[What and Why]
To improve team governance and reduce unintended access to private teams, Microsoft Teams is updating the join by code experience for private teams. With this change, join requests submitted using a code will require approval from a team owner before the user is added. This aligns the experience with join by link behavior and strengthens access control for private teams.
[Rollout Schedule]
General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): Rollout begins in late August 2026 and completes by late September 2026.
[Impact on Your Organization]
Who is affected
- All Microsoft Teams users joining private teams using the join by code feature
Platforms/Services
- Microsoft Teams on desktop, web, and mobile
What will happen
- Users can continue to generate join codes from Team settings > Team code.
- Users can enter a join code from the New items menu in Chat or Channels.
- For private teams, users will no longer be automatically added when entering a code.
- Team owners will receive a join request and must approve or reject it before the user is added.
- Public teams are not affected, and users can still join immediately using a code.
- This feature will be enabled by default.
[Action Required/Recommendations]
No admin action is required to enable this feature.
Recommended actions to support awareness and adoption:
- Inform team owners about the new approval step.
- Encourage owners to monitor and manage incoming join requests.
- Update internal documentation or training materials if join by code is referenced, especially in environments where it is commonly used.
[Compliance considerations]
No compliance considerations identified because this change does not affect data storage, processing, or access controls. Review as appropriate for your organization.