Summary
- Microsoft 365 is increasing the release preference exception audience limit from 100 to 10,000 users per tenant.
- The limit applies to the combined count of individually assigned users and members of assigned Microsoft Entra ID security groups.
- This change is for administrators managing Standard and Deferred release preferences in the Microsoft 365 admin center, especially for larger pilot and validation audiences.
- No action is required unless you want to expand your exception audience; if so, review and update release preference assignments and keep the combined audience within the new limit.
Primary Service: M365
Admin Impact: Low
User Impact: Low
Release Start: 31 Oct 2026
Release End: 15 Nov 2026
Services: Admin, Entra, M365
Category: Stay informed
Tags: Admin Action, Feature Update, Highlighted
History
11/3/2026 Item Added to Message Center
Microsoft Message
We heard your feedback that the 100-user exception limit was too small to support meaningful pilot and validation audiences, particularly in larger organizations. We previously introduced Microsoft Entra ID group support to simplify audience management. We are now increasing the exception limit from 100 to 10,000 users per tenant, giving administrators more flexibility to manage release readiness at scale.
This update lets you assign a larger audience to a release preference different from your tenant-wide selection – for example, keeping a larger validation group on Standard release while the rest of your organization uses Deferred release.
Rollout Schedule
General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out in late October 2026 and expect to complete by mid-November 2026.
Impact on Your Organization
Who is affected: Administrators managing Standard and Deferred release preferences in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
What is changing:
- The maximum exception audience increases to 10,000 users per tenant, counting users assigned individually and members of assigned groups together. This is not a per-group allowance or a limit on your organization total users.
- You can continue using Microsoft Entra ID security groups to manage exceptions. Nested groups remain unsupported.
- If your tenant uses Deferred release, you can assign a larger group of IT staff, help desk personnel, and business representatives to Standard release to evaluate eligible updates earlier.
- If your tenant uses Standard release, you can assign a larger audience to Deferred release when those users need additional preparation time.
- If a customer adds a group with more than 10,000 users, they will receive a message, during addition, notifying them of the limit.
- If they add a group that later exceeds the limit, only the first 10,000 users will be included. The Release preferences in MAC will display a message asking them to remove the users who exceed the limit.
What is not changing: This update increases audience capacity; it does not change which features are eligible for Deferred release or how the deferred period works. Deferred release continues to delay eligible major features by approximately 30 days after their rollout to Standard release begins, not after rollout completes or after an individual pilot user receives the feature.
Action Required/Recommendations
No action is required unless you want to expand your exception audience.
Once the increased limit is available in your tenant, review your pilot and validation needs and update your assignments in the Microsoft 365 admin center under: Copilot > Settings > View all > Copilot Release Preferences: General Availability.
Keep the combined exception audience within 10,000 users, review group membership regularly, and update your internal rollout and readiness documentation as needed.
Compliance considerations
When expanding your exception audience, review its membership against your organization change-management, validation, and governance requirements.