Microsoft Teams: Usability and privacy improvements for live captions and transcripts in meetings

Microsoft Teams is enhancing usability and privacy for live captions and transcripts. Improvements include scrollable captions, disabling text copying by default, and preventing the auto-opening of the Live transcript panel. These updates aim to reduce distractions, support compliance, and improve user control. Rollout starts in July 2025. No admin action is required. We’ve made several usability improvements to enhance live captions and live transcripts in Microsoft Teams — making meetings more intuitive, less distracting, and more privacy-conscious. First, live captions will be scrollable, allowing users to review the meeting conversation without interrupting the live view. To help protect sensitive content and support compliance with data handling policies, copying text from live captions is now disabled by default. This ensures captions remain a real-time experience, reducing the risk of content being copied and shared out of context. Second, the Live transcript panel will no longer open automatically for the user who starts recording, which also triggers transcription in the background. Before this rollout, this panel only auto-opens for the person who initiates recording or transcription — not for other participants — but this can be distracting and isn’t always relevant to the user’s intent. After this rollout, the Live transcript panel will remain closed unless manually opened or the user explicitly starts transcription. This gives users more control over their meeting layout and helps avoid unnecessary screen changes during important discussions. Third, when transcription is enabled, users who attempt to open the Live transcript panel will now see a banner suggesting they switch to live captions instead. This helps guide users to the most appropriate feature for following the conversation in real time, improving comprehension and reducing confusion. This message applies to Teams for Windows desktop, Teams for Mac desktop, and Teams for the web. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 495454. When this will happen: Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out early July 2025 and expect to complete by mid-July 2025. General Availability (Worldwide, GCC): We will begin rolling out mid-July 2025 and expect to complete by late July 2025. General Availability (GCC High): We will […]

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