Tips for Teams meetings

Preview your video

When you're in a meeting, preview your video before you turn on your camera: 

1. Select the dropdown arrow next to Camera   to preview your video.

2. Preview how you'd like to appear:

   • Select Blur to blur your background.

   • Select More background effects to preview a custom background or add your own.

3. When you're ready, select Apply and turn on video.

Share your screen

• In your meeting controls, select Share   to present your screen. You can share:

  • Your desktop

  • Your windows

  • PowerPoint presentation

  • Whiteboard

Raise your hand and show reactions

• Select React   to choose a reaction to engage in a meeting:

• Select Raise  to let others know you'd like to speak up without interrupting the conversation.

Spotlight a video

When a featured speaker's talking, spotlight their video so it's the main one everyone sees.

• Right-click the video or avatar of the presenter you want to spotlight. Then, select Spotlight  .

• Select People   to see a list of everyone in the meeting. In the list, right-click the name of the person whose video you want to highlight and select Spotlight for everyone  .​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

To learn more, see Spotlight someone's video in Microsoft Teams meetings.

Choose a video layout

There are different video layouts for your meeting. On the meeting controls, select View   and choose one:

• Gallery  : This is the default view that shows a 3x3 video layout. 

  • If there's more than nine people, Teams prioritizes anyone with their video turned on, or those speaking the most.

• Speaker  : This view brings the focus on whoever is currently speaking.

• Large gallery  : This is a 7x7 video layout that lets you see up to 49 other people at once.

  • 10 people must have their camera turned on. If no one's sharing video, Large gallery can't be selected from the menu.

• Together mode  : This layout lets you feel like you're in the same shared space with everyone in the meeting. Select Change scene to change the background for everyone.

  • Together mode is available if there's at least five people in a meeting.

Create breakout rooms

Create and open breakout rooms to let attendees hold smaller, more focused discussions.

1. On the meeting controls, select Rooms  .

2. Choose how many rooms you need and how to assign participants.

3. Select Create rooms > Start rooms.

To learn more, see Use breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams meetings.