SOLVED

can't find option for full screen after update

Iron Contributor

The most recent update to teams moved the controls to the top but seems to have removed the ability to show the meeting in full screen. We do a lot of code sharing and depend on the ability stretch to full screen to make the code easier to read.

149 Replies

@NathanMcCorkle 

But what do you mean by Full Screen in the Browser?  A little difficult for me experiment with and I've found things where it looks like you get Full Screen and then when you add a participant the screen isn't Full Screen and from the way you describe what you are talking about it would sound like you are only trying this with Shared Screens and there is a different experience when using it as a Video Call mechanism.

 

Secondly in your Browser experience does the Browser Window itself still show meaning with the Title Bar?  If so this also is not Full Screen.

 

I have to ask these questions because a lot of inexperienced people have claimed that Teams did have Full Screen including Microsoft and in the end it wasn't True Full Screen even with the Full Screen option selected.

 

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

I had to press F11 to make the browser full-screen, then in the meeting controls (mute, hang-up, etc...) click the 3 dots and then "fullscreen" in there.

I only tried this with screen sharing, we don't really use video much here.

@NathanMcCorkle 

I did a quick search for F11 with Firefox and apparently this was met with limited success.  One person was able to get the browser to go to Full Screen (a claim and it was with Zoom not Teams) but then later when trying it again could not get it to do so.  And again when I say Full Screen, I mean you don't even see the Browser Window (Title Bar, menu Bar, etc.).

 

I may have seen Shared Screen go to Full Screen but not on a Video Call (one to one).  I can't really remember because I haven't seen much in the way of a True Full Screen myself but then I mostly use the Teams App which generally gives you better features than in a Browser.  But as example to what I mean by believing Full Screen was present, I could when setting up to Host a meeting, I could see a True Full Screen but once a participant was added to the Meeting, I could not get a Full True Screen.

 

So again I doubt that a True Full Screen is available unless I see it in real life because so far I have not seen it and I am using the most current version of Teams App.  And so many people when they talk about Full Screen are really only talking about on a Shared Screen and that is not where everybody uses Full Screen.  Again I accept as Full Screen the inclusion of your User Image showing on a portion of the Full Screen image as this in my opinion something you want to see.  What would be nice though is if you could turn that User Image off (without disabling you webcam) or at least be able to reposition the User Image location.  Many years ago with Skype you could reposition the Image and even under the right conditions (not a Full Screen) the User Image would actually appear outside the Skype Window.

Not sure what you mean "met with limited success". F11 is a common full-screen hotkey for web-browsers for at least a decade, maybe 2 or more.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-make-firefox-and-websites-go-full-screen
"Toggle Full Screen keyboard shortcut: Press the F11 key."

And yes, the title bar, URL/search bar, status bar (all browser bars, not MS Teams web-page) all disappear in browser full-screen mode.

I can try a video call later today and using it in full-screen mode, and take a screenshot if it looks "fullscreen" to me.
By 'Limited Success' I meant I had seen in Internet Google searches where the persons claimed they got F11 to work one time and then when attempting another time to do the same they couldn't achieve Full Screen.

I, too, am able to F11 to Full Screen but in the Teams App while it will take the Teams App Window to Full Screen and display the Menu (...) Elipsis and selecting Full Screen, I still cannot get rid of the Control Button information at the top of the Teams App Windows. So even if you had success in a Browswer it doesn't work seemingly in the Teams App unless I'm doing something wrong. So I would say Microsoft still has not implemented a True Full Screen.

Furthermore, F11 isn't really implementing True Full Screen, you are using with 'F11' a function outside of Teams to in effect get a workaround and again it doesn't seem to work with the Teams App itself in that I still can't get rid of the Control Buttons.

Also based on my experience, I would doubt that your 'workaround' would work outside of Screen Share mode but I won't swear to that.

These workaround tricks aren't necessary in other similar applications and were not necessary when Skype had implemented Full Screen many years ago as best I recall.

But thanks for the information. Your workaround might be appreciated more by others where it would meet their requirements. I tend to work more in a Video Call type usage (one to one).

