MC1168293 Plan for changeUpdated messageFeature updateAdmin impact

Teams Search now respects hidden user attributes without requiring "Scope Search"

From Microsoft 365 Message Center Archive by Merill Fernando · Microsoft may not have sent this notice to your tenant.

Rollout dates are often only in the text. When Microsoft moves them, the change shows under "What changed".

What the notice says

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Updated October 20, 2025: We have updated the content below. Thank you for your patience.

Introduction

To improve consistency across Microsoft 365 services and reduce reliance on Scope Search, Microsoft Teams will now respect hidden user attributes—such as ShowInAddressList and HiddenFromAddressListsEnabled—without requiring Scope Search. This change aligns Teams behavior with Outlook and Exchange, simplifying user visibility management and resolving issues caused by Scope Search, such as difficulty locating Call Queues and Auto Attendants.

When this will happen

Rollout begins early October 2025 and is expected to complete by late October 2025.

How this affects your organization

Who is affected: Admins managing Microsoft Teams user visibility, especially those who previously used Scope Search to hide users.
What will happen:
- Teams will respect hidden user attributes (e.g., ShowInAddressList, HiddenFromAddressListsEnabled, msExchangeHiddenFromAddressList) without requiring Scope Search.
- Guest users with ShowInAddressList set to False will no longer appear in People Search.
- Scope Search is no longer needed to hide users.
- If Scope Search is used for Information Barriers (IB), it should remain enabled.
- This change aligns Teams behavior with Outlook and Exchange.

What you can do to prepare

Review your current use of Scope Search. If used solely to hide users, disable it.
Ensure hidden user attributes are correctly configured:
- Online: HiddenFromAddressListsEnabled
- On-premises: msExchangeHiddenFromAddressList
- Guest users: Set ShowInAddressList to True if they should appear in search results.
Communicate this change to helpdesk and support teams.
Update internal documentation to reflect the new behavior.
For more details, refer to Microsoft Teams admin documentation.
To verify your user configuration, run the Microsoft Teams Internal User Search Diagnostic.

Compliance considerations

Compliance Area	Explanation
Alters how existing customer data is processed	Teams will now use hidden user attributes to determine visibility, changing how user data is surfaced in search.
Includes an admin control	Admins can manage visibility using hidden attributes (as mentioned above).
Allows user visibility to be controlled indirectly	Guest users and others can be hidden or shown based on attribute configuration.

What changed

Between archive captures, newest first

20 Oct 2025
- Tags ~~Feature update, Admin impact~~ → Updated message, Feature update, Admin impact
Updated October 20, 2025: We have updated the content below. Thank you for your patience. Introduction To improve consistency across Microsoft 365 services and reduce reliance on … the new behavior. For more details, refer to Microsoft Teams admin documentation. To verify your user configuration, run the Microsoft Teams Internal User Search Diagnostic. Compliance considerations: Compliance Area Explanation Alters how existing customer data is processed …
8 Oct 2025 · first version seen

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