Microsoft Teams Meeting Limit: Complete Guide 2025

Microsoft Teams is one of the most widely used video conferencing tools today, but every platform comes with limits.

Meeting length, attendee count, recording capacity, and file sharing all have maximum thresholds. Knowing these details helps teams plan better and avoid last-minute surprises during important calls.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• The current Teams meeting limit for time, attendees, and recordings
• How free and paid Microsoft 365 plans compare
• Best practices for running large meetings and events

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What Are The Current Microsoft Teams Meeting Limits?

Microsoft Teams has different limits depending on the type of meeting, plan, and features in use. Here’s a quick look at the most recent key specifications:

These limits affect how Microsoft Teams users plan video meetings, share content, and manage events. Free accounts are the most restricted, while Microsoft 365 subscriptions extend the maximum limit audience size.

Time limits for Teams meetings

Meeting length depends on your plan.

• With a free account, group meetings on Microsoft Teams end after 60 minutes.
• Paid Microsoft 365 users can host meetings, webinars, and town halls for up to 30 hours without interruption.
• Breakout rooms have their own limit. They can only be created in meetings with fewer than 300 participants. Once breakout rooms are enabled, the meeting maximum also locks at 300.

These limits apply across the Teams app, Teams desktop client, and supported browsers.

Attendee limits by meeting type

Image from Microsoft

The maximum audience size limit in Microsoft Teams depends on the type of session you host:

• Standard meetings: Up to 300 participants with basic Microsoft 365 plans, and up to 1,000 with enterprise licenses. Everyone can chat, speak, and share.
• Video or audio calls from chat: Limited to 20 people. Beyond that, features like private chat video calling, typing indicators, and Teams status messages are disabled.
• Live events: Support up to 20,000 attendees for up to 16 hours. Larger audiences (up to 100,000) are available through the Microsoft assistance program. Interaction is limited to moderated Q&A.
• Town halls: Designed for company-wide events, these follow the same feature maximum limit number rules as large meetings and webinars, but with extra tools for structured delivery.
• Org-wide teams allowed: Up to 10,000 members can be in a single org-wide team. This limit includes archived teams and applies to the organization’s Active Directory.

For events that exceed interactive limits, Teams offers a view-only mode so additional participants can still watch the session.

Other relevant limits (Chat, Recording, etc.)

Beyond meeting time and attendee caps, Microsoft Teams sets limits on chat, recording, and file sharing:

• Private chat: Up to 250 participants. Once a group chat exceeds 20 members, certain chat features like video or audio calling, Teams status messages, and read receipts are turned off. Teams also supports Outlook Teams presence, so your availability is visible across both apps, though this relies on the same account and admin settings.
• Chat participants in calls: A video or audio call from chat supports 20 people.
• File attachments: Chats allow 10 file attachments at a time, each up to 100 MB. In meetings and channels, the group file upload limit is 250 GB per file.
• Meeting recordings: Each recording is capped at 4 hours or 1.5 GB. If this limit is reached, the recording stops and restarts automatically. Recordings not uploaded to Microsoft Stream remain available for local download for 20 days.
• Storage: Teams files are stored in SharePoint, with applicable storage limits of up to 25 TB per team site. Since Teams runs on a SharePoint backend, SharePoint limitations apply to the Files tab.
• Private channels: Each team can have up to 30 private channels, including deleted ones, with a maximum of 250 members per channel.

These Microsoft Teams limits ensure performance stays stable across different operating systems, but they also define how organizations manage collaboration at scale.

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Free vs. Paid Teams: What Changes?

The Teams meeting limit changes significantly between the free version and Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Free accounts are best for casual or short sessions, while paid plans unlock extended durations and larger meetings.

• Microsoft Teams Free: Up to 100 participants per call with a 60-minute maximum limit. Includes unlimited chat, basic collaboration, and 5 GB of storage.
• Microsoft 365 Personal ($99.99/year): Expands meetings to 300 participants for up to 30 hours. Adds 1 TB of storage, desktop Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook), and AI features like Copilot and Designer.
• Microsoft 365 Family ($129.99/year): Supports the same feature maximum limit number for meetings (300 participants, 30 hours), but for up to 6 users. Each person gets 1 TB storage, totaling 6 TB.

Upgrading to a paid plan means you can host large meetings, run webinars without hitting time caps, and access premium Microsoft 365 tools that help with workflow, security, and content creation.

How to upgrade and what you get

Switching from a free Teams account to a Microsoft 365 plan is simple. You can do it directly through Microsoft’s website.

