(Updated) (Teams Premium) Customize the screen in Teams Town hall through "Manage what attendees see"

Microsoft Teams Premium will soon introduce "Manage what attendees see" for town hall events, allowing organizers to customize layouts, backgrounds, theme colors, and name tags. Available from late October 2025, this feature enhances attendee experience and requires no admin action before rollout.

Updated November 24, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience. 

[Introduction]

Coming soon to Microsoft Teams: the new Manage what attendees see feature will empower organizers and presenters to deliver more engaging and professional town hall events. With enhanced customization options—including layouts, backgrounds, theme colors, and name tags—this update supports a visually rich experience. This feature is available exclusively to organizers with a Teams Premium license.

This update applies to Teams for Windows desktop, Mac desktop, web, and Teams Rooms.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 491633

[When this will happen:]

• Targeted Release: early October 2025 – mid-October 2025
• General Availability (Worldwide): late October 2025 – early December 2025 (previously early November)

[How this affects your organization:]

Who is affected:

• Organizers and presenters of town hall events using Microsoft Teams with a Teams Premium license.

What will happen:

• Organizers and presenters will be able to customize the screen with new layouts, backgrounds, theme colors, and name tags.
• The updated Manage what attendees see feature will support both On and On with preview options.
• The new experience will be automatically enabled when either option is selected.
• Feature is only available for Town hall events.
• New meetings or events created after late October 2025 will include the updated experience by default.

[What you can do to prepare:]

• No admin action is required before rollout.
• Notify users who organize or present town halls about this change.
• Update internal documentation where applicable.
• Review the updated Manage what attendees see in Teams meetings documentation (link will be provided before rollout).
• Conduct a test session with the feature enabled to become familiar with the new controls.

[Compliance considerations:]

No compliance considerations identified, review as appropriate for your organization.