Table of Contents
Changes and updates made to Microsoft 365 for IT Pros (2027 edition)
This log describes the changes made to the four eBooks which make up Microsoft 365 for IT Pros since its original release. The document is up to date as of the version released on October 1, 2026 (monthly update #136). We release an updated version monthly, usually on the first of the month. Read our FAQ for information about how to download the EPUB and PDF files for an update.
Individual Chapter Changes for Microsoft 365 for IT Pros, 2026 ed.
| Chapter | Change |
| 1 (Overview) | August 2026 (134): data sovereignty and region updates; miscellaneous style and grammar fixes. September 2026 (135): minor style and grammar fixes; new reports.core.microsoft domain. October 2026 (136): MyAccount page updates; new “AI at Work” roadmap; coverage of Modern Change Management; new G7 SKU for government users; small grammar and style updates; SpaceXAI and Mistral as Copilot subprocessors. |
| 2 (Managing Identities) | August 2026 (134): Entra Backup and Recovery is generally available; added a note about SSPR requiring explicit enrollment of phone numbers; updated MFA section to reflect impending retirement of SMS and voice-call MFA and migration to passkeys. September 2026 (135): Added note about Entra admin center flagging under-licensing; added link to tenant architecture documentation and info on when you might need more than one Entra tenant; updated Entra Cloud Sync section to reflect Exchange Hybrid Writeback leaving preview. October 2026 (136): Information about Entra Workload ID Premium and conditional access evaluation (CAE) for app registrations; added note about CAE limitations for traditional users; additional information about SMS/voice call MFA retirement; updates to SSPR section. |
| 3 (Tenant management) | August 2026 (134): M365 Backup support for variable retention durations; M365 management agent for Copilot. September 2026 (135): broadened Admin agent coverage; self-service Copilot connectors; style and grammar fixes. October 2026 (136): change to Viva admin permissions model; new unified page for integrated app management; AI-hardening Secure Score recommendations |
| 4 (User Management | August 2026 (134): updated section on managing meetings for departed users; style and grammar fixes. September 2026 (135): upcoming removal of memberOf for Entra dynamic groups. October 2026 (136): minor style and date updates. |
| 5 (Exchange Online) | August 2026 (134): Correction on data lifecycle management retention for archives. Updated timeline for legacy TLS retirement for POP & IMAP. Added heads-up on Teams mobile user agent string change when using application access policies. Added Changing Meeting Organizer. Added LDAP directories for S/MIME. September 2026 (135): Updated section on EWS retirement with cross-tenant relationship note, updated frontline/kiosk block timeline, and added table to clarify configuration vs timetable, removed ActiveSync TLS 1.3 and CBA section, removed ActiveSync 16.1 section, updated timelines in POP3 and IMAP4 Requirement for TLS1.2+ section added section on Cross-Tenant Access Policy. October 2026 (136): Updated EWS retirement section, Increased auto-expanding archive limit for eligible mailboxes, Added Block attachment downloading section. |
| 6 (Mail Flow) | August 2026 (134): Added ExternalInOutlook allowing user to use this tag in inbox rules. Added note on ZAP extending to include items in Deleted Items folder. September 2026 (135): Updated External Rate Limits section, added note on localized notification after user-reported message, updated Monitoring Mail Flow Rule Usage section, updated Permissions section (now Unified RBAC). October 2026 (136): ACS retirement announcement |
| 7 (SharePoint Online) | August 2026 (134): Updated the Legacy Services and Settings table to reflect that InfoPath Forms Services was fully retired on July 14, 2026. New SharePoint pages and news posts can be created with Copilot in SharePoint from the new “Let’s create a page” prompt box available in the Template gallery page. Button Web Part can be configured in SharePoint pages to launch a predefined Copilot in SharePoint prompt. SharePoint Copilot Apps (public preview) allow SharePoint Developers to build SPFx interactive experiences for the Microsoft 365 Copilot chat canvas. September 2026 (135): The retirement of SharePoint Online OTP has been rescheduled to begin on October 1 and is expected to complete by October 31. SharePoint Embedded apps can be centrally managed and created from the SharePoint admin center. RAC policies are enforced not only at the content access level but also at the content discovery level in Microsoft Search, SharePoint Search, or Microsoft 365 Apps that rely on search to surface content. New Sites and files shared via special SharePoint groups report provides item-level visibility into permissions granted via “Everyone” and “Everyone except external users” groups. RCD gets improved to reduce the risk of inadvertent oversharing while ensuring that Copilot’s AI capabilities respect the access controls and guardrails established for content stored in those locations. Users can view and manage existing library views or create new ones directly from OneDrive. New OneDrive Sync Client for macOS is now rolling out to tenants. October 2026 (136): Upcoming deprecation of Classic publishing sites, classic user-created pages and custom scripting. Microsoft has introduced a pay-as-you-go model for extra storage consumption (currently in preview). Admins can create custom sites groups by defining categories and groups in CSV, using site properties or using Microsoft Entra ID extension attributes. The new Libraries view in OneDrive for Business simplifies access to document libraries by organizing them based on recent activity, team memberships, and favorite sites that users have access to. New OneDrive policies for user-managed file sync exclusions. |
