Teams Live Events is retiring. Here's what replaces it.

If you've been using Microsoft Teams Live Events to run all-hands meetings, webinars, or large broadcasts, there's an important update.

Teams Live Events is retiring on June 30, 2026. Microsoft has replaced it with a better tool: Teams Town Hall.

Town Hall does everything Live Events did, and quite a bit more. If you're planning a large-scale meeting or broadcast, this is the guide you need.

What is Teams Town Hall?

Teams Town Hall is a one-way broadcast experience built for large groups. Think of it like a webinar or a company-wide address, rather than a regular back-and-forth meeting.

Attendees watch and listen. They can submit questions through Q&A. But they're not on camera and they're not contributing audio.

When to use Town Hall

Use Town Hall for:

• All-hands or company-wide announcements
• Executive broadcasts and quarterly updates
• Large-scale product demos
• Customer webinars to an external audience
• Compliance or policy updates that need to reach everyone

If you need a two-way conversation, collaborative session, or small group meeting, use a regular Teams meeting instead.

How many people can attend?

Town Hall supports up to 10,000 attendees by default under Teams Enterprise licensing.

For organizations needing to reach even larger audiences, Microsoft offers an Attendee Capacity Pack that scales events up to 100,000 attendees.

What changed from Live Events?

A few things are worth knowing if you're migrating from Live Events.

Roles are different

Live Events had a dedicated "producer" role. In Town Hall, that function is distributed across organizer, co-organizer, and presenter roles. Organizers and co-organizers can start and stop the event, manage content, and oversee the Q&A. Presenters share their video and content.

Licensing changed in April 2026

Before April 2026, hosting Town Hall events required Teams Premium in addition to a base Teams license. That changed. Starting April 1, 2026, Town Hall, including its advanced features like email customization and meeting themes, is included with Teams Enterprise. No extra license required.

The attendee experience is improved

In Town Hall, attendees receive a join link before the event, similar to Live Events. They don't appear in anyone's calendar automatically. But the invitation and registration experience is smoother, and the Q&A interface is more polished.

How to set up a Teams Town Hall

Step 1: Schedule the event

Open Microsoft Teams. Go to your Calendar. Click "New meeting" and then select "Town Hall" from the event type options. Fill in your event details: title, date, time, and description.

Step 2: Assign roles

Add your co-organizers and presenters. Each person you add will get a notification and can join with the appropriate role and permissions.

Step 3: Configure your options

Decide whether to enable Q&A, automatic captions, and recording. You can also customize the event with a theme and registration landing page, available with Teams Enterprise in 2026.

Step 4: Set up your registration

If you're inviting external attendees, set up a registration form. Attendees register, receive a confirmation, and get a join link in their email. For internal broadcasts, you can skip registration and simply share the join link through email or Teams.

Step 5: Run the event

Open the event from your Teams calendar and click Join. Take time to test your audio and video before you go live. When you're ready, click Start to begin broadcasting. You can switch between presenters, share content, and manage the Q&A from the organizer view.

Step 6: Wrap up and share recordings

After the event, access the recording and attendance report from the event in your Teams calendar. Share the recording with anyone who couldn't attend live.

Tips for a smooth Town Hall

Test before you broadcast

Run a full technical rehearsal before the event. Test the audio, the screen share, the Q&A tool, and any presenter handoffs. What feels smooth in a small test often has surprises at scale.

Designate a Q&A moderator

Someone should be watching the Q&A queue during the event, filtering and organizing questions, and passing the best ones to presenters. This isn't a job for the same person running the slides.

Use the recording strategically

Not everyone can attend live. The recording is just as valuable as the event itself. Publish it in a Teams channel, share it in your intranet, or load it into your learning platform for employees who need to catch up at their own pace.

Large-scale communication is one part of the picture

Town Hall handles the broadcast. But changing how your employees actually use Teams day-to-day is a different challenge entirely.

Most people use about 20% of what Microsoft Teams can do. They join meetings. They send chats. They don't explore Copilot, use Town Halls, or take advantage of the collaboration tools that actually save time.

BrainStorm helps organizations change that. Through Flows, Packs, Analytics, and Events, we drive real Microsoft Teams adoption and usage across all the features that matter, including Town Hall, Copilot, and everything in between.

Named Microsoft Technology Partner of the Year and Most Innovative Solution Provider by CLN, BrainStorm helped Masco achieve a 50% sustained increase in Copilot adoption. We can help your org get more from Teams too.