Microsoft Teams Rolls Out Threaded Chats and Emoji Frenzy

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Synopsis

Microsoft Teams now rolls out threaded conversations in public preview, allowing users to focus on specific discussions with emoji and GIF upgrades, thereby redefining how chaos in chats is handled.

Key takeaways

• No more endless scrolls—users can now follow specific conversations within channels.
• Channel owners must choose between “post-based” and “thread-based” layouts, which limits real-time spontaneity.
• Teams adds multiple emoji reactions per message for layered expression.
• Emoji can now trigger workflows, turning chat reactions into automated actions.

Threaded conversations

After years of user frustration and requests, Microsoft has finally delivered threaded conversations inside Teams channels, a feature that Slack users have taken for granted since 2014.

“Threaded conversations within channels have been one of our top requested features,” Microsoft acknowledges, as the Verge reports.

Threads allow users to:

• Reply within a specific discussion without spamming the main channel.
• Follow only what’s relevant, hiding unrelated noise.
• Pull important updates back into the main channel when needed.

Unlike Slack’s open-ended approach, Microsoft’s implementation requires channel owners to select a layout:

• Post-based (current style, no threads)
• Thread-based (new threaded conversations)

Once chosen, the layout applies to the entire channel, restricting mid-flow flexibility for dynamic teams that prefer switching between casual and structured chats.

For enterprises with complex discussions across projects, this can reduce notification fatigue and endless scrolling, but the rigid structure may not suit fast-moving teams needing spontaneous updates.

Followed the threads pane

To manage threads without overwhelming users, Teams is introducing a “Followed Threads” pane.

How it works:

• Users automatically follow threads they start, reply to, or are @mentioned in.
• They can manually follow or unfollow any other threads.
• The pane acts as a filter, surfacing only what you care about.

NEW!

Threads in Teams channels—to make collaboration more efficient and focused. With threads, you can reply directly to specific messages, keeping related conversations grouped together without disrupting the main flow.#MicrosoftTeams pic.twitter.com/fMIJVOtzOQ

— Laura Rogers, Microsoft MVP (@WonderLaura) July 9, 2025

Emoji reactions

Another big update: Teams now supports multiple emoji reactions on a single message, moving beyond the one-reaction limit that often restricted nuanced team interactions.

The update includes:

• Ability to add, remove, and view multiple emoji on messages.
• Improved /gif search for smoother inline GIF sharing.

This is more than a playful addition. Microsoft is also turning emoji reactions into workflow triggers. For example:

• Adding a red flag emoji could create a support ticket in your helpdesk tool.
• Reacting with a green tick could trigger a DevOps pipeline.

This connects Microsoft Teams to Power Automate, shifting reactions from just expressive signals to actionable workflows.

GIF search

Teams now upgrades its GIF capabilities with enhanced /gif search:

• Users can instantly search and post GIFs in conversations, maintaining context and speed.
• This aligns Teams with Slack’s playful communication style, something Teams has often been criticized for lacking.

Microsoft’s rollout of threaded conversations is both a win and a compromise:

• It solves chaos in conversations, but rigid channel layouts can frustrate teams that want flexibility.
• Emoji-powered workflows transform casual reactions into actionable business steps, showcasing Teams’ vision to seamlessly integrate chat and productivity.
• By incorporating Slack-like features, Teams is catching up, but still struggles to maintain simplicity in an increasingly complex tool.

The Verge’s Sean Hollister notes that Microsoft plans to complete the rollout by mid-2025, indicating this is just the first step in transforming Teams into a platform that balances structured conversations, expressive communication, and actionable workflows.

Bottom line

Microsoft Teams’ threaded conversation preview isn’t just another feature drop—it’s a necessary evolution to make sense of overwhelming chat streams, paired with expressive reactions and workflow triggers to drive action directly from conversations.

For users, the choice is clear:

• Embrace focused conversations with reduced noise.
• Adapt to less flexibility in channel layouts.
• Use emojis not just for fun but to get things done.

Teams have just become more powerful—if you’re willing to adjust your workflow to their new rules.

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