How to Use Virtual Backgrounds in Microsoft Teams (and create them too)

This tutorial covers how to do a Zoom-like virtual background using Microsoft Teams. As soon as COVID hit and we all started working remotely, I saw Zoom virtual backgrounds, and I wanted to use them for all my meetings. But we use Microsoft Teams, not Zoom, and all I could find when I googled was a post on a Microsoft forum saying that they’re planning to implement the feature sometime this quarter. So I cobbled together a solution using Teams, Snap Camera and Snap Lens Studio.
Download Snap Camera for Mac or PC
/ download
Download Snap Lens Studio for Mac or PC
/ download
COVID-19 resources for marketers
golin.com/covid-19-resources/
More about me
www.brianpatricksnyder.com/
I'm happy to answer any questions I can in the comments. This my first attempt at doing a KZbin tutorial, so please be gentle with your comments on the production, okay?

[@nor-en414]

Your first tutorial is hit

[@user-kx7ph6ie2d]

I think this was a great tutorial! Thank you Mr. Brian Snyder for showing this and I hope you continue to do more tutorials like this.

[@rockstar696923]

Dude! As your 1st attempt this was great. You were clear & the instructions were straight forward & i achieved the background change. So thanks very much!

[@olgashahan4651]

That's fantastic! Thanks for sharing Brian. I can't wait to try it for my KZbin videos.

[@fayeh4412]

I wouldn't have guessed that this was your first tutorial video, great job Brian! Keep up the good work.

[@thangtrang6855]

I had the same problem and this helped me fix it. Thank you!!!

[@nidzavalentin8698]

That was AWESOME!! Thanks for taking the time to post.

[@lynnemonds]

Totally amazing! You're a genius, Brian...

[@veloo8535]

Thanks I’m going to mess around with my teachers now

[@nullitx2775]

Same

[@byjup6983]

Oops 😬 please don't misuse it

[@foodsurfer5819]

lol

[@deadpool96psamongus48]

lol

[@gretta74]

Used the new background today! It was fun. My student was in space.

[@elijahw.d.s.5145]

Thanks for the video Brian!

[@AMeierhoefer]

Great job explaining. To me this just shows that Microsoft is way behind. How could it be more complicated to get an image in the background than this when zoom just clicks a button, choosing an image and done. Microsoft just never realized that others will run away with video calls and now everybody talks about zoom and nobody mentioned skype or teams. Very well done for the first tutorial

[@sebastianfunk1743]

u doing great buddy love it

[@SaddamKhan-gy1le]

Thank u so much Brian :)

[@immortal3364]

The best tutorial available on internet.

[@beans197]

This is so underated! Thanks for the video

[@wharearonui7275]

Awesome, thank you for sharing.

[@metroytf]

def worth a sub . ty man.

[@UV69]

thanks for the great tutorial!

[@Magus5by5]

Microsoft Teams already has this functionality. When you are in the meeting, click on the three dots for "More actions" then click on "Show background effects".

[@Sebastian-oh5rh]

It's not out globally

[@StephenBoothUK]

Custom backgrounds is currently being rolled out as part of a Teams client right now. At the moment there’s no built in functionality to add your own background but there is a very simple way to get around it, on Windows at least, I don’t know about Mac or mobile devices. Under Teams in your application data folder there is a folder called Backgrounds, this is normally a hidden folder and the exact location varies by version and edition of Windows. On Windows 10 Professional edition it is %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Teams\Backgrounds (the %APPDATA% is an environment variable, if you don’t know what one of those is then you might be best asking a friend who does to do this for you, you could brick your PC or screw an application behind repair if you do the wrong thing). Under Backgrounds there is a folder called Uploads. Add any images you want to use in there. I’ve not tested what formats Teams supports but .jpg seems to work fine. Obviously this only works if you have the local client installed, but it’s been part of the base office 365 install for some time do unless you’re massively behind you should be OK. This avoids having to install other software and should work even if you’re PC is locked down. Or you could just wait for the ability to add your own backgrounds to be added to the client by Microsoft.

[@andreabo4222]

Hello, my edition is Windows 10 Home and my version 1909. Could you please help me to find the background folder?

[@enraycious]

Have you actually got this to work? These PNG background files appear to be overwritten as required from a cache (%AppData%\Microsoft\Teams\Cache) and are not user-modifiable.

