Functionality in a Teams Meeting
If you want to make the most out of your Teams meeting experience, check out the resources on this page and find out how to share your screen, take meeting notes, change your background and more.
See the table of contents below to jump to a topic, or keep scrolling to read through the whole page.
Share content in a meeting in Teams
Step-by-step instructions
To share your screen in a meeting, click the Share icon in your meeting controls (shown below).
Then, choose to present your entire desktop, a window, a PowerPoint file, or a whiteboard.
When you're done sharing, go to your meeting controls and click Stop sharing.
If you're using a Mac, you'll be prompted to change your privacy settings before you're able to share your screen. You can change screen sharing settings in System Preferences, Security & Privacy.
When to share your Desktop, a Window or a PowerPoint
Share your... | If you want to... | Great when... |
|---|---|---|
Desktop | Show your entire screen, including notifications and other desktop activity | You need to seamlessly share multiple windows |
Window | Show just one window, and no notifications or other desktop activity | You only need to show one thing and want to keep the rest of your screen to yourself |
PowerPoint | Present a PowerPoint file others can interact with | You need to share a presentation and want others to be able to move through it at their own pace |
Include system audio
Sharing your system audio lets you stream your computer audio to meeting participants through Teams. You can use it to play a video or audio clip as part of a presentation.
To share your system audio, click Share in your meeting controls and then Include system audio.
When you share, all your system audio, including notifications, will be included in the meeting. For more on sharing system audio, check out Share system audio in a Teams meeting.
Share PowerPoint slides in a meeting
If you choose to share a PowerPoint file in a meeting, participants will get some special capabilities:
They'll be able to move around to different slides without interrupting the main presentation.
They can sync their view back to the presenter's view with one click.
Click Share in your meeting controls.
In the PowerPoint section, select the file you want. Click Browse to find a different file.
Notes:
The PowerPoint section lists the most recent files you've opened or edited in your team SharePoint site or your OneDrive. If you select one of these files to present, all meeting participants will be able to view the slides during the meeting. Their access permissions to the file outside of the meeting won't change.
If you select Browse and choose to present a PowerPoint file that hasn't been uploaded to Teams before, it will get uploaded as part of the meeting. If you're presenting in a channel meeting, the file is uploaded to the Files tab in the channel, where all team members will have access to it. If you're presenting in a private meeting, the file is uploaded to your OneDrive, where only the meeting participants will be able to access it.
Give and take control of shared content
Give control
If you want another meeting participant to change a file, help you present, or demonstrate something, you can give control to that person. You will both be in control of the sharing, and you can take back control anytime.
Note: When you’re sharing an app, only give control to people you trust. People you give control to may send commands that could affect your system or other apps. We've taken steps to prevent this but haven't tested every possible system customization.
On the sharing toolbar, click Give control.
Select the name of the person you want to give control to.
Teams sends a notification to that person to let them know you’re sharing control. While you’re sharing control, they can make selections, edits, and other modifications to the shared screen.
To take control back, click Take back control.
Take control
To take control while another person is sharing, click Request control. Then, the person sharing will approve or deny your request.
While you have control, you can make selections, edits, and other modifications to the shared screen.
When you’re done, click Release control to stop sharing control.
Zoom in to shared content
Want to get a better look at shared content?
Click and drag to see different areas.
And to zoom in or out, try the following:
Pinch in or out on your trackpad
Use the keyboard shortcuts Control + Plus sign and Control + Minus sign
Hold the Control key and scroll with your mouse
Mac trackpads don't support zoom in meetings. If you're on a Mac, use one of the other options.
Take meeting notes in Teams
Meeting notes are a great place to capture and share notes before, during, and after a Teams meeting.
A few things to keep in mind:
Only people in the same org as the meeting organizer will be able to start or access meeting notes.
Meeting notes aren't available in meetings with more than 20 people.
Only people who are invited to a meeting before notes are created will have access to them. People invited later won't have access.
Before the meeting
To take notes before a meeting, go to Calendar, select the meeting, and then Chat with participants. Select the Meeting Notes tab, then Start taking meeting notes.
Add the agenda or other important discussion points. @mention people to get their attention or assign action items.
Pre-meeting notes are currently only available for meetings that don't take place in a channel. If you click Chat with participants in a meeting that takes place in a channel, you'll be taken to that channel.
During the meeting
Once you’re in the meeting, go to … (More actions) > Show meeting notes in your meeting controls. If you have not taken any notes yet, click Start taking meeting notes.
Otherwise, start typing your notes. Use the controls at the top of the panel to format and lay out the text. To add a new note, select Add a new section here. Use @mentions to draw someone's attention to a specific note or assign an action item.
In a recurring meeting, the notes persist from meeting to meeting. Each meeting becomes a new section in the notes.
After the meeting
If you want to access notes from a channel meeting, go to the channel where the meeting occurred and find the meeting. Beneath it, click Show notes in fullscreen.
If you want to access notes from a private meeting, go to Chat , find the meeting chat in your chat list, and click Show notes in fullscreen.
The meeting notes open in a Wiki tab that you can read or add to. Edit and format the tab just like you would any other Wiki tab.
Blur or Change your background in a Teams meeting
To start a meeting with background blur, move the blur slider—the one to the right of the video slider—to the right on the Choose your audio and video settings screen when you’re joining the meeting. FYI, this only works for scheduled meetings.
To turn on background blur or change your background image during a meeting, click … (More actions) > Show background effects.
On the right pane, the top row has no effect and blur. There are some preloaded background images or you can click Add New to browse your computer for an image to upload.
If you click Preview a small image will appear in the right pane of what you will look like. You then can click Apply and turn on video.
Participant Views
Switch between people and content
When someone's sharing a presentation, you can switch between viewing that content and watching the people in the room by simply clicking on the video you're interested in. Try this when there's a presentation taking place in a meeting room and you want to see who's talking and note their body language.
Pin a video
To focus on a particular video, right click and click Pin. The video will be pinned to your view regardless of who's talking. You can pin as many videos as will fit on your screen. If you change your mind, right click again and hit Unpin.
Reframe a video
Teams crops some videos to make them fit your screen better. If you want a different view of a particular video—for example, if someone’s cropped out of the video or it only shows part of their face—right click and click Fit to frame to see the entire video.
click Fill frame to see a closer, cropped view.
Manage audio settings in a Teams meeting
If people in a meeting can't hear you, you might be muted or you might not have configured your mic correctly.
To change your speaker, microphone, or camera settings when you’re on a call or in a meeting, click …(More actions) > Show device settings in your meeting controls. Then, select the speaker, microphone, and camera options you want.