Microsoft Teams is a great tool for team collaboration on the web. You can use it to create and manage meetings, share files, and more. But there are a few things you can do to make it even better. One way is to use together mode. This feature lets you join meetings with other people in the same chat room or window, and then work on tasks together. It’s great for when you need to work on a project but don’t want to leave your chat room or window open. Another way to make Microsoft Teams better is by using rich media tools. You can use photos, videos, and maps to help plan meetings and share files. These tools make it easy for people to see what’s happening in their chat room or window while they’re working on something else.
Using virtual backgrounds in Microsoft Teams does bring some variety to your video conference, but the grid layout remains the same. Change it up with Together Mode, putting everyone on the call into a single virtual scene. Here’s how to use it.
With Together Mode, the videos of the participants in a Microsoft Teams meeting appear in a shared virtual environment-like scene. Unfortunately, at the time of writing in July of 2021, Together Mode only offers one scene for the web version of Microsoft Teams.
Switching from the grid-style layout can help you make the video calls a bit more fun or different. You get a single, uniform environment view instead of a grid consisting of custom backgrounds. Together Mode is usable with Microsoft Teams web version on Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.
RELATED: How to Use Virtual Backgrounds in Microsoft Teams
Activate Together Mode on Edge and Chrome
Open the Microsoft Teams web app in Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome and sign in. Select the “Meet Now” button to start a new meeting or hit the “Join” button to join an ongoing one.
Once you enter a meeting, select the Ellipses (three-dot menu) icon on the floating bar to get more options.
Select “Together Mode.” It might be labeled “Together Mode (Preview).”
Your default grid layout will switch to an auditorium-like scene showing every participant in a seat.
Using Together Mode changes how you see other people in a meeting without letting them know. So this view is available to you, but if others want to see it, they will have to enable it on their side.
That’s how you can turn video calls into fun and informal situations in Microsoft Teams in Edge or Chrome, at least for yourself.
RELATED: How to Use Live Captions in Microsoft Teams