| 8 (Tasks) | August 2026 (134): Minor style + grammar fixes; update for Purview DLM support. September 2026 (135): new side-pane task view; support for custom templates; tabs in shared/private channels; small style and grammar fixes. October 2026 (136): EOL for Project Essentials SKU; Capacity view for Premium plans; Planner usage reports in M365 admin center. |
| 9 (Video) | August 2026 (134): Minor style and grammar fixes. September 2026 (135): sensitivity label support for stored videos. October 2026 (136): minor updates to language around recording capture. |
| 10 (Groups) | August 2026 (134): Exchange Online checks during the creation of dynamic distribution groups to make sure that the new group is unique. September 2026 (135): Microsoft will retire the memberOf rule operator for dynamic groups in November 2026. October 2026 (136): Rewrote section about group-based role assignments. |
| 11 (Teams) | August 2026 (134): Reporting suspicious external users, Recap sharing improvements. Option to disable recording expiration notifications. Express voice enrollment for voice profiles. One-time passcodes for external presenters in large-scale events. Added option for audio only recording. New External bot detection in meetings. Automatic large event optimization. September 2026 (135): Invoking app functionality through slash commands, External access restrictions for chat participants, Multilingual enhancements for meeting recaps, updated limits for breakout rooms, production control access for federated and guest users, Secure reliable transport support, distinct voices for interpreted content, event delegation improvements. October 2026 (136): Updated reported security submissions, Added external messaging rate limits, Updated Office 365 connectors due to deprecation, Added text for Meeting Recap app, Expanded live captions content, Updated Whiteboards coverage with retirement details, Breakout rooms updated limits, Updated content on recording and transcription notifications, added updates for town halls, and grammar, punctuation, and letter case consistency improvements throughout. |
| 12 (Managing Teams) | August 2026 (134): Updates image for User pinning. Expanded Upload custom apps section. Updates around user requesting apps. Updated Teams Toolkit terminology. Fixed truncated sentences. Grammar fixes. September 2026 (135): Added information around Teams Reader role. Updated Meeting policy with Allow numeric-only meeting codes. Add information around accessing meeting transcripts. Expanded information on User requests for apps. Minor grammatical revisions. October 2026 (136): Some grammatical updates. Added information about the Teams admin app being retired. Added information about MeetingParticipantDetail being sent for meetings hosted in a different organization. Removed a reference to permission properties. Added a section for governing built-in agents |
| 13 (Managing Calling and Devices) | August 2026 (134): Updated LBR OS information and Auto Attendant visualizer. Updates for clarity & flow. September 2026 (135): Re-written Voice Apps section to reflect new UI. Updates for call delegation, Express Enrollment for voice detection, and ongoing Pro Management Portal management migration. October 2026 (136): Device Notifications and Alerts re-written for Pro Management Portal health signals, incidents, and webhook integration. Corrections to CQD data retention and roles, and to call delegation. |
| 14 (Clients) | August 2026 (134): update on removal of Intune support for OCPS policy editing; SAEC date updates. September 2026 (135): formatting and grammar fixes. October 2026 (136): end of standalone Whiteboard app; macOS/iOS 27 support; deprecation of M365 Companion apps for Win11; EOL of Office 2021 LTSC. |
| 15 (Managing Devices) | August 2026 (134): update on Graph support for multi-admin approval; upcoming macOS/iOS version deprecation. September 2026 (135): new single-page view for device details October 2026 (136); new section on basic device hardening. |
| 16 (Managing AI and Agents) | August 2026 (134): additional coverage of Scout; SMB tenant self-service Copilot trials default to on; OpenAI models are now subprocessors; style and grammar fixes; new reporting and control features; AI-generation watermarking. September 2026 (135): cross-tenant support for Agent 365; self-service Copilot connectors. October 2026 (136): updated Copilot Chat plan naming; Agent 365 managers’ dashboard; Agent 365 registry updates; control over advanced-package uploads; additional Work IQ MCP coverage; Copilot tuning; Agent 365 Graph support. |
| Appendix | August 2026 (134): Added SLA data for Q2 CY2026. |
| Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell | |
| 1 Introduction | September 2026: Updated section about GitHub Copilot. |
| 2 Base workloads | September 2026: Added section covering Exchange Online app-only authentication. |
| 3 Microsoft Graph | August 2026: Rewrite section covering JSON batching, including parallel processing for batches. September 2026: Updates to section about sending email with the Graph. October 2026: Added section about encoding URIs for Graph queries. |
| 4 Graph PowerShell SDK | September 2026: WAM might become compulsory for delegated interactive sessions created using the Microsoft Graph Command Line Tools app. October 2026: Rewrote section about using separate apps to run delegated interactive Graph sessions. V3 of the Graph SDK will not support Windows PowerShell. |
| 5 Managing Entra ID | August 2026: Added more details about managing devices and managed devices. Improved filter for finding mailboxes to process based on Entra ID accounts. September 2026: Added section about disabling nesting for security groups. Added section about disabling access for user accounts. October 2026: Added recommendation to use Get-MgTeam rather than a filtered lookup against Get-MgGroup in some circumstances. |