[@gelosoriano]

I don't see any "backgrounds" folder in the path you provided. I updated MS Teams and have restarted it but still can't see it. :(

[@lukebutler1412]

Thank you great first vid!

[@BrianSnyderND]

I appreciate that! And Pugs! 😃

[@Y2KSTXR.]

Tanks for the info brian

[@nature-agt3725]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing this idea!

[@passionlife365spiritsoulbo9]

Thanks so much!! This as so helpful! Success!!

[@Jsh465]

Fantastic video! Thank you.

[@leonvocanec7672]

For the first video you are great

[@matthoye4974]

Good tutorial, and the snap camera is really fun to play with, but you no longer have to use the Lens studio to create the backgrounds. The feature is supported in Microsoft Teams right now. Here is the path to place the images you want to use as your backgrounds: C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Teams\Backgrounds\Uploads The default size for the stock backgrounds is 1920 x 1080, but I think you could get away with other sizes as well. I have not yet figured out how to have .GIF loop as a background behind me, but Teams does support snap camera filters that contain motion, so I imagine it is is possible!

[@BrianSnyderND]

Can you believe Microsoft announced they were adding this feature within an hour of me posting this video? That said, there's a lot of fun to be had with Snap Filters beyond backgrounds on professional video calls via Teams (or Google Hangouts, Bluejeans, Zoom, etc)

[@matthoye4974]

@@BrianSnyderND Ah such is life! MS just released a few more background images today, there were 5 yesterday, and about 15 today. My company had focused on Teams and all but phased out Bluejeans and Skype! I've not played around with the Snap camera and the lens creation software much at all yet, so I'll keep an eye on your channel for more!

[@flyingclown7039]

Good tutorial! thank u very much for helping^^ Greetings from Germany^^

[@braydenroyal1]

Thank you helped alot

[@jayrickvillanueva9057]

VERY USEFUL, THANKSSSSS!

[@julius700]

Great tutorial. THX

[@mustafahussein6302]

Thank you Brian.

[@robertoguzzetti8083]

Great job👍🏻

[@raigardasmeskauskas3731]

Very good video

[@thomas_viell]

Nice. Great tutorial. Just one comment: a few steps were a bit to fast. At least for me as a not native english speaker. But finally I was able to create my own background. Great Job. Well done. BR from Germany. Stay healthy.

[@BrianSnyderND]

Thank you for the feedback! I do tend to speak quickly. Sorry about that! Sending you best wishes for health and happiness! 😃

[@hanshans3188]

What for an camera do i need does 1280×720 is enough ?

[@robertreyes4251]

Thx so much...very well done. Easy for a boomer like me to follow!

[@robertreyes4251]

Thx again for this video, Brian. At 4:44 - Be sure to Flip your photos (mirror image) prior to adding them here in Lens Studio if you're being particular about the correct point of view perspective. It may just be formatting issue w/my Mac, just Fyi--I'm on a MacBook Pro 2012 running 10.13.6 MacOS High Sierra, so when I flip my photo horizontally (mirror) prior to adding them in Lens Studio they appear in the correct POV in Snap Camera. Hope this helps.

[@robertreyes4251]

Correction--haha! I just checked this. Disregards previous suggestions. The photo will look reversed from our point of view as the presenter when broadcasting but will be correct for your viewers. -R

[@kylescicluna1541]

thanks currently im in holidays but when i get back ill turn my self into a pickle

[@DoodleEh]

funniest shit i’ve ever seen.

[@majidalikhanquaid984]

Great video

[@keyranium1163]

very helpful vid

[@chrisnaidoo4596]

The only problem I'm faced with is that I have joined Teams as a "Guest" into my client's domain. I don't have admin rights to change any settings especially about making the Snap Cam a default, how can I get some assistance here... :)

[@manjulamaken7312]

In snap camera it is showing api-Ms-win-CRT-runtime is missing from your computer

[@theophileg.3828]

Cool! thanks

[@profirhuma]

I must admit, you are a saver dude. This Snap Cam is a really great tool, it does crash esp when I tilt my screen (I don't know why perhaps sudden shift in focus) but it is brilliant, Haven't used the studio yet but will do soon. Many thanks. This video deserve 1M views. Keep it up

[@k14michael]

So you have to use both apps or can you use just one app?

