Changes to Teams for Individual use

Philip M 0 Reputation points
2026-11-12T22:34:16.8933333+00:00

Microsoft's brief description of Community usage being dropped for personal use, i.e. not corporate or non-profit, is confusing. If the "communities" is being dropped for personal Teams use, how can a meeting (EVENT) be scheduled in advance? Or, is that ability limited within CHAT to an immediate event / meeting? How will the options showing on the left hand side change - for personal use only the CHAT function would appear?

Would greatly appreciate some clarity as the current community I'm part of depends on the EVENT scheduling so we can plan meeting dates and times.

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams Free | Communities
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  1. AI answer

    2026-11-12T22:36:02.9666667+00:00

    Advance meeting scheduling will remain available in Microsoft Teams for personal use after Communities is retired; schedule meetings through Meet or Calendar, rather than through a community event.

    What is changing

    Starting December 2026, Communities in Teams for personal use will no longer be available. This applies to the community itself and community-specific features such as its channels, membership structure, and community calendar/events. It does not apply to Teams for work or school. ^1^

    A community will not automatically become a group chat, and its members or content will not automatically transfer. Microsoft recommends creating a group chat and exporting any community messages and media that need to be retained.

    How to schedule meetings in advance

    The meeting does not have to be started immediately from Chat. Teams personal continues to support future and recurring meetings independently of Communities. ^2^

    Desktop or web:

    1. Select Meet on the left.
    2. Select Schedule a Meeting.
      Alternatively, open Calendar and select New Meeting.
    3. Enter the title and add participants by name, email address, or phone number.
    4. Set the start and end times. You can also make the meeting recurring, add a location, and enter a description.
    5. Select Save.
    6. Open the meeting under Meet > Scheduled meetings to copy or share its invitation link.

    Mobile:

    1. Tap Meet at the bottom.
    2. Tap Schedule.
    3. Add the title, participants, date, and time; optionally configure recurrence, location, and description.
    4. Tap Submit.
    5. Find it later under Meet > Scheduled and use Share meeting invite or Copy meeting link.

    A practical replacement for your current arrangement is therefore:

    • Create a group chat containing the regular community members.
    • Schedule each future meeting from Meet or Calendar.
    • Add the participants directly or post the saved meeting link in the group chat.
    • Use a recurring meeting if the group follows a regular schedule.

    The Meet now control inside a chat remains the immediate-meeting option; it is not the only meeting option.

    What will happen to the left navigation

    Microsoft has documented the retirement of Communities, but has not documented the complete final post-retirement navigation layout. Therefore, it cannot yet be confirmed that only Chat will appear.

    Currently, Teams personal separates functions across tabs such as Chat, Meet, People, Communities, Calendar, and Activity on desktop. Meet and Calendar provide meeting scheduling independently of the Communities tab. ^3^

    The Communities entry and its community-event workflow can be expected to disappear as the retirement rolls out, but Microsoft’s current guidance still documents Meet and Calendar as personal-use features.

    Actions to take before retirement

    1. Create the replacement group chat manually; membership will not migrate automatically.
    2. Record or copy the members who need invitations.
    3. Recreate important future community events as ordinary scheduled meetings.
    4. Export required community messages and media before leaving or deleting the community. If someone is removed, they can no longer export that community’s data; deleting the community removes members’ access to it. ^1^

    References

    1. Communities in Microsoft Teams for personal use is going away
    2. Schedule a meeting in Microsoft Teams for personal use
    3. [Mobile](https://support.microsoft.com/teams/personal/get-started/getting-to-know-microsoft-teams-personal#communities)
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  2. EmilyS_726 34,465 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2026-11-14T02:21:30.4033333+00:00

    You brought up a very good point.

    I tried to schedule an event in community, even though I received a warning banner about the upcoming retirement, it still allows me to schedule meeting well beyond December.

    The dedicated community event feature, which allows members to organize events within a community calendar, is part of communities. Microsoft recommends replacing communities with group chats, but group chats are not a direct replacement for community calendars and event management. Microsoft has not clarified whether previous scheduled community events will remain accessible after retirement. So I would not just assume the community events will be automatically transferred to regular meetings in your calendar. I would recommend recreating them as regular Teams meetings.

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