| 6 Managing workloads | August 2026: Clarification for use of Get-MgUserCalendarEvent. Rewrote section about access to Teams online meeting data. September 2026: Rewrote section about how to access files in SharePoint Online. October 2026: Updated section about archiving SharePoint files. |
| 7 Management APIs | September 2026: Added warning about HTTP timeout when fetching audit records. October 2026: Added example showing how to find CAE sign-in events for Entra ID. |
| 8 Azure Automation | September 2026: Some minor clarifications. |
| Managing Microsoft Purview for IT Pros | |
| 1 Introduction | September 2026: Purview role group assignments now support time-limited assignments from 1 day to 2 years. Users with the Global Reader or Security Reader roles now have view-only access to role group information in the Purview portal. |
| 2 Data Lifecycle | September 2026: Retention policies and labels can move files to Microsoft 365 Archive. October 2026: Note that the KeyQL syntax accepted by the Purview portal for retention auto-label policies has tightened. |
| 3 eDiscovery | |
| 4 DLP | August 2026: Updated text for move to quarantine DLP rule action. Added text about the DLP rule to block access to SPO and OD files for specific domains. Added text about the DLP rule to block Copilot from using external email. Added text about the change made for regular expressions in sensitive information types. September 2026: A new DLP setting controls the aggregation window for alerts when a user causes multiple rule violations over a period. New Document scan failures condition is available for rules that handle scanning of attachments for Exchange Online email. October 2026: Added note about the differences in how policy tips appear after DLP rule violations are detected by Exchange Online and SharePoint Online. Copilot Cowork is now protected by Copilot DLP policies. |
| 5 Information Protection | September 2026: Protected PDFs accessed using the OneDrive PDF viewer will only allow screen capture if the signed-in user has the Extract right for the content. Rewrote section about applying sensitivity labels to non-Office files. The limit for auto-labeling policies increases to 500,000 items daily from October 2026. October 2026: Sensitivity label inheritance from attachments extended to Outlook for Android, iOS, and MacOS. |
| 6 Communication Compliance | |
| 7 Auditing and Reporting | |
| Power Platform for IT Pros | |
| 1 Fundamentals | September 2026: Updated environment trial and developer lifecycle guidance. Clarified connector authentication and connection references. Corrected Power Platform administration and auditing guidance. Miscellaneous style and grammar fixes. |
| 2 Securing and Governing | September 2026: Updated native governance and Power Platform admin center guidance. Revised Managed Environments alert behavior. Clarified environment creation roles and default-environment migration. Expanded DLP, advanced connector policy, and auditing guidance. October 2026: Fixed figure captions. |
| 3 Power Apps | September 2026: Updated supported data sources and delegation limits. Revised Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat availability and licensing in model-driven apps. Clarified SharePoint-integrated forms, guest access, app migration, and preview guidance. Style and grammar fixes. October 2026: Clarified Power Apps licensing and environment governance guidance. Updated model-driven app, Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, SharePoint-integrated forms, guest access, app migration, and Power Apps security guidance. Refined delegation, preview feature, and application lifecycle management recommendations. |
| 4 Power Automate | September 2026: Updated Power Automate licensing terminology and AI Builder transition to Copilot Credits. Revised modern designer, run history, service principal ownership, and guest access guidance. Added Power Automate mobile app retirement details. Style and grammar fixes. October 2026: Clarified Power Automate licensing and service principal ownership guidance. Updated guest access, run history retention, environment strategy, and lifecycle governance recommendations. |
| 5 Copilot Studio | September 2026: Added comprehensive coverage of Copilot Studio harnesses, authoring experiences, and selection guidance. Expanded Entra Agent ID, model governance, Work IQ, MCP, multi-agent orchestration, analytics, licensing, and Copilot Credit cost governance. Updated publishing, identity, and autonomous-agent guidance. October 2026: Updated identity and Entra Agent ID guidance. Revised licensing and Copilot Credit coverage. Expanded supported knowledge source formats. Updated model selection, model governance, search, grounding, tenant graph, and Work IQ content. Clarified tool authentication and retrieval behavior. |
| 6 Power Pages | September 2026: Expanded Power Pages enhanced data model, ALM, MCP, embedded agent, and Agent API guidance. Updated security scan, WAF, managed rules, and Security Agent coverage. Added Web API wildcard retirement guidance and clarified licensing and capacity behavior. October 2026: Expanded Power Pages security and governance guidance, including Web API security, WAF configuration, Security Agent capabilities, CSP best practices, and site extensibility guidance. Updated identity, CORS, and geo-blocking recommendations. |
| 7 Power BI | September 2026: Updated Power BI and Fabric licensing, capacity, Copilot controls, source control, and deployment pipeline guidance. Expanded Fabric architecture, semantic model, Direct Lake, mirroring, governance, security, and administration coverage. Style and grammar fixes. October 2026: Updated Power BI licensing and capacity guidance. Clarified Fabric administrator permissions and Microsoft Fabric strategic positioning. Reworked Fabric workload governance and capacity management coverage. Minor accuracy, governance, and wording updates throughout the chapter. |