Microsoft makes Change Optics reporting generally available

What changed

On 19 October 2026, Microsoft announced general availability of the Change Optics Report for Exchange Online tenants in its worldwide environment. It helps administrators find mail that service changes could affect. GCC, GCC High, DoD and other sovereign cloud environments are excluded.

The report currently covers external messages using onmicrosoft.com addresses and Direct Send messages received by the tenant. Microsoft says throttling of the former has already rolled out; the announcement sets no new sender deadline.

What administrators can do

Open Reports > Mail flow > Change Optics Report in the Exchange admin center. Use its Summary page to track volumes and its Details page to investigate example messages.

For Direct Send, identify legitimate application and device mail before enabling Reject Direct Send. Microsoft’s Direct Send guidance describes this unauthenticated sending method and the partner connectors that can authorize legitimate sources. Review the affected senders and test their delivery before changing the setting.

Keep the limits in mind

The report provides samples, rather than a complete message trace. Export includes only rows loaded in the table, not every message in the selected period. Use Message Trace when investigating an individual message, and treat the report as a starting point for checking sending patterns.