@Jim_B175 

Yes, video chat works in full-screen, in the webapp, after making the browser full-screen, and clicking the "fullscreen" button in MS Teams.  When I pressed the "Print Screen" button, the controls popped back up, but I assure you they were not there just before pressing that keyboard button... they went away with either a single mouse click on the video, or waiting a few moments.

 

Yes this is a workaround... and MS still needs to fix this "for real". But at least there's a workaround (works for me anyway, though obviously less convenient).

@NathanMcCorkle 

Perhaps mystery solved.  You don't look like you are using the most current version of Teams.  The Button Controls stopped being accessible some months ago in the manner in which you describe and shown in your attached picture.  It looks like you are not using the Teams New Experience Option which recently became the only choice.  That is the Settings option to use New Experience went away and Teams started only using the New Experience.  I would say it Defaulted but a Default implies you have other options available and you don't.

 

In the current Teams App version (which is the New Experience version), the Button Controls are permanently displayed at the top of the Teams window (even in a non-maximized window) just under the Window Title Bar.  I am using the Teams App Version 1.4.00.7174 (64-bit) which may not translate to the same version used in the Web App.

 

I have attached a picture of what I get doing what you say was your workaround.  Note this is Full Screen as you described how to do with F11 and selecting (...) Elipsis menu option Full Screen.  It also is a Hosted Meeting display with No Participants.  You will see the Control Buttons at the top of the Screen in a Black Bar which stretches entirely across the top of the screen.  This is not my idea or anyone else's idea I believe of a True Full Screen.

Hi Jim, is your screenshot showing the web-browser Teams? It looks like the non-browser version to me.

@NathanMcCorkle 

I believe I indicated I was using the Teams App and not the Web Browser but yes I was using the Teams App which had recently been updated.  But the recent update wouldn't have changed anything either as what I described had been the case for some months now, I believe except that originally in the Teams App there was an option to use the New Experience option which now apparently that option doesn't exist anymore in Settings and the New Experience now appears to be how Teams App functions all the time.  I think this change possibly occurred sometime this month as I didn't notice this fact until this month.  I had been using the Default New Experience option all along which is why I may not have noticed this particular change until this month when I was looking at the Settings.

 

The screen print of the Teams App screen was also arrived at by pressing F11 but the same results happen if you merely select Full Screen from the (...) Elipsis Menu Option.  And I did notice something about the Full Screen function that hasn't been mentioned before as far as I know.  When you select the Full Screen option from the (...) Elipsis menu selection, the Windows Title Bar goes away leaving the Contol Button Bar showing.  This implies to me that Teams has added to the top of the Screen the Control Button Bar which makes it a part of the Screen.  Then when you click on Full Screen, it will show you a Full Screen but now since the Control Button Bar has been made a part of the screen, it continues to show.  This would indicate why Microsoft was claiming they had the Full Screen option but in effect they did not because they took up additional space at the top of the Screen when the Control Button Bar was added to the top of the Screen. It would have worked better if they kept the disappearing Control Button Bar they had before New Experience option.  The Control Buttons would appear if you moved the mouse in the non-New Experience option.  This would give you the Control Buttons when you needed them and get the Control Buttons out of the way when you didn't need them.

 

It should be noted that my Screen Print is of a Hosted Meeting screen and not just a Video Call.  It should also be noted there were no meeting Participants which means that the User Image would be showing at the bottom of the screen in a Black Bar extending completely across the bottom of the screen if memory serves me correctly.  This further reduces the size of the meeting image from not occupying the Full Screen of the Monitor.  As I stated in earlier Posts, I consider the User Image showing overlaying the Full Screen with the User Image as acceptable because you want to see what the Participants are seeing of you.  But what I am describing as acceptable for the User Image should not be displayed in this Black Bar at the Bottom of the screen because that takes away screen space that otherwise would be displayed.   The User Image should just overlay that part of the Full Screen to accommodate the User Image.  It would also be nice if you could relocate the User Image to various positions on the Full Screen as Skype I believe used to allow you to do.

