Microsoft Teams has become the lifeblood of the remote worker. With offices having to shutter as a result of the pandemic, being able to stay connected with your team through fluid communication, while ensuring that all programs, files and data remain connected, up-to-date and uninterrupted is essential.
But with offices gone, workers need to make sure that their personalities can still come through in their work, even if just in small ways. For instance, changing and personalizing backgrounds in Microsoft Teams.
Changing Your Background – Blur vs. Photo
One factor that is important to note is that changing your background falls into two different categories: you can either blur your background to conceal your location or replace your background entirely with any image that you desire.
Both options are available in the same place. To change your background, whether it be to blur it or to substitute a picture, select “Background Filters” just below the video button while the meeting is being set up.
Once selected, the right side of the screen will display background options.
To blur, select “Blur” from the available options. Doing so will retain your clarity of picture, while concealing the background of where you may be taking the meeting, helpful if, for instance, you are somewhere with a distracting or busy setting.
If you would like to outright replace your background with an image, Microsoft Teams provides a library of available options, while also affording users the ability to upload a background themselves.
To do so, select “Add New” from the available options and select a file from your computer – ensuring that it is a .JPG, .BMP or .PNG file.
This will be your Microsoft Teams permanent meeting background until you move to change it.
Changing Mid-Meeting
If you would like to change your background during a meeting, head to “Meeting Controls” and select “More Actions.” From there, select “Apply Background Effects.”
Once the menu has populated, the same commands apply from adding before a meeting begins; select “Blur” for blurring the background and select “Add New” for uploading a photo or using one of the Microsoft Teams stock options.
When uploading a picture of your own, make sure that you have the highest possible level of quality for the image. We all want our personalities to come through but we don’t want to look cheap! Look in the file info to make sure it is a high-res photo, and, just to be safe, stay away from copyrighted material.
Need Help?
If you still need help with changing your background, or with any other issues that may arise using Microsoft Teams, let our team know at In The Cloud Technologies!
Our team at In The Cloud Technologies has ample experience advising businesses just like yours on best practices in the telecommunications world and beyond.
In The Cloud Technologies specializes in setting up businesses for remote workplaces, so for more information on how to optimize your business for remote operations, call 1-857-321-8458 or visit https://www.inthecloudtech.net today.
