Microsoft officially retires Together Mode from Teams

Microsoft has announced that from June 30 the company will retire the Together Mode in Microsoft Teams. Moving forward, the company is working around a more unified and streamlined meeting experience centered on the standard Gallery view.  

The company announced the update through a Microsoft 365 Insider blog post. The company said the decision is aimed at simplifying the meeting interface, reducing backend complexity, and allowing engineering teams to focus on enhancements that improve every Teams meeting, including video quality, stability, and overall performance. Microsoft added that the modern Gallery view can now fulfill the original purpose of Together Mode by displaying up to 49 participants simultaneously during meetings.

What’s changing

As this update rolls out:

·         The Together mode toggle will be removed from the meeting View menu.

·         Scenes and custom scenes, including seat assignments, will be retired along with Together mode.

·         Organizations that used scenes for brand presence can instead use organization‑provided branded backgrounds, including frosted glass options.

Meanwhile, the modern Gallery will automatically scale the number and size of participant video tiles based on device capability, helping sustain smooth frame rates and consistent meeting quality across a wide range of environments.

Expected benefits include:

·         Fewer clicks, less hunting: A single Gallery view that “just works,” with built‑in tools like pin and spotlight to keep presenters and key participants visible.

·         Smoother video on modest devices: Adaptive video tile counts help prevent machine overload and reduce choppiness.

·         Faster innovation: Consolidating on one layout pipeline helps us deliver quality improvements more quickly to all Teams users.

Why Microsoft is making this change

According to Microsoft, Teams has gradually rolled out multiple meeting layouts over time, including Gallery, Large Gallery, Together Mode, and dynamic views. While choice can be helpful, having too many layout options can also:

·         Increase cognitive load for users

·         Fragment the meeting experience across desktop, web, mobile, and Teams Rooms

·         Add implementation complexity across platforms

·         By consolidating on a single, adaptable Gallery experience, Microsoft aims to:

·         Simplify the meeting interface and deliver a more consistent experience across devices.

·         Deliver higher and more stable video quality across meetings by focusing on client-optimized rendering.

·         Free up service capacity that can be reinvested into foundational video improvements that you have asked us to prioritize such as super‑resolution, denoising, and improved color accuracy.