Microsoft Teams is scheduled to get multi-account sign-in as of December 2020, according to the latest Microsoft 365 roadmap. But not for everyone.
Microsoft is finally planning to add multi-account sign in support to its popular Microsoft Teams collaboration platform. This is a new feature that will allow users to switch between multiple accounts when using Microsoft Teams in the desktop client app.
Microsoft expects to release the new functionality in December, according to an update to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap.
A badly needed addition
Currently, the desktop version of Teams does not support multi-account sign in. This means that users do not have an option to add two different accounts simultaneously.
If Teams users want to move from one team to another on their desktops, they have to sign out of one account and sign back in.However, users have developed some workarounds, for example by using multiple browsers.
There are apparently hundreds of requests in multiple threads in the Microsoft Teams UserVoice feedback site, all asking for this feature. The requests date back to at least 2016. Techzine wrote a blog about it a couple months ago.
Related: Microsoft Teams worthless for companies with multiple clients
Microsoft backs off initial timing
Microsoft has walked back its original statement about the release of multiple account sign-on for Teams. They have now added a caveat to the Microsoft Teams roadmap item.
“We’re adding support within Teams desktop to be able to add one personal account, along with one work/school account, change their profile picture, and switch between accounts and orgs through Settings.”
This means that users will only be able to switch from their work or school account to their personal account. They won’t be able to switch between multiple work accounts this year.
On their User Feedback Forum on Thursday, Microsoft seemed to indicate that multiple work accounts may be available in 2021.
“The engineering team is continuing to work on adding support for multiple accounts on desktop clients. We will first launch support for 1 work/school account and 1 personal account so users can enjoy Teams for work and personal side-by-side. Windows and MacOS support for multiple work accounts is still being worked on and will come at a later date.”
If you want to keep up to date on this feature, you can follow it on the Microsoft Roadmap here.
12 hours ago
