How to customize your background in Microsoft Teams

The great popularity acquired by Microsoft Teams in recent months has made the Redmond company accelerate the updates designed on this tool.

One of the most requested features was how to put a background on Microsoft Teams, in order to make them look more professional or add a fun touch to your meetings.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it.

How to put a background on Microsoft Teams

Now Microsoft Teams lets you customize the background before and during a meeting:

Change background during a meeting

The first step to activate this functionality is to find yourself in a video call and follow the next steps:

1. Click on the «More Actions» option (…) in the menu bar.
2. In the drop-down menu, select the option «Apply background effects»
3. A sidebar will appear where you can choose from all the available backgrounds. Click on «Preview» if you want to test the background on your screen before others see it; once you have decided, click «Apply».

Change background before a meeting

You can also add your background before joining a call:

1. As you set up the video and audio before entering the meeting, select «Background Filters», which is located just below your video image. Background options on the right will be displayed.
2. At this point, you just have to decide which option fits best to your preferences: blur the background, add your own image, choose a default…
3. The new fund will persist in all meetings and calls until it is changed again.

How to blur your background in Microsoft Teams

If you don’t want to add any custom background but still want to hide whatever is behind you during a meeting, you can also apply the blurred background effects, so whatever appears behind you is not perceived.

To do this, simply choose the «Blur» option from the various background that appears in the sidebar.

How to add your custom background in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams offers us the possibility of choosing between different scenes established within the platform, some more professional and others inspired by fantasy worlds.

However, it is also possible to use your own images as the background in meetings and video calls in Microsoft Teams.

1. Look for the Uploads folder

If you have a computer with a Windows operating system, you must access My PC and select the disk where you have Office installed, which in most cases will be the Local Disk (C:), in order to follow the next route:

• Users < Your User > AppData > Roaming > Microsoft > Teams > Backgrounds > Uploads

If you have a Mac operating system the route to follow is as follows:

• Users > Your User > Library > Application > Support > Teams > Backgrounds > Uploads

2. Upload your image

Once inside the folder, you simply have to leave the image you want to use as a video call background inside.

From then on, it will appear as one more image among the preset background offered by Microsoft Teams.

Attention! In order to import your own background into the tool, you must have the latest version of the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer. Please make sure that your images are approximately 1820×1080 in size and in JPG, JPEG or PNG format.

To get you started on this new feature, here are some of our own custom backgrounds for you to try. Simply click on the image and it will open in full size four you to save.

Do you want to become a Microsoft Teams expert? Don’t miss our complete tutorial with all the new features!