Microsoft cuts Together mode to improve Teams performance

2026-05-18 · Source: Dataconomy · Field: Technology & Digital — Software Development & Engineering, Cloud Computing & IT Infrastructure · Depth: Novice, quick

Summary

Microsoft is removing the "Together" feature from its Teams application, a mode introduced in 2020 to simulate in-person collaboration during the pandemic. This change aims to simplify the user experience and improve video quality, particularly as more employees return to physical offices. The company is directing users towards the existing Gallery mode, which offers adaptive video tile counts to ensure smoother performance on mobile devices and less powerful hardware. Microsoft cited "Together" mode's contribution to cognitive load and cross-platform complexity, often resulting in choppy video, as key reasons for its deprecation. This shift is expected to enable foundational video enhancements like super-resolution, denoising, and better color accuracy.

Key takeaway

For IT professionals managing Microsoft Teams deployments, this change simplifies the meeting experience and promises improved video performance. You should communicate this feature removal to users, emphasizing the benefits of the streamlined Gallery mode and the upcoming video quality enhancements. This update may also reduce support tickets related to performance issues on less powerful devices.

Key insights

Simplifying collaboration tools can reduce cognitive load and improve performance across diverse hardware.

Principles

• Prioritize core functionality over niche features.
• Adaptive interfaces enhance cross-platform performance.

In practice

• Evaluate feature complexity vs. user benefit.
• Optimize video for modest device capabilities.

Topics

• Microsoft Teams
• Together mode
• Gallery mode
• Video Conferencing
• Performance Optimization

Best for: IT Professional, Product Manager, Software Engineer

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Dataconomy.