Microsoft has officially announced that it is retiring Together Mode from Microsoft Teams. Initially launched during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Together Mode used artificial intelligence to segment participants from their backgrounds and place them into a shared virtual environment, such as a conference room, auditorium, or coffee shop. The goal was to create a sense of co-presence and reduce the visual distractions of seeing everyone's home office, bedroom, or living room during long video calls.
However, as remote and hybrid work has evolved, and as user feedback has shifted, Microsoft is now focusing on simplifying the Teams experience. The company states that removing Together Mode will help reduce fragmentation across different platforms, streamline the interface with fewer toggles and options, and allow the engineering team to concentrate on improving video quality, stability, and overall performance. This means the gimmicky features like virtual high-fives and shoulder taps will also disappear.
Background: The Rise of Together Mode
When the pandemic forced millions of people to work from home abruptly, video conferencing tools became the lifeline of collaboration. Microsoft Teams saw explosive growth, jumping from 20 million daily active users in March 2020 to over 145 million by April 2021. To make meetings feel less isolating, Microsoft introduced Together Mode in July 2020. The feature used AI segmentation to cut out each person's head and shoulders and place them in a shared digital scene, such as a lecture hall or a roundtable. The idea was to mimic the feeling of being in a real room with colleagues, reducing the cognitive load from seeing multiple separate video tiles.
Together Mode was particularly popular in large all-hands meetings, webinars, and educational settings, where it gave a sense of audience presence. However, it also had its drawbacks. The AI segmentation occasionally produced artifacts, and the feature required extra processing power, which could affect performance on older devices. Moreover, as the pandemic waned and many companies adopted hybrid work models, the need for such immersive features diminished.
Why Microsoft Is Retiring the Feature
According to Microsoft's internal communications, the decision to retire Together Mode is part of a broader effort to simplify Teams and improve reliability. The company has been working on a 'streamlined Teams' experience that reduces the number of options and clicks needed to navigate meetings. Over the past year, Teams has added features like Copilot integration, enhanced chat, and improved screen sharing, but the user interface has become increasingly cluttered.
By removing Together Mode, Microsoft can eliminate the associated codebase and infrastructure, freeing up engineering resources to improve core video capabilities. This includes better noise suppression, higher resolution video, faster frame rates, and more stable connections, especially on low-bandwidth networks. The company also wants to ensure consistency across desktop, web, and mobile versions of Teams, which Together Mode complicated because of its platform-specific rendering.
What Changes for Users
The retirement is being rolled out gradually over the coming months. Users will notice two key changes: first, the Together Mode toggle will be removed from the view menu during meetings. Second, all Together-specific features, such as custom scenes (like a coffee shop or a stage) and seat assignments, will stop working. If you have a meeting where a specific seat arrangement was saved, it will be lost.
Microsoft has not provided a precise timeline, but the company typically phases out features over a 6-12 month period. Administrators can check the Microsoft 365 Roadmap for updates. There is no replacement feature planned at this time, but Microsoft encourages users to explore the existing 'Large Gallery' view (up to 49 participants) or the 'Speaker' view for better focus.
For organizations that heavily customized Together Mode for events or training, Microsoft recommends switching to other virtual event solutions like Teams Live Events or third-party platforms such as Stream (now integrated into Teams) or external webinars.
Broader Implications for Video Conferencing
The retirement of Together Mode reflects a broader trend in the video conferencing industry. During the peak of the pandemic, platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams rushed to add fun, engaging features to combat 'Zoom fatigue' and make meetings more human. Features such as virtual backgrounds, reactions, filters, and immersive environments became standard. However, as the technology matures, companies are prioritizing robustness, security, and performance over novelty.
Zoom, for instance, has toned down its 'Immersive View' and focused on AI-powered meeting summaries and transcription. Google Meet has emphasized noise cancellation and live captions. The market is shifting from 'making meetings bearable' to 'making meetings productive.' Microsoft's decision to kill Together Mode is a clear signal that the company believes core video quality and reliability are more valuable than gimmicks.
Technical Details Behind Together Mode
Together Mode relied on Azure AI services for real-time background segmentation. When a participant enabled the feature, their video stream was processed to isolate the foreground—head, shoulders, and upper body—and then that portion was superimposed onto a predefined scene. The processing happened on Microsoft's servers, which introduced latency and required constant internet connectivity. On low-quality networks, the segmentation could become choppy or inaccurate, sometimes showing parts of the background or clipping parts of the person.
The feature also required specific hardware support, including DirectX 9.0c or later on Windows, and a GPU capable of rendering real-time 3D graphics. This limited its availability on lower-end laptops and mobile devices. Users reported that Together Mode sometimes caused the Teams app to slow down or crash, especially in large meetings with many participants. These performance issues likely contributed to the decision to retire it.
Historical Context: Microsoft Teams Evolution
Microsoft Teams was launched in March 2017 as a competitor to Slack, focusing on persistent chat and file sharing. The pandemic transformed it into a video-first platform. Since then, Microsoft has added numerous features: breakout rooms (rolled out in late 2020), custom backgrounds, live reactions, speaker coach, and the recently introduced 'grid' view that allows up to 49 participants on screen simultaneously. The company has also heavily invested in AI with Microsoft Copilot for Teams, which can summarize meetings, suggest action items, and draft responses.
The retirement of Together Mode is not the first time Microsoft has removed a pandemic-era feature. In early 2023, the company removed the 'Pop-out' feature for shared content and stealthily eliminated the 'blur' background option in favor of a more permanent 'background effects' tool. The pattern suggests Microsoft is streamlining Teams to become a more reliable, business-grade communication tool, rather than a social experiment.
Reactions from the User Community
Reactions to the announcement have been mixed. Some users on social media expressed nostalgia for the early pandemic days when Together Mode was a novelty during water-cooler chats and virtual happy hours. Others, particularly IT administrators, welcome the change, noting that Together Mode was rarely used in their organizations and added unnecessary complexity to meeting settings.
Some educators had integrated Together Mode into online classrooms to mimic a traditional lecture hall. They may need to adjust their teaching methods. Microsoft has advised educators to use the 'large gallery' view or the 'attendance' report feature instead. For corporate training, Microsoft recommends using Teams for live events, which offers a more structured and less distracting environment.
Conclusion - Not Really, Just Ending Naturally
The decision to retire Together Mode underscores Microsoft's commitment to refining Teams into a leaner, more performant platform. By cutting features that do not serve the vast majority of users, the company hopes to reduce bloat and accelerate development on what matters most: clear video, crisp audio, and reliable connections. As the workforce continues to embrace hybrid models, these core capabilities will remain essential. Together Mode served its purpose during an unprecedented time, but its time has passed.
Users should expect to see the feature disappear gradually, and they are encouraged to familiarize themselves with alternative viewing options within Teams. The change is yet another step in the evolution of Microsoft Teams from an experiment in virtual co-presence into a serious business tool.
Source: The Verge News