How to Upload and Change Your Background in Microsoft Teams 1

How to Upload and Change Your Background in Microsoft Teams

After Zoom took the lead in video conferencing solution for the masses and businesses alike, it looks like Microsoft has landed in a soup. The Redmond giant is rushing to implement many of the Zoom features in the Microsoft Teams app. After bringing a free tier to Teams, the company announced the background feature in Microsoft Teams, similar to the virtual background in Zoom. We tested the feature and it worked well enough. In this article, we provide you with a detailed guide on how to change your background in Microsoft Teams. Apart from that, we also mentioned how to upload custom images as backgrounds in Microsoft Teams, even if the feature isn’t available yet. So, without wasting any time, let’s go over the article.

Change Your Background in Microsoft Teams

Similar to Zoom, you can now change the background in Microsoft Teams. However, it only supports images and the feature For now, it’s limited to Windows and macOS only. This feature is not available in the web version of Microsoft Teams as well as the mobile apps, so keep that in mind. Now, without further ado, let’s move on to the steps.

Note: Update the Microsoft Teams app to the latest version to get the background feature. You can download the latest build from here.

1. All you have to do is, Go to the “Calls” or “Chat” menu and choose your contacts. After that, press the “video call” button to make a call.

2. When the call is established, tap on it. three dot menu and turn on “Show background effects”.

Change Your Background in Microsoft Teams

3. You will now get a set of images selected by Microsoft in the right pane. Here, click on the picture and then Click twice on “Preview” (there are some bugs) to take a look at the new background. After that, click on the “Apply and open video” option to make the final changes. This is how you can change your background in Microsoft Teams.

Change Your Background in Microsoft Teams

4. In case, just blur the background then just tap on “Blur background” option at the top.

blur the background

Upload Custom Backgrounds in Microsoft Teams

During the announcement of the background feature, Microsoft stated that you can currently only change the background from pre-loaded images in the Teams app. The ability to upload your own images will come in the future. But what if I tell you this you can access the feature right now? Well, there is always a way out. Follow.

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Note: As of now, this method only works on Windows computers with the Microsoft Teams desktop app.

1. Open My Computer or any file explorer window and paste the following path in the address bar.

%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Teams\Backgrounds\Uploads

Upload Custom Background in Microsoft Teams

2. After that, press enter and it will take you directly to the “Installation” directory of Microsoft Teams. Now move the images to your desired “Upload” folder as Microsoft Teams background.

How to Upload and Change Your Background in Microsoft Teams

3. Finally, open the Microsoft Teams app and make a video call similar to the first part. Click on “Show background effects” and scroll to bottom in the right pane. Here you will find the image you just moved to the Upload folder. Now apply the image that works as intended in Microsoft Teams, and voila, the custom background.

How to Upload and Change Your Background in Microsoft Teams

Add Your Own Images to the Microsoft Teams Background and Have Fun

This is how you can change the background in Microsoft Teams and also add your custom images via a simple hack. In my testing, the background feature in Microsoft Teams worked pretty well, but it certainly wasn’t as smooth and distinctive as Zoom. I think Microsoft will make significant improvements in the coming days and bring this neat feature to Android and iOS as well. Anyway, that’s it for us. If you’re having trouble uploading background images to Microsoft Teams, leave a comment below. We will definitely help you. If you’re looking for a free Zoom alternative that doesn’t require signing up or downloading apps, check out Skype Meet Now.

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