Use a screen reader to manage Microsoft Teams meetings
Applies ToMicrosoft Teams

This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Windows tools or features and Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Accessibility help & learning content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.

Use your keyboard and a screen reader to manage meetings in Microsoft Teams for Windows. We have tested it with JAWS and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll learn how to mute all participants, prevent participants from unmuting their microphones, and spotlight a video during a meeting. 

Notes: 

In this topic

Mute all participants in a meeting

To avoid any confusion as to who’s speaking and reduce noise, you can mute all participants simultaneously.

Microsoft Teams will show the Mute all option in a meeting with three or more participants. Additionally, in meetings with more than five members, anyone joining the meeting will join as muted.

Prevent participants from unmuting their microphones 

If you're organizing a large meeting where you can't take questions from the participants or want to avoid random noises and distractions, you can keep the participants from unmuting their microphones. You can stop attendees from unmuting during a meeting or before the meeting.

Prevent unmuting during a meeting 

Prevent unmuting before the meeting

Spotlight a video

Spotlighting a video is like pinning or highlighting it for everyone in the meeting. As an organizer or presenter, you can choose anyone's video, including your own, to be the main video in the meeting.

Notes: 

  • You can spotlight a video only in the Gallery view mode.

  • If you record a meeting in which someone's video is spotlighted, the video won't be spotlighted in the recording. This is just a temporary limitation, though—stay tuned for updates.

  • Currently, you can only spotlight one video at a time.

See also

Use a screen reader to schedule a meeting in Microsoft Teams

Use a screen reader to join a meeting in Microsoft Teams

Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Teams

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Office 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Microsoft Teams

Learning the layout of Microsoft Teams with a screen reader

Technical support for customers with disabilities

Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.

If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.

Need more help?

Want more options?

Explore subscription benefits, browse training courses, learn how to secure your device, and more.