Microsoft Teams launched worldwide on March 14, 2017. In 2023 we celebrated its sixth birthday with a little poem. Today, Teams is the place for chat, meetings, calling and collaboration in many organizations. Here's a short look back at how Teams changed.
Key moments
- 2016: Microsoft announces Teams as a chat platform in Office 365.
- March 2017: Teams becomes generally available.
- 2020: during the pandemic Teams grows enormously. Features such as custom backgrounds, Together mode and breakout rooms arrive.
- 2021–2023: Teams gets Loop components, Teams Premium and a free version for personal use, among other things.
- 2023–2024: the new Teams arrives, faster and lighter. Copilot comes to meetings and chats.
- 2025: classic Teams is retired and Skype shuts down; Skype users can move to the free Teams.
Exact dates sometimes differ by region and license.
Teams today
Teams is no longer just a chat app. You meet, call, share files through SharePoint and OneDrive, collaborate in Loop and let Copilot summarize meetings (with a Copilot license). Also see video calls with Microsoft Teams and Skype is retired: switch to Teams.
Read also
Video calls with Microsoft Teams: how it works
Skype has been retired: switch to Microsoft Teams (free)
Together mode in Microsoft Teams: one shared virtual space
Nederlandstalige versie: Gelukkige verjaardag, Microsoft Teams: een korte geschiedenis