Changing your background in Microsoft Teams lets you blur your surroundings or replace them with a custom image — useful for video calls when you’re working from home, in a busy office, or anywhere you’d rather not show what’s behind you. Here is how to set it up before and during a call.
Change Your Background Before Joining a Meeting
- When the meeting join screen appears (the one that lets you set your audio and video), look for the background options
- Click Background filters (or the background icon — it looks like a person in front of a landscape)
- The background panel opens on the right. Choose:
- Blur — blurs your real background without replacing it
- A preset image from the gallery
- A custom image you’ve uploaded
- Click Apply and then Join now
Change Your Background During a Meeting
- Click the More options button (three dots ···) in the meeting toolbar
- Click Video effects or Background effects
- Choose blur, a preset image, or a custom image
- Click Apply
The change takes effect immediately. Other participants see the new background straight away.
Adding a Custom Background Image
- Open the Background filters panel (using either method above)
- Scroll to the bottom of the image gallery
- Click Add new
- Browse to an image file on your computer and select it
Teams accepts JPG and PNG files. For best results, use a landscape-orientation image with a resolution of at least 1280×720. Avoid images with lots of fine detail — they can look distracting on video. Clean, simple backgrounds (a plain wall, a bookshelf, a neutral office environment) work best.
Background Blur — When to Use It
Blur is the most practical option for everyday calls. It softens everything behind you without the artificiality of a virtual background, and it works well even in rooms with challenging lighting or movement in the background. If you’re in a home office with visible laundry or an untidy desk, blur is the fastest fix.
Why Background Effects Might Not Be Available
If you don’t see the background options, there are two likely causes:
- Your hardware isn’t supported — background effects require a reasonably modern CPU. Teams checks this automatically. On older hardware, blur and virtual backgrounds may be unavailable.
- Your admin has disabled the feature — some organisations restrict background effects through Teams admin policy. If it’s available to colleagues but not you, speak to your IT team.
Turning Off Your Background Effect
Go back to Video effects → Background effects and click None. Your real background will be visible again immediately.
