Microsoft Asked for Feedback But Apparently Only the Feedback They Like

You would think that if a piece of community feedback gets hundreds of upvotes and lively discussion it would be treated as exactly what it is supposed to be meaningful user input. But that is not how things work on Microsoft’s Feedback Portal.

I posted a suggestion that racked up over 375+ upvotes and generated a substantial comment thread only to find it later completely deleted without explanation. The link now leads to nothing but a dead page. Thankfully I captured it using the Wayback Machine so nobody can pretend it never existed.

Here’s an old screenshot of the suggestion itself:

Here is the archived version
New Outlook – VBA Automation

There was no spam. No abuse. Just a popular suggestion with lots of supporting comments from fellow users that quietly vanished.

On its own this would already be troubling. In context it is far worse.
 

This Is Not a One Off Incident

This deletion is not an isolated event. I have written multiple times about Microsoft Feedback Portal suggestions disappearing after gaining traction.

• Another Feedback Portal Suggestion Vanishes Into Thin Air
• And Another Feedback Portal Suggestion Vanishes
• Another Day Another Deleted Feedback Portal Suggestion

At some point this stops looking like coincidence and starts looking like a pattern. Community backed suggestions are removed without public explanation and without any visible accountability. Yet the SPAM suggestions and comments remain untouched.

This isn’t normal. This isn’t how an open feedback ecosystem should behave. And it certainly isn’t how “community-driven development” is supposed to work.

What the Feedback Portal Claims to Be

Microsoft presents the Feedback Portal as a place where users can submit ideas vote on them and help shape the future of the products they rely on. The implication is that popular feedback rises to the top and informs real decisions.

That promise only works if feedback is treated as durable and transparent. When a suggestion with hundreds of votes can be erased overnight the system loses credibility.

A feedback system where history can be rewritten without notice is not an open system. It is a controlled one.

The Core Problem

When a suggestion disappears there is no notice. No reason given. No way to appeal. The discussion and votes simply vanish leaving behind a broken link.

That silence sends a clear message feedback is welcome only as long as it remains convenient.

Why This Matters

What makes this especially frustrating is that deletion was never necessary. Microsoft already has mechanisms to handle feedback it does not plan to act on. The suggestion could have been marked ‘Not right now’. It could have been ‘Closed’ with a brief explanation. It could have been left visible and simply ignored.

Any of those options would at least acknowledge that the feedback existed and that the community was heard even if the answer was no. Instead the suggestion was erased entirely and the discussion removed as if it had never happened.

That choice speaks louder than any status label ever could.

I’ve mentioned this in past articles, but when popular feedback can be deleted without explanation several consequences follow:

• Trust erodes because users cannot rely on the process
• Participation declines because effort feels wasted
• Remaining feedback no longer reflects real user priorities
• The portal becomes performative rather than participatory
• They negatively impact websites by breaking their links which results in ranking issues

People disengage not because they lack opinions but because they no longer believe those opinions will matter.

What Microsoft Should Be Doing

If Microsoft genuinely values the input of its users it needs to change how the Feedback Portal operates. That starts with transparency. Users should know exactly what rules govern the submission and removal of suggestions and what can or cannot happen to their ideas.

When a suggestion is removed there should always be a notification to the creator with a clear explanation. It is not enough for a link to vanish or for a post to quietly disappear. Users deserve to understand why their feedback is being handled the way it is.

Equally important is preserving the history of engagement. Votes and discussion threads reflect genuine community interest and effort. Deleting them erases not only the suggestion itself but also the voices that supported it.

Microsoft could also use the simple option of switching suggestion’s statuses to ‘Not right now’ or ‘Closed’ instead of deleting them entirely. That would at least acknowledge the community while still signaling that no action will be taken. Instead, feedback is erased and ignored as if it never existed.

It is astonishing that a trillion dollar technology company with decades of experience and enormous resources seems incapable of running a basic forum that handles user feedback in a transparent, accountable way. Years of repeated issues show that these problems are not glitches or oversights. They are systemic and persistent.

Finally Microsoft should provide a way for users to challenge removals or appeal decisions. If feedback truly matters it must be treated as an asset, not a nuisance. Until these steps are taken the Feedback Portal will remain more a stage for show than a place where user voices actually shape the products.

Conclusion

This is not an accident. It is not a misunderstanding. And at this point it is not even plausible deniability.

When feedback with hundreds of upvotes and active discussion, the 3rd highest voted suggested in the New Outlook board, can be erased without explanation the message is unmistakable. Community input is tolerated only when it aligns with internal priorities. Once it becomes inconvenient it is quietly removed and memory holed. Yet, don’t worry, they leave the blatant SPAM postings and comments remain!

The existence of an archived copy is the only reason this deletion cannot be rewritten out of history. Without external archiving the official record would simply claim the suggestion never existed at all.

That should alarm anyone who believes the Feedback Portal is a genuine channel for user influence. That Microsoft is actually listening to anything posted there.

A system that invites participation but silently deletes popular dissent is not listening. It is managing perception. And until Microsoft is willing to confront that reality and change its practices the Feedback Portal will remain a facade rather than a forum.

One has to wonder why Microsoft even maintains a Feedback Portal if this is how user input is treated. It looks good from the outside an excellent piece of PR, really, but that’s about as far as it seems to go. It is a place where good ideas go to die.

If you truly want your voice to be heard, share your ideas publicly on platforms like Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, or wherever your community gathers. Don’t waste your time, as so many of us have, posting in what feels like a relic of the 1980s, a closed feedback board where suggestions are far too often ignored or quietly deleted.

At the heart of this issue lies a matter of respect. Microsoft and its Development Teams direct users and MVPs alike to share ideas and feedback through the Feedback Portal, and many of us genuinely invest time doing so. We review suggestions, support the most relevant ones, and contribute thoughtful comments. Yet, some of these entries are deleted without any notice or explanation. That conveys a troubling lack of respect toward the community providing this input.

Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident. Numerous suggestions, not just mine, have disappeared over time. It reflects a broader pattern we’re seeing in released software and updates: intrusive telemetry, features like ReCall and CoPilot pushed upon users, ads, often without an easy way to opt out. Only after significant public backlash does Microsoft seem to reconsider.

Respect is a 2-way street and Microsoft sure does not seem to respect its users in the least. They talk big, but their actions seem to indicate the total opposite.

Respect and common sense shouldn’t be afterthoughts and/or PR stunts. It should guide how technology is built and how users are treated. I think Microsoft, quite a long time ago, lost sight of this simple fact!

This is a fundamental corporate culture issue at the heart of this whole situation and that is something that flows top down. So until the top brass actually cares about their user, push respect & listening to end-users and product quality over short-term profits, nothing will change. Sadly, they are missing the bigger picture with their current profit/PR strategies. This may not be evident in all areas, but we’ve seen a serious push towards Linux recently and a continuous and gradual erosion of Access.