How Trust Indicators Enable Safer External Collaboration in Microsoft Teams

Imagine you’re in a Microsoft Teams meeting. Someone shares a link, another asks for a file, and a new name appears in the chat. You respond without hesitation. But do you really know who’s on the other side?

Is that person an internal colleague? A trusted external partner? Or a guest with limited access?

That’s where Microsoft Teams trust indicators come in! It helps users and admins quickly identify external & anonymous users and collaborate securely to prevent accidental data exposure.

Microsoft is introducing Trust Indicators gradually across tenants:

• Public Preview: Late September 2025 to late November 2025.
• General Availability: Expected between mid-February and early March 2026.

Trust Indicators are visual labels and icons displayed next to users or group chats in Microsoft Teams to clearly identify people outside the organization. These indicators help distinguish between internal users, external users, guests, and anonymous participants across Teams collaboration.

To adapt to different user interfaces and screen sizes, Trust Indicators appear in multiple visual formats.

1. Full badge (icon + full text + label)
2. Truncated badge (icon + label)
3. Icon-only (icon-only)

Microsoft Teams uses different types of Trust Indicators to represent various external and identity scenarios. These visual labels appear next to usernames and make it easy for users to quickly understand who they’re interacting with.

Below is a simple overview of the Trust Indicators available in Microsoft Teams:

Badge Name	Applicable Scenarios
External – Familiar: External users trusted by the organization.	This appears when the user, 1. Is a part of a trusted external organization. 2. Is a member of a shared channel. 3. Is from a cross-cloud organization. 4. Has a phone number added as a contact. 5. Uses the trusted ACS application.
External – Unfamiliar: External users who are not explicitly trusted by your organization.	Displayed when the user, 1. Is from a blocked organization. 2. Outside your organization without an explicit allowlist or blocklist. 3. From an organization that blocked your org. 4. Uses an unmanaged or personal account. 5. Is reaching from a number not in your contacts. 6. Is an email-based user without Microsoft Teams.
Guest: External user added as a Microsoft Entra B2B guest.	This label appears for a user who was added as a Microsoft Entra B2B guest in your organization.
Unverified: An anonymous user whose identity Microsoft Teams cannot verify	It appears when, 1. Someone joins a meeting anonymously without signing in. 2. Uses an ACS application which was not trusted by your organization.
Group Indicator: The presence of at least one external user in a group chat or meeting chat.	It appears when a chat or meeting includes users labeled as External (Familiar/Unfamiliar), Guest, Unverified, or Email Verified.
Email Verified: A user who has verified ownership of an email address.	It displays when a participant joins a meeting using a one-time passcode (OTP) sent to their email.
Multitenant Organization (MTO) Label: Users from another organisation have a multitenant trust relationship with your tenant.	MTO users are not labeled by default. Labels can be enabled explicitly if admins enable them.

In addition to trust badges, Microsoft Teams also introduces supporting banners to reinforce awareness during collaboration:

• Red banner: Appears when untrusted external users are present.

• Grey banner: Appears when all external users are from trusted organizations.

These banners notify users that files, messages, or data may be shared with external participants, which acts as a real-time visual checkpoint.

Microsoft Teams Trust Indicators are especially useful for:

• Organizations that rely heavily on external collaboration and federation, including cross-tenant communication.
• Teams working with vendors, suppliers, and partners across organizational boundaries.
• Users collaborate in shared channels, where members from different organizations work together in a single space.
• End users who frequently share files, links, or messages in mixed internal–external conversations.
• IT and security admins are responsible for enforcing external access, federation, and collaboration policies.

To make the most of Trust Indicators, organizations should encourage users to:

• Always check trust badges before sharing files or sensitive links.
• Create custom external access policies in Microsoft Teams.

• Avoid sharing confidential data in chats with unfamiliar or unverified users.
• Keep track of Microsoft Teams external users regularly.

• Use private channels or restricted sharing where appropriate.

Thus, Trust Indicators provide clear, real-time visibility into who you’re interacting with! By helping users recognize external, guest, and unverified participants before they share, Trust Indicators enable safer external collaboration without slowing productivity.

“In a workspace where conversations move fast, and files are shared instantly, knowing who you’re interacting with isn’t just helpful—it’s critical!