[@M55Mb]

Is it possible to have a video background on MS Teams, and not just a picture? On KZbin there are several videos with e.g. rustic livingrooms and fireplace etc. It would be a great option to use videos instead of images.

[@alexm20112012]

Do I need to have Microsoft team program To us backgrounds ?

[@z92cruz]

I wanna be a potato that why I’m here.

[@BrianSnyderND]

Show me 🥔

[@thealpha7848]

😂we've all seen it havent we

[@thespark5617]

Is your kitty?

[@tyson7213]

Thanks now i can troll my Class 🤣😅

[@newtonraphsons]

Thank you

[@freepalestine7050]

Nice

[@kinghackettRTC]

how do we remove the Snap logo in the bottom corner?

[@andew7763]

Exactly what I needed - How to use lens studio to create decent hide the junk behind me backgrounds 👍 Thank you

[@hana-id2gw]

When i try to see a preview all i see is the logo of the program? idk what to do

[@shebnihameed3275]

Yep

[@dasdo7390]

Thanx sir

[@CJFerg81]

Am I right in guessing that the change background feature is being gradually rolled-out? Many of my work colleagues have this feature but I don't despite updating Teams to the latest version available.

[@JamilKhan-hk1wl]

So the feature is currently built in into ms teams, just that we need to wait for the update???

[@ryanpalmer3214]

Are you able to blur your background?

[@JamilKhan-hk1wl]

@@ryanpalmer3214 yes can, it is there in ms teams

[@skirolf]

Hello. I can follow your steps from «here is the link to share” in the last part. Could you please show me how to do that?

[@pankajkumar-uj5nw]

Can i create a virtual background as an ataindee ?

[@astigren01]

Can it be done on Google duo?

[@hemasingh5066]

How can I use this in my pc

[@Aman-nq3yi]

tnx

[@alexm20112012]

Hi Great video I try to instal Snap cam but my computer has 32 bit instead of 64 so I won’t to know what can I do

[@nithinkvaidir]

Yes I agree to Syahmi

[@batterynerd8779]

Thankzzzz

[@fiestastguy1289]

I wanna do it with the t-rex from Jurassic Park 😂

[@issacgarza1799]

Vary good

[@frostyfrosterthing]

are these two ways or its only one way

[@rayvlogs4673]

Can you do it on an iPhone 5 plz

[@souvikmajumder7516]

Hi Brian Can u show us how it can be done using a smartphone.....

[@m.1793]

İ uploaded my work , & i didn't turn in as quiz deadline has finished , i still can see my work uploaded in my screen but not turned in ,,, im afraid my doctor wont see it .... Any Help ???

[@noble5541]

does anyone know if you can switch back to the normal camera

[@BrianSnyderND]

Yes. Once you install Snap Camera, you can turn the effect on and off.

[@MarsorryIckuatuna]

Not bad!

[@markjones6358]

Overall I thought sure 1st attempt at a how-to tech video surpassed a lot of other ones I've seen. They hurry through things too fast it's difficult to follow and they seem to think that everybody knows what they know. Although you did go a little too fast towards the end. Thank you.

[@TimBsTechTalk]

A bit too elaborate. Plus, Lens Studio is pretty large (1 GB). I think I will wait but very nice tutorial. You should post more often.

[@mamudha2787]

How to do in phone

[@cadjs]

Microsoft have added the ability to have custom backgrounds, but it does seem to be hardware dependant.

[@BrianSnyderND]

It's not! Microsoft added static backgrounds to the application, and there are a bunch of instruction videos out there for how to add your own. But for motion backgrounds or costumes, you gotta go with Snap camera!

[@cadjs]

@@BrianSnyderND It is! I have several users that don't get a menu option to blur or change their background. It only works if your hardware supports the necessary AVX2 extensions.

[@johnpalmer3848]

@@cadjs Probably connecting through their browser

[@cadjs]

@@johnpalmer3848 This seems to be a problem with browser and app

[@ryanpalmer3214]

@@cadjs That is spot on.

[@savithrinaidu7398]

On my laptop, if I select a snap camera it is showing a black screen . Kindly help

[@josephsmith5303]

This is now a native feature of Team... no need for any 3rd party apps.

[@dataventurer9998]

You may need to identify the camera that Snap is using in the settings.