1. Go to the Microsoft Teams plans page.
2. Choose the subscription that fits your needs.
3. Sign in with your Microsoft account.
4. Enter payment details and confirm purchase.

Once upgraded, your account will immediately reflect the higher maximum limit number for meetings and participants.

For teams running large meetings or managing hybrid work at scale, the upgrade eliminates common blockers like the one-hour meeting cap and low participant limits.

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How To Manage Large Meetings and Events In Teams

Hosting a meeting with hundreds of participants requires more than just sending out a link. Microsoft Teams gives you tools to manage these sessions, but success depends on how well you prepare and structure the event.

Preparing for large meetings

• Send invites early and clearly define roles like presenters, moderators, and attendees.
• Use “org-wide teams allowed” settings to reach everyone in your organization’s Active Directory.
• Test technical setups in advance, including audio, video, and file sharing.
• For hybrid setups, using Microsoft Teams Rooms can help connect in-person and remote participants while keeping everyone within the same meeting limits.
• Share ground rules in advance, like using mute, raising hands, or submitting questions in chat.

Managing interactive and view-only participants

• Interactive meetings support up to 1,000 participants, featuring chat, video, and collaboration tools.
• Beyond that, enable view-only mode for overflow attendees. They can watch the meeting but can’t contribute directly.
• For events with tens of thousands, consider Live Events. These support up to 20,000 attendees with moderated Q&A.

Recording and documentation strategies

• Enable meeting recordings to capture content for those who can’t attend. Keep in mind the 4-hour or 1.5 GB maximum limit message size per recording.
• Recordings not stored in Microsoft Stream stay available for local download for 20 days.
• Use Teams files and SharePoint for archiving agendas, slides, and transcripts. Remember, SharePoint limitations apply.
• Assign someone to monitor chat conversations and collect follow-up items, since some chat features don’t work in very large groups.

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How Tactiq Helps You Optimize Your Teams Meeting

Even 30-hour meetings with 300 people can become chaotic without proper documentation.

Tactiq helps by capturing and organizing the details that Teams alone can’t handle well. It works with Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet, so your note-taking process stays consistent across platforms.

Here’s how Tactiq makes every meeting more productive:

• Real-time transcription: Follow the conversation live without worrying about missing key points.
• AI-generated summaries: Turn transcripts into clear meeting notes, action items, and follow-ups instantly.
• Custom prompts & meeting kits: Automate tasks like Jira tickets, project updates, or email drafts.
• Searchable transcripts: Quickly find decisions or quotes instead of digging through chat conversations.
• Multi-language support: Transcribe meetings in 60+ languages for global collaboration.
• AI workflows: Connect meeting insights to tools like Google Drive or project management apps.

Install the Tactiq Chrome Extension today and turn every Teams call into actionable insights.

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Wrapping Up

Microsoft Teams gives users generous limits for meetings, but every plan has boundaries.

Free accounts cap group calls at 60 minutes and 100 participants, while Microsoft 365 plans extend meetings to 30 hours with up to 300 interactive attendees. Larger events like town halls and live events can reach thousands, but even then, limits on chat, recordings, and storage still apply.

Upgrading to a paid plan makes sense if your team regularly hosts large meetings or needs longer sessions. Still, no matter the plan, capturing key decisions and follow-ups is critical. That’s where Tactiq helps – transcribing meetings in real time, creating AI-powered notes, and automating workflows so nothing gets lost after the call.

Ready to make the most of your Teams meetings? Try Tactiq today and keep every detail organized.

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FAQs About Teams Meeting Limits

Is there a 1-hour limit for Teams meetings?

Yes. Free Microsoft Teams accounts have a 60-minute cap on group calls. Once you reach that limit, the call ends automatically. Paid Microsoft 365 subscriptions extend meeting length to 30 hours.

Is there a time limit on Teams meetings for free?

Free users can only run group calls for up to 60 minutes. One-on-one calls are not capped. Paid Microsoft 365 plans raise the limit to 30 hours, making them more suitable for long webinars and company events.

Are Teams meetings limited to 60 minutes?

Not for everyone. Only free accounts face the 60-minute restriction. With a Microsoft 365 plan, you can schedule meetings, webinars, and town halls for up to 30 hours without interruptions.

What is the 250 limit on Teams?

This refers to private chat. You can include up to 250 people in a single private chat thread. However, once a chat passes 20 participants, certain chat features like video calls and typing indicators are disabled.

How can I increase the Teams meeting limit?

You’ll need to upgrade to Microsoft 365. Paid plans expand the maximum meeting duration to 30 hours and raise the interactive participant cap to 300. Enterprise licenses can host up to 1,000, with view-only options for larger events.