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Add your own background image to a Teams call

Microsoft now lets you add your own virtual background image for Teams video calls.

Before this change, there was a simple hack to add your own image as a virtual background.

Microsoft rushed to add virtual backgrounds to Teams video in response to the popularity of Zoom.

A major problem remains, you can’t change the background or change some other call settings until you’re in a call.  If you see someone joining a Teams call then fussing with their settings, blame Microsoft.

In a Teams video chat, look for the three dots indicating a further menu, then choose ‘Show background effects’. 

What’s changed is the ‘Add new’ option at the top of the Background Settings list.

Reminder: on top right of the image list is a ’blurred video’ choice using your current camera.

Your background image is added to the bottom of the list, so scroll down to find the one you just added.

Add more than one personal image to make your own library of background images.

Choose an image then click Preview to see a larger version.

To use the selected background in a call, select ‘Apply and turn on video’.

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