Microsoft is retiring Together Mode in Microsoft Teams, effective June 30, 2026, as part of a broader effort to streamline the meeting experience. The feature, which arranged participants in a shared virtual space to simulate in-person interaction, will be removed along with its customizable scenes and seat assignments. The company says the decision is driven by a need to reduce complexity and improve core video performance across devices.

Instead, Microsoft is doubling down on its modern Gallery view, which now supports up to 49 participants on screen at once and automatically adjusts tile size based on device capability. This shift aims to reduce cognitive load, ensure consistency across desktop, mobile, and Teams Rooms, and free up engineering resources for foundational improvements like super-resolution, denoising, and color accuracy.

Organizations that used branded scenes in Together Mode can now apply custom branded backgrounds, including frosted glass styles. Microsoft argues that consolidating layout options into a single, adaptive Gallery experience will lead to faster innovation and more stable meetings—especially on modest hardware—though some users may miss the social cohesion that Together Mode provided.