Microsoft Teams: Join by code requires owner approval for private teams

Introduction

To improve team governance and reduce the risk of unintended access, Microsoft Teams is updating the join by code experience for private teams. Going forward, team owners will need to approve join requests when users attempt to join a private team using a code. This change aligns the join by code experience with existing join by link behavior for private teams.

When this will happen

• Targeted Release: Rolling out in mid-November 2025 and expected to complete by late November 2025.
• General Availability (Worldwide): Rolling out in early December 2025 and expected to complete by mid-December 2025.

How this affects your organization

Who is affected: - All Microsoft Teams users in private teams using the join by code feature.

What will happen

• Team owners can continue to generate join codes under Team settings > Team code.
• Users can enter a join code via the New items menu in the Chat or Channels app.
• For private teams, users will no longer be added immediately upon entering a join code.
• Instead, team owners will receive a join request they can approve or reject.
• This change does not affect public teams—users can still join public teams automatically using a code.

What you can do to prepare

• Inform team owners, especially in environments where join by code is commonly used (such as schools or universities).
• Encourage team owners to monitor and manage join requests for private teams.
• Update internal documentation or training materials to reflect this change.
• No admin action is required to enable this feature.

Compliance considerations

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.