[@IstasSB]

You don't need any applications. Drop your picture in the Teams Upload folder. C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Teams\Backgrounds\Uploads

[@BrianSnyderND]

Yep! That's the new hotness. Unless you want MOTION backgrounds!

[@YouDontKnowMeFam]

wow this video really blew up your youtube channel, would you be willing to share how much this video has made you? I am thinking of starting my own channel

[@MarsorryIckuatuna]

This is built into Teams now after the May 2020 Update.

[@russell1750]

Linux?

[@RamaKrishna-tk7iu]

How to use in Android mobile

[@applepodedits8440]

great stuff! Sadly the snapcamera doesn't work in Teams at my computer(?) Idk if I did anything wrong....

[@BrianSnyderND]

After you install Snap Camera, reboot your computer, check to make sure snap camera works on its own, then start teams and look to see if it's listed as one of the available web cams

[@applepodedits8440]

@@BrianSnyderND thank you for the quick response! I did reboot my computer... The app on it own works fine... And it does show up in teams. I'm currently downloading the lens studio app... Maybe that'll help :)

[@BrianSnyderND]

@@applepodedits8440 hmmmm if that doesn't help I wonder if your IT team has your computer locked down in some way? 🤔

[@applepodedits8440]

@@BrianSnyderND naah it's my personal computer and everything is just like in your video expect that it just shows a black screen if I try to use it in video calls

[@acgcst]

i think you said no when snap cam asked to use your camera by accident

[@deepmalavanker2199]

U gotta use green screen bro... btw nice tutorial

[@kylescicluna1541]

imma be pickle rick

[@Redhookguy2000]

Still images are so 2020....Use xsplit vCam so you can add video background.

[@simonmillard8931]

put a jpeg of your own image into %APPDATA% oaming\microsoft\teams\backgrounds\uploads. When you reopen the background option on the ... button it will be there.

[@lilmccluck]

It won't show up in cameras

[@summoner2100]

5 days after this was posted... Microsoft have added backgrounds in Teams..

[@summoner2100]

To add customs though you need to add via the user appdata folder currently.

[@summoner2100]

ah you're on Mac.. in that case, customs inside User library\application support\microsoft\teams\backgrounds\uploads

[@BrianSnyderND]

And they announced it about an hour after I posted this! Haha.

[@summoner2100]

@@BrianSnyderND It works surprisingly well actually, better than snap camera, and also the windows install of xsplit vcam..

[@summoner2100]

also, side note. If you hold a picture of a person up to camera while you have a Teams background, Teams will cut the person out and show it as you.. Have to hold the right spot though.

[@dast_uk]

Just place your background image into the Teams Uploads folder..

[@blackwaltz3135]

I checked %appdata\Roaming\microsoft\teams\background\uploads but that folder doesn't exist for me

[@nabu4679]

Sweet school is fun now

[@BrianSnyderND]

That's really all I'm aiming for.

[@kais9ch]

It is not available on Linux at this point

[@JROppenheimer1945]

i

[@New777World]

I could i lmagine that a green screen would be much better for much blend in quality from subject to background!

[@nullitx2775]

Yeah, but not everybody wants to go out of there way to buy a green screen, especially not during the pandemic. Plus, snap camera is so much easier to set up.

[@macoud12]

It's built into Teams now too.

[@issiewizzie]

it is ?

[@TechNerdGamerDad]

It’s not. You can only blur

[@jamisusijarvi646]

@@TechNerdGamerDad no you can also ad custom backgrounds. It's possible that's it not yet in every tenant. It's only few days old possibility

[@ram852]

This can be used for any application, not just Teams. If you are looking for Teams specific, this is much easy kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3OZe3aXq9-AbdU

[@z00h]

It's good that you focus on the important things with this product! And ignore complete bullshit ideas like: - being able to permanently delete channels and being able to reuse their names - being able to switch on and off the absolutely pointless notifications which describe each and every action that someone performs in a channel and which pollute the channel with unnecessary noise - being able to add apps like Planner to private channels I mean this is something people had been begging for for years so let's keep them hanging for as long as we do the important stuff like being able to put unicorns and rainbows in the background of videos. #priorities

[@randomstrangethings4204]

I think my teachers saw this

[@sergiogonzalez638]

Too bad I can’t download random apps on my company laptop