How to Blur or Change Your Background in a Microsoft Teams Meeting

You want to hide what’s behind you on a Teams call by blurring the background or replacing it with an image.

Why: Teams applies a visual effect to your camera feed in real time. You can set it on the pre-join screen before anyone sees you, or switch it mid-meeting. Custom images must be a supported file type, and the feature isn’t available on every platform.

Step 1: Set your background before you join

This lets you fix your background before your camera goes live to others:

1. In your Teams Calendar, select the meeting and choose Join.
2. On the pre-join screen, select Effects and avatars.
3. To blur, select the dropdown arrow next to Blur and choose Standard blur or Portrait blur.
4. To use a Teams background, pick one of the supplied images instead.
5. Join the meeting — the effect is already applied.

Step 2: Change your background during a meeting

If you forgot to set it beforehand:

1. In your meeting controls, select More actions → Video effects and settings.
2. Select Video effects.
3. Choose Blur, or select one of the background images.
4. Select Preview to check how it looks, then select Apply.

Your chosen background persists across your future meetings and calls until you change it again.

Step 3: Add your own custom image

To use a photo of your own as the background:

1. Open Video effects (from the pre-join screen via Effects and avatars, or in-meeting via More actions → Video effects and settings → Video effects).
2. Select More video effects → Add new (in-meeting, just Add new).
3. Choose an image from your computer. It must be a .JPG, .PNG, or .BMP file.
4. Select it to apply, then Apply if prompted.

FAQ

I don’t see the background options. Background effects aren’t available on Linux, on optimized virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), or on older Android devices. On the desktop app on Windows or Mac the option lives under Effects and avatars / Video effects.

Will blur hide a confidential document behind me? Not reliably. Microsoft warns that blurring or replacing your background may not prevent sensitive information from being visible to others — move private material out of frame.

My custom image won’t upload. Confirm the file is .JPG, .PNG, or .BMP. Other formats (like HEIC or GIF) won’t be accepted by Add new.

Sources: Microsoft Support — Change your background in Microsoft Teams meetings