(Updated) Microsoft Defender for Office 365: Enhancing the quarantine experience for administrators

Message Center ID: MC1171845
Microsoft Defender XDR
Stay Informed
Feature update User impact Admin impact
January 2026 February 2026

Summary

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 will enhance quarantine by listing messages by individual recipients, improving backend durability and consistency. Rollout starts January 2026, completing by February. Admins must release quarantined messages per user. No changes affect end users; update internal processes accordingly.

Details

Updated November 12, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

We’re improving the quarantine experience in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to deliver greater clarity, visibility, and ease of use for administrators. These updates include backend enhancements for improved durability and consistency as well as experience updates to list messages in quarantine by individual recipients to simplify navigation and management.

When this will happen:
  • General Availability (Worldwide and GCC): We will begin rolling out in early January 2026 (previously early November 2025) and expect to complete by end of February 2026 (previously mid-December 2025).
  • General Availability (GCCH and DoD): We will begin rolling out in early January 2026 (previously early December 2025) and expect to complete by end of February 2026 (previously early January 2026).
How this affects your organization:
  • Who is affected: Administrators managing quarantined messages in Microsoft Defender for Office 365.
  • What will happen:
    • Quarantined messages will now be listed by individual recipient instead of grouped by multiple recipients.
    • Backend enhancements will improve durability and consistency.
    • Existing quarantine release cmdlets will all remain functional. Administrators should be cognizant that `ReleaseToAll` now applies to a single user as aggregation has been removed. Admins must release messages for each intended mailbox individually.
    • No changes to end-user experience.

Screenshot 1 - Updated quarantine view showing individual recipients listed separately in the Recipient column:

user settings

Screenshot 2 - Existing quarantine view showing multiple recipients in the Recipient column:

 user settings

What you can do to prepare:

Compliance considerations:

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

Change History

November 13, 2025 at 8:31 PM Updated
Title
Previous
Microsoft Defender for Office 365: Enhancing the quarantine experience for administrators
New
(Updated) Microsoft Defender for Office 365: Enhancing the quarantine experience for administrators
Summary
Previous
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is enhancing quarantine for admins by listing messages by individual recipients, improving backend durability, and maintaining existing cmdlets with adjusted functionality. Rollout starts November 2025. No changes affect end users. Admins should update practices and documentation accordingly.
New
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 will enhance quarantine by listing messages by individual recipients, improving backend durability and consistency. Rollout starts January 2026, completing by February. Admins must release quarantined messages per user. No changes affect end users; update internal processes accordingly.
Last Updated Date
Previous
2025-10-13T23:25:21.423Z
New
2025-11-13T18:37:01.547Z
Tags
Previous
Feature update,User impact,Admin impact
New
Updated message,Feature update,User impact,Admin impact
Body Content
Previous

We’re improving the quarantine experience in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to deliver greater clarity, visibility, and ease of use for administrators. These updates include backend enhancements for improved durability and consistency as well as experience updates to list messages in quarantine by individual recipients to simplify navigation and management.

When this will happen:
  • General Availability (Worldwide and GCC): We will begin rolling out in early November 2025 and expect to complete by mid-December 2025.
  • General Availability (GCCH and DoD): We will begin rolling out in early December 2025 and expect to complete by early January 2026.
How this affects your organization:
  • Who is affected: Administrators managing quarantined messages in Microsoft Defender for Office 365.
  • What will happen:
    • Quarantined messages will now be listed by individual recipient instead of grouped by multiple recipients.
    • Backend enhancements will improve durability and consistency.
    • Existing quarantine release cmdlets will all remain functional. Administrators should be cognizant that `ReleaseToAll` now applies to a single user as aggregation has been removed. Admins must release messages for each intended mailbox individually.
    • No changes to end-user experience.

Screenshot 1 - Updated quarantine view showing individual recipients listed separately in the Recipient column:

user settings

Screenshot 2 - Existing quarantine view showing multiple recipients in the Recipient column:

 user settings

What you can do to prepare:

Compliance considerations:

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

New

Updated November 12, 2025: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.

We’re improving the quarantine experience in Microsoft Defender for Office 365 to deliver greater clarity, visibility, and ease of use for administrators. These updates include backend enhancements for improved durability and consistency as well as experience updates to list messages in quarantine by individual recipients to simplify navigation and management.

When this will happen:
  • General Availability (Worldwide and GCC): We will begin rolling out in early January 2026 (previously early November 2025) and expect to complete by end of February 2026 (previously mid-December 2025).
  • General Availability (GCCH and DoD): We will begin rolling out in early January 2026 (previously early December 2025) and expect to complete by end of February 2026 (previously early January 2026).
How this affects your organization:
  • Who is affected: Administrators managing quarantined messages in Microsoft Defender for Office 365.
  • What will happen:
    • Quarantined messages will now be listed by individual recipient instead of grouped by multiple recipients.
    • Backend enhancements will improve durability and consistency.
    • Existing quarantine release cmdlets will all remain functional. Administrators should be cognizant that `ReleaseToAll` now applies to a single user as aggregation has been removed. Admins must release messages for each intended mailbox individually.
    • No changes to end-user experience.

Screenshot 1 - Updated quarantine view showing individual recipients listed separately in the Recipient column:

user settings

Screenshot 2 - Existing quarantine view showing multiple recipients in the Recipient column:

 user settings

What you can do to prepare:

Compliance considerations:

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

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