Microsoft Teams: Retirement of off-network invitations to Teams Free

What and Why: Microsoft Teams will retire the invitation flow that allows work or school users to invite people who cannot be found in Teams to create a Teams Free account and join a chat. This change retires the off-network invitation flow (via email or sharing a link to chat) only — not federation with Teams Free. Rollout Schedule: Worldwide: We will begin rolling out in early December 2026 and expect to complete by late December 2026. Impact on Your Organization: Who is affected: Users who use the off-network email invitation flow to invite external people to create a Teams Free account and join a chat. Users who user share a link to chat flow to invite external people to create a Teams Free account and join a chat.  Platforms/Services: Microsoft Teams desktop, web and mobile apps What will happen: Users will no longer be able to send these onboarding invitations from Teams chats. People who need a Teams Free account will need to create one independently or collaborate through another supported method. Collaboration with existing Teams Free users remains available, subject to your organization's external-access policies. This change will take effect automatically. No admin action is required to enable the retirement. Action Required/Recommendations: No admin action is required for this change to take effect. However, we recommend updating user guidance and helpdesk documentation before December 6, 2026, to reflect the following alternatives: For ongoing chat: If recipients do not have a Teams account, they can create a Teams Free account independently or get invited as guests to an existing team. Once their account is discoverable, users can search for their registered email address and start a conversation. For team and channel collaboration: No change. For meetings: No change. Compliance considerations: No compliance considerations identified. Review as appropriate for your organization.