Video Conferencing

Learn to join, participate in, and schedule meetings with Teams.

Join a meeting

Join a Teams meeting

In your email invite, select Join the meeting now.

You can also use a dial-in number and conference ID from the email to call in.
You have three choices:
- Download the Windows app: Download the Teams desktop app.
- Continue on this browser: Join a Teams meeting on the web.
- Open your Teams app: If you already have the Teams app, go right to your meeting.
Type your name.
Choose your audio and video settings.
Select Join now.
Depending on meeting settings, you'll get in right away, or go to a lobby where someone in the meeting will admit you.

Participate in a meeting (meeting controls)

Enhance and customize your meeting experience in Microsoft Teams with these audio, video, and collaboration tips.

Preview your video

When you're in a meeting, preview your video before you turn on your camera:

Select the dropdown arrow next to Camera to preview your video.
Preview how you'd like to appear:
- Select Blur to blur your background.
- Select More background effects to preview a custom background or add your own.
When you're ready, select Apply and turn on video.

Raise your hand and show reactions

Select React to choose a reaction to engage in a meeting:
Select Raise to let others know you'd like to speak up without interrupting the conversation.

Choose a video layout

There are different video layouts for your meeting. On the meeting controls, select View Gallery view icon and choose one:

Gallery : This is the default view that shows a 3x3 video layout.
- If there's more than nine people, Teams prioritizes anyone with their video turned on, or those speaking the most.
Speaker : This view brings the focus on whoever is currently speaking.
Large gallery : This is a 7x7 video layout that lets you see up to 49 other people at once.
- 10 people must have their camera turned on. If no one's sharing video, Large gallery can't be selected from the menu.
Together mode : This layout lets you feel like you're in the same shared space with everyone in the meeting. Select Change scene to change the background for everyone.
- Together mode is available if there's at least five people in a meeting.

Create breakout rooms

Create and open breakout rooms to let attendees hold smaller, more focused discussions.

On the meeting controls, select Rooms .
Choose how many rooms you need and how to assign participants.
Select Create rooms > Start rooms.

To learn more, see Use breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams meetings.

Share your screen

In Microsoft Teams, you can show your desktop, a specific app, a whiteboard, or a presentation in a meeting.

In your meeting controls, select Share .
Turn on the Include sound toggle to share your computer audio.
Select what you want to share:
- Screen lets you show everything on your screen.
- Window lets you share an open window on your screen, like a browser page.
- PowerPoint Live lets you share a PowerPoint presentation.
- Microsoft Whiteboard lets you share a collaborative whiteboard.
After you select what you want to show, a red border surrounds what you're sharing.
Select Stop sharing to stop showing your screen.

Meeting participants won't see your notifications while you're presenting.

Schedule a meeting

To schedule a Teams meeting from Google Calendar:

Create the meeting normally
Select "Add video conferencing"
Drop down to "Microsoft Teams Meeting"
The meeting link will be shared with all of the guests you have invited to your meeting.

Note: If this is your first time scheduling a Teams meeting you will be asked to log into Microsoft. You will use your email address, then your password (which should be the same as your Google password), and last your Microsoft MFA (likely a code texted to you). You will not have to repeat this verification again in the future.

If you would like to includ the meeting link in an email, open the calendar event and highlight "Join Microsoft Teams Meeting" and paste it into your email. The meeting link should come with the text.

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