Moderator Recommended Answers

When a helpful reply goes unmarked by the question author, moderators can now step in with a new feature: Moderator Recommended Answers. This label helps surface high-quality responses for future readers—without overriding the question author’s authority.

What Is a Moderator Recommended Answer?

A Moderator Recommended Answer is a reply that a moderator believes is accurate, complete, and helpful—even if the question author hasn’t marked it as the accepted solution. It appears with a distinct label to signal trust and improve discoverability.

If the question author later accepts the same reply, the label updates to:
Answer accepted by question author and recommended by moderator

Prerequisites

• You must be signed into your Microsoft Learn profile.
• You need to be a moderator in Q&A.

Why It Matters

Some threads never get marked as answered - especially when the question author doesn’t return. This can leave helpful replies buried and hard to find. Moderator recommendations:

• Highlight trusted solutions
• Improve visibility for future readers
• Help search engines and AI tools prioritize quality content

When to Recommend an Answer

Moderators may recommend a reply when:

• The question author confirms the issue is resolved but hasn’t marked the thread as answered
• The question author shares the solution but is unable to mark it
• At least 72 hours have passed, and two or more users confirmed the solution worked
• The reply has received five or more helpful votes after several days
• The moderator knows from personal experience that the solution is valid

The selected reply should be the most accurate and complete solution - regardless of who posted it.

When Not to Recommend

Avoid recommending a reply if:

• The question author is still active and confirms the issue persists
• The response was just posted - give the question author time to engage
• The reply only asks for more info or clarification
• The reply offers generic troubleshooting steps without addressing the root cause
• The thread lacks a clear solution
• You wrote the answer yourself - in this case, please ask another moderator to recommend it on your behalf