Microsoft Ignite 2026: Keynote Time, Free Online Pass and What to Expect
Microsoft Ignite 2026 runs 17–20 November in San Francisco. The keynote is on 17 November at 10:00 PT, the online pass is free, and the sessions point to agents, Copilot, security and Windows.
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Microsoft Ignite 2026 takes place from 17 to 20 November at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. It is Microsoft's biggest yearly event for IT teams, developers and businesses, and it is where the company announces much of its Copilot, Azure and Windows news for the coming year.
Here is when the keynote starts in your time zone, how to watch it for free and what the published agenda suggests Microsoft will talk about. The event details below are from the official Ignite website, read on 10 November 2026.
The short version
Keynote: Tuesday 17 November, 10:00 to 12:00 Pacific Time (18:00 UTC, 23:30 in Sri Lanka and India). Watch free: register for the Digital pass on ignite.microsoft.com. In person: $2,325 for the Conference pass. Likely topics: AI agents, Copilot, security, data and Windows.
Dates and keynote time
| What | When (Pacific Time) |
|---|---|
| Pre-Day labs and breakouts | Monday 16 November, 1:00 to 5:00 PM |
| Opening keynote at Chase Center | Tuesday 17 November, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM |
| Main conference | Tuesday 17 to Friday 20 November |
Microsoft notes that times are subject to change. The keynote is where Microsoft says you'll "hear Microsoft's latest announcements and get a preview of what's coming across AI, cloud, security, and data."
The keynote in your time zone
| Location | Keynote start |
|---|---|
| San Francisco (PT) | Tuesday 17 November, 10:00 AM |
| New York (ET) | Tuesday 17 November, 1:00 PM |
| London (GMT) | Tuesday 17 November, 6:00 PM |
| Sri Lanka and India (IST) | Tuesday 17 November, 11:30 PM |
| Singapore (SGT) | Wednesday 18 November, 2:00 AM |
| Sydney (AEDT) | Wednesday 18 November, 5:00 AM |
The keynote is scheduled for two hours. From Sri Lanka or India, that means watching from 11:30 PM to about 1:30 AM.
How to watch Microsoft Ignite for free
Ignite has three passes:
| Pass | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Digital pass | Free | Keynotes, sessions and "a wide range of technical content" online |
| Hub-only pass | $1,625 | The Hub at Moscone Center (booths, theatre sessions, lunch), 17 to 19 November |
| Conference pass | $2,325 | All in-person sessions and experiences, plus the digital venue |
To watch online, go to ignite.microsoft.com, choose Register, and pick the Digital pass. Microsoft's FAQ confirms there is "a digital event experience available online".
If you attend in person, Microsoft is also offering one free Microsoft or GitHub certification exam on site. There's also an Ignite Celebration concert with Gwen Stefani at Chase Center on the Wednesday night.
What to expect from Ignite 2026
Microsoft doesn't publish its announcements before the keynote, so treat this section as an educated guess. It is based on the event's session tracks, the Pre-Day workshops and the speaker list.
The session tracks are: Agentic Business Applications, Agent Platform, Cloud & AI, Copilot, Data, Frontier Transformation, Industry, Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, Microsoft IQ, Security and Windows. Agents appear in two of the track names alone, so AI agents are likely to be the main theme.
The Pre-Day workshops give more detail. They include:
- Building your first agent in Copilot Studio
- "Ready, secure, govern": Microsoft 365 Copilot & Cowork
- Building context-aware AI with Microsoft IQ
- Getting devices ready for AI with Entra, Intune and Windows
- Windows 365 cloud PCs and Windows Server with AI
- Apps on Microsoft Fabric and AI apps on Azure Kubernetes Service
The speakers include chief executive Satya Nadella, Microsoft commercial chief Judson Althoff, Scott Guthrie (Cloud + AI), Charles Lamanna (Business & Industry Copilot), Jacob Andreou (Copilot), Hayete Gallot (Security) and Azure chief technology officer Mark Russinovich. The featured speakers also include the heads of Agent 365 and Microsoft Scout.
Put together, the most likely news is:
- More capable agents for Microsoft 365 and Dynamics, and tools for building and managing them (Copilot Studio, Agent 365).
- Copilot updates for work, including Microsoft 365 Copilot and Cowork.
- Security and governance for AI agents, through Entra, Intune and Microsoft's security products.
- Azure AI and data news, from Microsoft Fabric to new AI infrastructure (AMD and NVIDIA are among the event's main sponsors).
- Windows for businesses, including Windows 365.
In past years, Microsoft has published a "Book of News" listing every Ignite announcement on the first morning. I'll update this article with the confirmed news after the keynote.
Is Ignite worth watching if you're not in IT?
The keynote is aimed at business and IT buyers, so expect a lot of talk about "agents" and "transformation". But Ignite announcements often reach everyday tools within months: Copilot in Word, Excel and Teams, Windows features, and security changes in your work account. If you use Microsoft 365 at work, the keynote is a quick way to see what is coming to the tools you use every day.
FAQ
When is Microsoft Ignite 2026?
From 17 to 20 November 2026 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, with optional Pre-Day labs on 16 November and a free online version.
What time is the Microsoft Ignite 2026 keynote?
Tuesday 17 November 2026, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Pacific Time. That is 6:00 PM in London and 11:30 PM in Sri Lanka and India.
Can I watch Microsoft Ignite online for free?
Yes. The Digital pass is free and includes the keynotes and sessions. Register on ignite.microsoft.com.
How much does a Microsoft Ignite 2026 ticket cost?
The in-person Conference pass costs $2,325 and the Hub-only pass $1,625. The Digital pass is free.
Who is speaking at Microsoft Ignite 2026?
The speaker list includes Satya Nadella, Judson Althoff, Scott Guthrie, Charles Lamanna, Jacob Andreou, Hayete Gallot and Mark Russinovich, among 23 featured speakers.
What I could not check
- Microsoft has not announced what it will launch at Ignite 2026. The "what to expect" section is my reading of the published sessions and speakers, not insider information.
- The schedule says times are subject to change. Check the agenda on the Ignite site the day before.
- I worked out the time-zone table myself from the Pacific Time schedule (Pacific Time is UTC−8 in November).
Sources
- Microsoft Ignite 2026 (official event site: dates, agenda, passes, FAQ, session tracks and speakers, read 10 November 2026)
- Microsoft Events (Microsoft)
Related reading
How this was researched
This article is based on official documentation, pricing pages and the other sources listed in the article. It does not include my own hands-on testing. I update articles when pricing or features change. Read my review process.
About the author
Sameera Jayakodi
Software engineer and founder of TechToolHub
I'm Sameera Jayakodi, a software engineer based in Sri Lanka. I use AI, developer and productivity tools in my own work every day, and I started TechToolHub to give clear, honest comparisons without the hype. Every article is researched from official sources, and the ones marked "Hands-on tested" include my own testing.
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