So in the last couple of days, there has been some noise around Teams Public Preview, and I thought maybe it is a good idea to give a small wrap up for everyone on how to enable it, what you can expect and how you can use it. Basically, it is everything you need to know about Microsoft Teams Public Preview.

How to Enable Public Preview as an Admin?

Head over to the Teams Admin Center.

Click Teams > Update policies and Add a new one. Toggle on Show preview features and give it a descriptive name. Create the policy.

Now select the policy in the overview and click Manage users. Add your preview users.

How to Enable Public Preview at the Teams Desktop App?

After a few hours passed, the selected users can opt-in for their Teams desktop app’s preview experience.

Therefore they need to click their profile picture and choose About > Public Preview. You then need to accept the upcoming Hint, and Teams will restart.

Please note: If you cannot see the Public Preview yet, just wait for a few more hours, the Developer Preview is not the same channel as you are looking for!

Which Features Will Be Available?

In December 2020, you will find the following features to be released:

• Native Windows 10 notifications
• Meetings reactions
• 2×2 view on VDI
• Call merge capability
• Large gallery in WebApp
• Together mode in WebApp

Where Can I Be on the Lookout for New Features?

There is a small overview of features to be released in December 2020 at the very end of this blogpost by Microsoft. In the future, Microsoft will provide the release information through the “Release Notes for the Current Channel” page in the docs as the Teams Public Preview Team stated in their blogpost answer.

How Can I Provide Feedback?

As a part of a preview program, you get the chance to get your hands on new features far before everyone else does. Therefore there might be some issues left that need a last polish before GA. 

To give back, you can always provide your feedback through Teams. This is the “official” way for the public preview to give feedback. It is not the UserVoice!

To give feedback, click Help > Give feedback in the bottom left corner of your Teams desktop app.

Wrap Up

The Public Preview is a nice feature for IT Pros and consultants to access the upcoming features. You can gather great insights and update your documentation in advance before tickets, and questions from your users occur.