Microsoft has marked a bundle of SharePoint home-site changes as launched, bringing new content blocks, broader news and announcement options, and more control over the Viva Connections experience inside Teams.
The update, tracked as Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 557983, reached general availability in April 2026. Microsoft last updated the roadmap entry on July 13, and lists it for worldwide multi-tenant tenants as well as GCC and GCC High environments. It applies to SharePoint on the web, with availability through both Targeted Release and General Availability channels.
The headline addition is a new Resources web part for SharePoint home sites. Microsoft has not spelled out the final configuration model in the roadmap entry, but the intent is clear: give intranet owners a dedicated way to surface frequently needed links, tools, and reference material on the organization’s primary SharePoint landing page.
The company is also introducing a new customization experience for the SharePoint app in Teams — the experience formerly and commonly known as Viva Connections. Organizations using a SharePoint home site as their intranet front door can now expect refreshed controls for tailoring how that experience appears on Teams desktop and mobile clients.
That matters because home sites often serve two different audiences: employees visiting SharePoint directly in a browser, and users reaching the same content through Teams. A more explicit customization path should make it easier for intranet administrators to align navigation, branding, and high-priority content across those entry points without treating Teams as an afterthought.
Microsoft is also adding the ability to create a new home site from the SharePoint admin center. Previously, setting up a home site could be a more specialist task involving SharePoint Online Management Shell commands and the right administrative permissions. The new admin-center option should reduce the operational friction for tenants that are establishing, replacing, or reorganizing an intranet landing site.
For site owners, the distinction is useful. News is normally suited to an editorial flow of articles and updates, while announcements are intended for messages that need greater prominence and a clearer call to employee attention. Making the Announcements web part broadly available means departmental, project, and communications sites can use the same higher-visibility format without first being designated as the organization’s home site.
The new News layout is a presentation change rather than a new publishing system, but it gives communications teams another way to arrange news posts without custom development. Organizations with tightly governed intranet templates should test the layout against existing page designs, branding, and mobile rendering before making it part of a standard site template.
For most tenants, the immediate next step is simply to validate the new controls in a test or communications site before exposing them across the intranet.
The update, tracked as Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 557983, reached general availability in April 2026. Microsoft last updated the roadmap entry on July 13, and lists it for worldwide multi-tenant tenants as well as GCC and GCC High environments. It applies to SharePoint on the web, with availability through both Targeted Release and General Availability channels.
What is changing
The headline addition is a new Resources web part for SharePoint home sites. Microsoft has not spelled out the final configuration model in the roadmap entry, but the intent is clear: give intranet owners a dedicated way to surface frequently needed links, tools, and reference material on the organization’s primary SharePoint landing page.The company is also introducing a new customization experience for the SharePoint app in Teams — the experience formerly and commonly known as Viva Connections. Organizations using a SharePoint home site as their intranet front door can now expect refreshed controls for tailoring how that experience appears on Teams desktop and mobile clients.
That matters because home sites often serve two different audiences: employees visiting SharePoint directly in a browser, and users reaching the same content through Teams. A more explicit customization path should make it easier for intranet administrators to align navigation, branding, and high-priority content across those entry points without treating Teams as an afterthought.
Microsoft is also adding the ability to create a new home site from the SharePoint admin center. Previously, setting up a home site could be a more specialist task involving SharePoint Online Management Shell commands and the right administrative permissions. The new admin-center option should reduce the operational friction for tenants that are establishing, replacing, or reorganizing an intranet landing site.
News and announcements move beyond home sites
Two content changes are not limited to home sites. Microsoft says the Announcements web part and a new News web-part layout will become available on all SharePoint sites.For site owners, the distinction is useful. News is normally suited to an editorial flow of articles and updates, while announcements are intended for messages that need greater prominence and a clearer call to employee attention. Making the Announcements web part broadly available means departmental, project, and communications sites can use the same higher-visibility format without first being designated as the organization’s home site.
The new News layout is a presentation change rather than a new publishing system, but it gives communications teams another way to arrange news posts without custom development. Organizations with tightly governed intranet templates should test the layout against existing page designs, branding, and mobile rendering before making it part of a standard site template.
Admin impact
There is no stated end-user action or Windows client update associated with the rollout. SharePoint and Teams administrators should instead review the revised home-site and Viva Connections settings, then decide whether the Resources web part, announcements, and revised News layout fit their information architecture.For most tenants, the immediate next step is simply to validate the new controls in a test or communications site before exposing them across the intranet.
References
- Primary source: Microsoft 365 Roadmap
Published: 2026-07-13T23:07:14.8221961Z
Microsoft 365 Roadmap | Microsoft 365
The Microsoft 365 Roadmap lists updates that are currently planned for applicable subscribers. Check here for more information on the status of new features and updates.www.microsoft.com
