How to change background on Microsoft Teams before meeting

Here are the three ways to change the background appearance of a Teams video call or meeting.

Microsoft Teams change background
Microsoft Teams change background
  • To change the Microsoft Teams background, open a meeting or call, click on “Background filters,” select the background images, enable background blur, or specify a custom background.

On Microsoft Teams, it’s possible to change the background appearance of a video call or meeting with a blur, images with different scenes, or custom images, whether you use the app on Windows 11, 10, macOS, Linux, Android, or iOS.

This feature is perfect for hiding the mess in your office, location, or for whatever other reason. (Since this functionality is not perfect, blurring or replacing the background might not prevent sensitive information from being visible to other people.)

This guide will teach you the different ways you use to change the background appearance of a video call using Microsoft Teams.

Change background image on Microsoft Teams

To change the background image before meetings on Microsoft Teams, use these steps:

  1. Open Microsoft Teams.

  2. Click the Meet button (or start the pre-call).

    Teams start meeting

  3. Turn on the Camera toggle switch.

  4. In the preview before the video meeting, click the “Background filters” option.

    Teams background filters

    Quick note: If you are already in the video call, open the More (three-dotted) button and select the “Apply background effects” option to access the appearance settings.
  5. Choose the background for the video call.

    Teams change background image

  6. (Optional) Choose the empty option to remove the background from the call.

Once you complete the steps, you can proceed to the meeting with the new background image.

It’s important to note that the option to change background is only available before proceeding to call. You can’t change the settings outside of the call.

Enable background blur on Microsoft Teams

To blur the background for videos on Microsoft Teams, use these steps:

  1. Open Microsoft Teams.

  2. Click the Meet button (or start the pre-call).

    Teams start meeting

  3. Turn on the Camera toggle switch.

  4. In the preview before the video meeting, click the “Background filters” option.

    Teams background filters

  5. Select the Blur option.

    Teams enable background blur

After you complete the steps, people will be able to see you, but the background will show as a blur during the meeting.

Add custom background on Microsoft Teams

To add a custom background image on Microsoft Teams, use these steps:

  1. Open Microsoft Teams.

  2. Click the Meet button (or start the pre-call).

    Teams start meeting

  3. Turn on the Camera toggle switch.

  4. In the preview before the video meeting, click the “Background filters” option.

    Teams background filters

  5. Click the Add new option.

    Teams add custom background image

  6. Select the image to use as the background for the video call.

  7. Click the Open button.

Once you complete the steps, the background will include your custom image during the meeting. It’s worth noting that the custom image must be at least 360 x 360 pixels up to 2048 x 2048, and the file type has to be .jpg, .jpeg, .png, or .bmp.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].