Forum Discussion
MS Teams Select Background outside of conference call
Is there a way in MS Teams to change or 'try on' different backgrounds before or without starting a new meeting?
I have been able to upload backgrounds and test them during conference calls, but have not been able to view them outside of meetings.
- Hey!
If you go in Calendar, then in the top right corner you click 'Meet now's, if you go in 'Start meeting' you'll get the same preview as if you were joining a meeting with someone else.
- Hey!
If you go in Calendar, then in the top right corner you click 'Meet now's, if you go in 'Start meeting' you'll get the same preview as if you were joining a meeting with someone else.- How unusably counterintuitive! But I'm glad there exists SOME way to test video options outside of an actual meeting. Thanks for the tip, @Joeteuna_Smokes. Those options should exist somewhere outside of Calendar > Meet Now, for example, these should be available **within** every call (not just before), in device settings.
- Agree! This is a VERY awkward work around. Backgrounds should be selectable at any time while setting up your video device. That's the way the competition does it. Only one of many ways that ZOOM outshines Teams.
- This is why Microsoft will never be Apple. Counterintuitive design, layered ad infinitum.
mroemen You are correct. It is poor design. If I use Zoom it is quite easy to change my virtual background outside of a call. Having to go to the Teams calendar and start a fake meeting is clunky and not intuitive at all.
- Thanks. I wonder why MS never thought of including this in the App Settings. It is a straight forward use case.
Hi, you can setup a test meeting, and then when you go to join it, you will see the following options.
Click on the third option which is;
Then you'll see the available backgrounds appear in the right pane, and you can try them without joining.
- This is annoying workaround. Instead better to have it in camera settings.
- Hello, you're replying to an old post. The "pre-join" experience is already rolled out. Meaning you can choose audio and video settings before clicking on the join button.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?searchterms=64931&filters=&searchterms=67089
could it be that in the current version, this is not possible anymore ?
These are the only options I have, even with the camera on.
on the menu left side of the window, just go to "Teams" and in that window, to the right top right corner, you will see the option of "Meet". go into that, and click "Meet Now". then you will get all the option to select background outside of conference call.
How can I upload a background with text and to see it properly and not as a mirror?
I stumbled here looking for a way to set up backgrounds without starting a meeting.
Regardless, you can take any image into MS Paint -> select all and then "flip it horizontally" and save it. This should "mirror" the words so it shows up ok in a background.
- I can't believe it's been 3 years, and the the best response from this thread is still the best option... Is MS on this website at all? It's a commonly searched question according to Google.
What does that say about @microsoft listening to their costomers Jason_KW ?
Ralph_Mbeki What does it say about @Microsoft listening to their customers? It says they don't care as long as they can take your money. They figure they have such a huge market share it doesn't matter and they are untouchable. They need to remember that IBM was once in same position as them until Microsoft came along and took it away. Who's next?
Another example of how bad a lot of Microsoft features are implemented. Why just not add the background settings with the other Teams settings? Was this to easy for the users? Teams is just another perfect example how wrong UX and GUI design can get ...
I sent a teams meeting invite to myself > started the meeting > added changes > previewed the changes and saved it .. too easy 🙂
- Joetuna_Smokes idea is the best i've seen
"If you go in Calendar, then in the top right corner you click 'Meet now's, if you go in 'Start meeting' you'll get the same preview as if you were joining a meeting with someone else." less steps than inviting yourself etc Yeah that works Hvchapade, I know and it's how I do it now. But sometimes things are not about the pragmatic solution, but about the principle of it. Let's hope someone at MS picks this up and they'll find a way of improving the integrating of video meetings with the actual main screen of Teams.
It's no wonder nearly everyone has this program but nobody wants to use it.
It's the least intuitive, least user friendly, and most readily available platform on the market!CinBoulder Microsoft in a nutshell
- Haha well put
- It is very counter-intuitive (and I'm on a Mac to be clear) but:
Find any meeting in the calendar and JOIN, and you get the pre-joining screen. DON'T press "JOIN NOW" but the settings should now be in front of you. Click the background icon as shown below, and bob's your uncle. - "Meet Now" should be "Start Meeting" instead. and backgrounds should definitely be added to the Devices settings. Better yet have Video( or Camera) and Audio settings instead of or in addition to Devices
- It remains a mystery to me how easily people accept workarounds rather than to push a company to do the things properly.
jamiejunior You can go into settings > devices > and make a test call. Not the most elegant because you only have a short window to be in the test call, but there's no limit to how many test calls you can make.
