Microsoft Teams changed the way copy and paste works, and not everyone is happy

Microsoft Teams’ recent update has users fuming over an unexpected tweak — no more copying chat messages with names and timestamps. While some may brush this off as a small inconvenience, for many users, especially in business environments, this feature was a lifesaver for keeping track of important conversations.

The problem? When users now try to copy messages from a chat, the handy details like sender names and timestamps are nowhere to be found. This seemingly simple feature, which most messaging platforms provide, has been a crucial tool for many Teams users who rely on it for documentation, tracking, and even maintaining service-level agreements (SLAs). And as you’d expect, the online forums have erupted with frustrated voices, many wondering why this critical functionality was axed.

One forum user lamented how this change has added tons of extra work — having to manually type out timestamps and names to ensure proper documentation. Another user questioned Microsoft’s logic behind removing the feature from a business-focused app, claiming that no good could come from such a decision, except for annoying users to no end.

Even more interestingly, some are finding ways to “hack” their way around the issue. One common workaround involves holding down the mouse button while selecting text, then copying it using keyboard shortcuts. While this can get the job done for some, it’s still far from ideal.

The workaround I found is to hold mouse for selecting the message with Time and sender you want then use CTRL+C for copy and CTRL+V for paste.

Despite not including it on the list of known issues with Teams (last updated July 19), Microsoft hasn’t been entirely silent on the matter. In response to the growing uproar, a Microsoft Agent did apologize for the inconvenience and promised to escalate user concerns to the product team. However, there’s still no word on when — or if — this copy and paste feature in Microsoft Teams will return to normalcy.

As it stands, Microsoft support has confirmed that the issue has been escalated to its developers, who are currently investigating the matter. Yet, despite users clamoring for a fix, no solution has been provided for nearly two months now. So, for the time being, frustrated users will have to make do with workarounds — or wait for a miracle update.

In the meantime, you can try using the web version of Teams, which seems to retain the copy-and-paste functionality for names and timestamps. But for desktop app users, it’s a waiting game, hoping that Microsoft’s product team can prioritize the fix before another wave of annoyed forum posts floods in.