M365 Changelog: Microsoft Teams will queue sent messages when offline

MC235369 – A new offline experience for Microsoft Teams for the web and desktop helps users be productive even without a network connection.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 64687.

When this will happen

• Phase one begins in late January and should be complete early February 2021 
• Phase two begins the end of January and should be complete mid-February 2021

How this will affect your organization

Currently, should a user attempt to send or edit Teams messages while offline, Teams labels those messages as a failure. Once the device is reconnected, Teams prompts users to retry or delete the messages. 

In phase one of this update, Teams messages that are sent while a user is offline will be queued on the local device. Teams will automatically send the messages when the device resolves connectivity issues within 24 hours.. However, if the message remains in an unsent state for more than 24 hours, the message will fail and Teams will prompt the user to resend or delete the message. 

In phase two, Teams applies this same capability to editing messages that are in a queued state.

What you need to do to prepare

You might want to notify your users about this new capability and update your training and documentation as appropriate.

Learn more: Troubleshoot connectivity issues with the Microsoft Teams client