Microsoft is retiring Teams' Together Mode, a feature that once defined the pandemic-era virtual meeting experience. The feature, which used artificial intelligence to remove participants' backgrounds and place them in a shared virtual space—such as a conference room, auditorium, or coffee shop—is being phased out as the company pivots toward a more streamlined and performance-oriented platform.
Together Mode was introduced in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when millions of workers suddenly found themselves collaborating from home. It aimed to reduce the visual chaos of traditional grid-based video calls by creating a unified scene where each person appeared as a cutout sitting at a table or standing on a stage. The feature also included playful interactions like virtual high-fives and shoulder taps, which were meant to foster a sense of presence and camaraderie. However, as the pandemic receded and hybrid work became the norm, the novelty of these gimmicks wore off. Many users found the AI segmentation unreliable or resource-intensive, and the feature was rarely used in day-to-day business meetings.
Why Microsoft Is Retiring Together Mode
According to Microsoft, the decision is driven by a desire to reduce fragmentation across platforms and simplify the user interface. The company has long struggled with a cluttered Teams experience that offers too many options and modes, leading to confusion among users. By removing Together Mode, Microsoft hopes to create a cleaner, more intuitive interface that requires fewer clicks and less cognitive load. This streamlining will also allow the engineering team to concentrate on improving core aspects of the service: video quality, stability, and overall performance. In internal communications, Microsoft noted that the feature's AI overhead could degrade performance on lower-end devices, and that maintaining compatibility across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and web clients was increasingly difficult.
The retirement will be rolled out gradually. Users will first notice that the Together Mode toggle disappears from the view menu. Along with it, scene-specific settings and seat assignments—which allowed meeting organizers to manually place participants in different seats within a virtual room—will also be removed. Microsoft has not provided a precise timeline for the full deprecation, but the change is expected to complete by the end of 2026. Existing meeting recordings that used Together Mode will remain accessible, but the feature itself will no longer be available for new meetings.
Historical Context: The Rise and Fall of Novelty Features
Together Mode was part of a broader wave of creative meeting features launched during the early pandemic. Zoom popularized virtual backgrounds; Google Meet introduced blurred backgrounds and low-light adjustments; Microsoft Teams offered custom backgrounds, together mode, and even a 'presenter mode' that let presenters appear on top of slides. These features were welcomed by a workforce desperate for human connection and visual relief from messy home environments. But as remote work matured, users began to prioritise reliability and speed over aesthetics. Many organizations standardized on a single platform and expected it to 'just work' without draining battery life or bandwidth.
The decline of Together Mode also reflects a shift in Microsoft's overall strategy. Under CEO Satya Nadella, the company has increasingly focused on integrating artificial intelligence into its products—not for visual gimmicks, but for productivity enhancements. Recent updates to Teams include AI-powered meeting recaps, Copilot integration for summarizing chats, and intelligent noise suppression. These features promise tangible time savings, whereas Together Mode was seen as a distraction that added little business value. Microsoft's internal data likely showed that the feature had low engagement and high maintenance costs, making its retirement an obvious cost-saving move.
Impact on Users and Workflows
For the small subset of users who relied on Together Mode, the change will require adjustment. Some education and training organizations used virtual scenes to create immersive learning environments. Internal team meetings that enjoyed the 'together' illusion will need to revert to standard gallery or large gallery views. However, for the vast majority of users, the removal will go unnoticed. The feature was never enabled by default, and most people manually switched to it only occasionally. Microsoft has assured users that other meeting layout options—such as Focus, Together, and Full Screen—will remain, and that the overall video calling experience will become more consistent across devices.
The retirement also simplifies development for third-party integrations. Partners who built custom Together Mode scenes or seat-assignment tools will need to adapt their solutions. Microsoft is encouraging them to move toward alternative immersive experiences using the Teams platform's extensibility, such as custom applications that overlay 3D content or interactive elements without relying on the deprecated mode.
Broader Trends in Video Conferencing
Microsoft's decision is part of a wider industry trend away from flashy features toward foundational improvements. Zoom, for instance, has dialed back its 'immersive scenes' and now focuses on augmented reality features for specific use cases like training and events. Google Meet has simplified its background options and invested in real-time captioning and translation. As video meetings become a permanent fixture of work, companies are realizing that stability, low latency, and high-quality audio and video are far more important than visual novelties.
The end of Together Mode also signals that the 'virtual presence' experiment of the pandemic era has evolved. Workers have grown accustomed to seeing each other in simple grid layouts, and the illusion of being in the same room is no longer necessary for effective collaboration. Microsoft's focus on performance will likely result in sharper feeds, faster load times, and better performance on older hardware—concrete improvements that benefit every user, every day.
In summary, while Together Mode will be missed by some as a symbol of a bygone era of remote work, its retirement represents a pragmatic step forward for Microsoft Teams. The company is doubling down on what matters most: a reliable, fast, and easy-to-use communication tool that helps people get work done without unnecessary distractions. The feature will disappear slowly, but the lessons from its brief life will shape the future of virtual collaboration.
Source: The Verge News