help you cut through all the nonsense

Microsoft Teams on an iPhone
(Image credit: Shutterstock - Natee Meepian)

Finding the right chats in Microsoft Teams will soon be a lot easier thanks to a new update that looks to help users focus better.

The video conferencing tool is adding new filters within the Chat app on Teams that will remove meeting chats and chats with bots, giving users a much more streamlined look at their conversations.

According to the official Microsoft 365 roadmap entry, the filter will work across group chats as well as one on one conversations, helping users stay focused on the messages that matter.

Microsoft Teams chat filters

The feature is still in development, but the roadmap has noted a launch date of March 2022, meaning it should arrive in the next few weeks, adding it will be available to all Microsoft Teams users across web and Mac devices.

Microsoft has been working hard to make Teams an integral part of workers' everyday lives, adding a wealth of new features and updates to the platform to encourage hybrid working

This includes the ability to pin messages in Microsoft Teams, much like in Slack or Telegram, allowing users to attach a specific message to the top of the channel so that it’s always visible to other participants, regardless of the number of messages that came afterwards.

The most recent Microsoft financial reports found that Teams now boasts over 270 million monthly active users (MAUs), up from the 250 million MAUs that the company reported just six months ago.

And recent data collected by software firm StarLeaf found almost all (97%) businesses say that video conferencing tools such as Zoom, Webex and Microsoft Teams are now essential to their operations. More than half (57%) of businesses surveyed said their company would not be able to operate for more than an hour without access to their communications tools, while 27% admitted they would struggle to function for even 30 minutes.

Mike Moore
Deputy Editor, TechRadar Pro

Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK's leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he's not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.

Read more
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is making it even easier to add emoji, and I can't wait to see how badly this goes
Google Chat interoperability with Teams
Google Chat wants to help you dump Microsoft Teams for good
Microsoft Teams Phone
Microsoft Teams Rooms introduces digital signage and AI features to revolutionize hybrid workspaces
Google Chat interoperability with Teams
Google Chat is making it easy for you to ditch Microsoft Teams
Teams on iPhone and Mac
Microsoft Teams has a whole new way for you to talk to (or annoy) your co-workers
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is getting one of Facebook's worst features, and I can't see why you'd ever use it
Latest in Software & Services
woman listening to computer
AWS vs Azure: choosing the right platform to maximize your company's investment
A person at a desktop computer working on spreadsheet tables.
Trello vs Jira: which project management solution is best for you?
Autonomous finance
Quickbooks vs Quicken: what are the main strengths and weaknesses for your business
finance
Quickbooks vs Xero: which is the best for your business?
Group of people meeting
Zoom vs Google Meet: which is the best video conferencing tool for your business?
Fingers typing on a computer keyboard.
Microsoft 365 Personal vs Microsoft 365 Family: are there any real differences?
Latest in News
iPhone 12
The iPhone 17 Air could come with a key charging benefit, new leak claims
Google HEalth AI checkup updates
Google reveals 6 ways it's using AI to improve health care, from crowdsourced advice to personalized cancer treatments
ID theft
Hackers claim Orange attack, threaten to leak 1TB of data
Google Pixel 9 front and back
Leaked Google Pixel 9a promo materials reveal almost everything – and a launch could be just hours away
Volvo Gaussian Splatting
Volvo is using AI-generated worlds to make its cars safer and it’s all thanks to something called Gaussian splatting
Image of Asus ROG Ally running Bazzite/SteamOS
This SteamOS update promises a new future for non-Steam Deck handheld PCs – and I can’t wait