In most environments bacterial colonization and survival is associated with growth on surfaces and subsequent formation of dense communities called biofilms. While biofilms play many positive ecological roles, their development on medical devices or mucosa constitutes a major source of infections. In biofilms, bacteria display reversible physiological changes, including a characteristic but ill-understood high level of tolerance to antibiotics leading to frequent therapeutic failures. Whereas biofilm tolerance towards antibiotics is a multifactorial process, relapse of infection is mainly due to the presence of so-called persisters, dormant bacteria that can survive antibiotic treatment and regrow as biofilms when antibiotic pressure recedes. I will discuss how exploring tolerance emerging from bacterial biofilm communities could lead to new perspectives to limit biofilm-associated infections or mitigate the emergence of antibiotic resistance.