Zoom ambushed by Microsoft Teams' essential new tool

It looks like Microsoft is planning to release a new feature called the History Menu for Microsoft Teams, which'll let you easily find old files that get lost in the frenzy of the online workspace.

It aims to save time by pinpointing old file locations, letting you move backwards and forwards with ease, so you can hop right back in and resume work with no unnecessary delays. It’s an essential feature when juggling a mix of documents in our digital workspaces. 

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Microsoft Teams is a remote working lifeline for many during the pandemic. But if you’re the type to lose your house keys, or misplace your wallet all the time, then the same thing likely happens on Teams; misplaced files and a jumble of folders with different names. Now, Microsoft is developing a new Teams tool that aims to solve the problem.   

Despite no official statement, the Microsoft 365 Roadmap shows a new feature called History Menu; it’s not the catchiest of names, but Microsoft says that it’ll display recently visited locations when hovering over the backward and forward options. In turn it should help users dodge the gruelling task of manually finding old documents buried in folders. No word on a release date yet, as it's still under the 'testing and development' tab on the 365 Roadmap. 

It’s a seemingly simple way to navigate back to nested locations making those pesky tabs and documents easier to locate. For instance, if you need to return to a previous document, you can hover your cursor over the back button and find it again, much like the history function in a web browser that lets you return to old websites.

We’re certainly excited about this, as Microsoft’s take on the collaborative workspace continues to compete with the likes of Slack and Zoom. These sorts of features can seem lacklustre on paper, but in day‑to‑day usage the difference in productivity can be night and day.  

Microsoft has recently upped the ante in an update to Teams with a new feature that blocks out nearby noise interference on its video software using AI controlled noise suppression. This should be helpful in cutting out the racket from next door during the festive period. 

It has also improved its offering for businesses that have Microsoft Teams Rooms devices and Surface Hub with the launch of Coordinated Meetings that syncs them all into one device that can be used to join a meeting.  

With the pandemic uprooting our working lives, smoothing the transition into working from home has been top of the agenda in 2020, with companies vying for the top spot. We think Microsoft’s incremental steps to streamline the Teams suite is slowly turning it into a productivity powerhouse and it may soon be the gold standard for team workspaces.