How to use meeting controls in Microsoft Teams

Meeting Control By Desktop

The meeting controls at the top of your screen are a way for you to access different features within a meeting when you’re in Teams. By using the tool, you will be able to change your view of the world from a single screen, share your view with others, and much more as a result.

Show or hide all participants

Choose People from the menu if you would like to see a list of everyone who is currently in a meeting or a list of anyone who has been invited but has not yet joined.

On the right side of the screen, you will be able to see who is participating in the meeting. It is also possible to invite people to the meeting as well as to share the invitation to the meeting with other people as well, in addition to the list of participants in the meeting.

Select the list of people again if you wish to hide it.

See Invite people to a meeting for more information on how to do this.

Show or hide the meeting conversation

When you select Chat, you will be able to access the meeting chat.

The meeting group chat can be viewed and participated in from this page.

It can be hidden by selecting Chat again in order to do so.

Check out our guide on how to use chat in a Team meeting to learn more about it.

Use reactions

If you are in a meeting, you can raise your hand to express your opinion or express yourself through reactions.

In a meeting, you should react as follows:

1. Select Reactions from the drop-down menu.
2. Among the options you have, you can choose from likes, loves, applauses, laughs, and surprised reactions.

As soon as you select a reaction, it will appear on the screen for all the participants in the meeting for a few seconds.

The option of raising your hand can also be selected, but the graphic will continue to display for everyone until your hand is lowered or until the presenter of the meeting lowers their hand.

Here you will find resources you can use to learn more about how to participate in Teams meetings. You will be able to express yourself through live reactions and even raise your hand during meetings.

Create a breakout room

It is also possible for meeting organizers and presenters to create and assign people to breakout rooms if you are appointed as a breakout room manager within the meeting.

Visit the Use breakout rooms and Join a breakout room pages if you want to learn more about breakout rooms.

Add an app

When you are using the Meetings Event Management feature, there is an option you can use that allows you to search for and add apps relevant to the meeting you will be planning or presenting. This is an excellent way to make sure the meeting is successful.

The following link will give you more information about how to use apps in meetings with Teams.

More actions

If you select More, you will be able to access a menu where you will be able to take other actions within the meeting.

One of the most popular options found in the menu of additional actions is the option to start recording, as well as applying background effects or turning off incoming video. Among the most common options is the option to start recording.

By visiting Customize your meeting view, you can learn more about how to customize the meeting view for your meetings and how to do it.

Turn your camera on or off

Using your camera, you can turn it on by following these steps:

1. The camera will appear when you hover over it.
2. There will be a small preview of your video that you can see when you download the private preview.
3. For example, you may want to choose if you want the background of your meeting to be blurred or if you want more effects on the background.

1. If you wish to enable the camera, select the Camera option.

Select Camera again if you would like to turn off your camera.

See Using video for more information on how to use it.

Note: When attending a live event, or a public webinar (open registration), there is no default setting for the camera that is set by default when you are attending a live event. Therefore, when you are attending a live event, the camera will be automatically turned off. More information can be found by attending a webinar on How to get started with Teams or attending a live event.

Mute or unmute your mic

If you’re already muted in a meeting and you’d like to speak:

1. Unmuting your microphone can be done by selecting Mic from the menu.
2. You can mute again by selecting the Mic button.

The following article will explain how to mute and unmute your microphone in more detail.

Share your screen

As part of your meeting preparation, you will need to share your screen or other content as follows:

1. Please select the Share option.
2. A whiteboard can be presented alongside a PowerPoint file, a window, your entire screen, or a PowerPoint file.

I would recommend that you check out this page if you are interested in learning more about how to share content within a team meeting.

Leave or end a meeting

Leave is the option you need to choose when leaving a meeting. Those of you who are the meeting presenters can also choose the End meeting option from the dropdown menu if you are the presenter. Meetings can only be terminated by the presenter of the meeting.

Meeting Control By Mobile

You can access a number of meeting controls both from the top as well as the bottom of your screen if you are in a meeting on a mobile device.

Show or hide the meeting conversation

On the upper-right corner of the screen, click Chat in order to access the meeting chat conversation. You can hide it by tapping the Back button.

Show or hide all participants

Tap the People button within your screen if you want to see a list of everyone in your meeting now-or who has been invited but hasn’t attended the meeting-or if you want to see a list of everyone who was invited but was not present. The list can be hidden by tapping the Back button.

Turn your camera on or off

During a meeting, you will find the camera icon in the bottom left corner of your screen to help you turn on the camera if you want to talk to others. By tapping Camera again, you will be able to turn it off.

Mute or unmute your mic

As soon as you tap Mic on the lower left corner of your screen during a meeting, your mic will become unmuted. It is necessary to tap the Mic again in order to mute the audio.

Mobile speaker options

Swiping to the right from the bottom-middle of the screen in order to access its Speaker option, and then clicking on Speaker, will bring up the speaker option on your screen. As a result of this step, you will be able to choose whether to disable your audio or change the source of your audio.

More actions

The More button at the bottom-left corner of your screen will open a menu that allows you to access other options for the meeting depending on what you want to do.

If you choose Reactions, Chat, People, Share, and Views in the Reactions section, you will be able to see them in the order they appear.

If you want backgrounds, you can start recording, or you can add effects.

When you want to exit, you can tap anywhere on the screen above the reactions section at the top.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the meeting control bar in Microsoft teams?