Microsoft is killing Teams' Together Mode in 2026
Microsoft is retiring Together Mode from Teams on June 30, 2026, scrapping one of its most visible pandemic-era additions. The feature, launched in 2020, used AI segmentation to place all meeting participants into a single virtual space — a library, auditorium, or café — so they appeared to sit side by side. Its removal is a quiet acknowledgment that Teams has a performance problem it can no longer paper over with novelty.
The case against Together Mode
Microsoft's official explanation points to three issues: system load, platform complexity, and device strain. The AI segmentation required to cut each participant out of their background and composite them into a shared scene is expensive — on mobile and on older laptops, it translated directly into choppy video and unstable calls. Running a feature that consistently degraded the experience for a chunk of your user base is hard to justify when the core product draws criticism for being resource-heavy.
User reviews on Capterra and G2 have flagged Teams' sluggishness for years. Together Mode's AI pipeline was a meaningful contributor to that load.
What replaces it
Gallery Mode takes over. It adapts the number of video tiles shown on screen based on what the device can handle — fewer tiles on a constrained machine, more on a powerful one. The goal is smoother, more consistent video across the board.
Microsoft says the freed-up engineering effort will go toward video quality fundamentals: resolution upscaling, noise suppression, and more accurate color rendering. Those are less flashy than a shared virtual café, but they matter more in day-to-day calls.
The bigger picture
Teams dominates enterprise video in the US and UK largely through Microsoft 365 lock-in. But Zoom remains the go-to for external meetings, and its simpler interface continues to attract users who find Teams overwhelming. Cutting Together Mode trims one more layer of complexity — it's a step toward a leaner product, even if it arrives five years after the complaints started.
If your organization uses Together Mode regularly, you have until the end of June 2026 to adjust workflows. After that date, the option disappears entirely.