@Jim_B175 and all:

 

If you have the possibility, just have a look at Teams for Linux. It simply does what you expect when you click "Activate Full Screen Mode". You get the contents of the Teams window resized so that there are no remaining window borders or controls, and it fits the entire screen. 

Very useful for any kind of shared content. 

The meeting controls are a bar that appears in the middle of the lower part of the screen, and it automatically disappears after a while if you do not move the mouse. 

As soon as you move the mouse, it reappears, and you are also able to exit Full Screen Mode, to get back all your controls.

 

I am just wondering why this does not appear to be possible on Windows but Linux only. 

 

Kind regards.

@DAC324 

 

No I can't check Microsoft Teams for Linux (no capability) but what I suspect is the reason you see what you are reporting is probably due to the version of Teams available on Linux is probably older than what is presented on Windows.  I believe I remember that Teams on Windows did operate in the manner you describe for Linux as I seem to remember seeing it work that way on Windows when I first started trying Teams on Windows but as I'm now finding out Microsoft in its infinite wisdom decided that Users didn't want their controls to be hidden as you are seeing them hidden on Linux.  So, Microsoft apparently made the controls not disappear at all when no Mouse movement.  I do not find it a problem to have to move my Mouse to get the controls to appear and prefer it to having them take up space on the Screen.

 

I suspect that eventually Teams on Linux will catch up to the Windows versions and then you will see the same thing on the Linux version as I see now on the Windows version.

 

And again I will point out that my desire to see the controls hide when there isn't Mouse movement is not only desired for when Sharing a screen but also when you are just in a Video Call with the participants and no Screen Sharing.  So, I want them to hide whether presenting or not presenting to participants.

 

Thank you for the information though about the Linux version.

In summary, there is no way currently to make shared content (presentations, screen-share, etc) full-screen. This makes Teams clearly inferior to all other products that can show the presenter's full-screen content on the viewer's full-screen monitor. 

 

Any appearance of "control bars", talking heads, etc immediately violates the definition of "full-screen content", and both shrinks and blurs the content.

 

It is simply untruthful to claim content can be shared full-screen in Teams for Windows or Mac. The presence of an option labeled "Full Screen" is misleading, innacurate, and frankly offensive. Bring back full-screen content sharing. No more excuses, please. 

Thank you but I don't have that option under my applications on my Teams and I wonder is there a way of turning this off on a Microsoft teams room ?

@Mark Gibbs To the best of my knowledge the feature currentlly labeled as "full screen" is best described as "almost full screen".

 

Geez. Had to go back to page 1 ... the "disable new meeting experience" setting went away a long time ago.
@Pernille-Eskebo when are you planning to give back the true full screen?
All of a sudden today the toolbar and Full Screen options are no longer available in the browser version of Teams. It's essential to have those as we share a meeting on the portal into the Live event on the laptop. I couldn' do that today so someone else had to live strem for me (they still have those options)

@ShelaghT 

 

I don't use Browser version myself but it's possible the option is located somewhere else but even so have you tried to toggle to Full Screen using PF11.  This is how I get to Full Screen in my Teams App but even so you still have to make sure that you are in I believe the normal mode Window of the session (not a Teams mode).

 

Also a simple solution might be to just install the Teams App and use that as it appears to still be available there.

@Jim_B175 The fullscreen in the teams app is not a true fullscreen, it retains a bar of controls across the top.  This is the entire point of this kvetch.  Fullscreen is no longer available, it's a "mostly full screen".  But that involves scaling a shared screen down just a little bit so that it fits in the available space.  This compromises the fidelity of the image.

@rmhartman 

I had sort of given up on badgering Microsoft as they seemed not to want to change anything.  I have been badgering for quite a while on this topic.  However, I seem to remember recently seeing that I did get a True Full Screen with No Border Controls.  I was surprised as I didn't think it had been changed.  I did note though (if I am correct with my memory) the Full Screen was only working when Sharing a Screen.  I wanted to see it work the way it used to work in Skype where you got the Full Screen even when not Sharing your Screen.  I use Microsoft Teams Version 1.5.00.14473 (64-bit).

 

Do note though that I primarily use the App when in a Teams Session and I don't use a Browser Session.