Microsoft Teams is an incredible video conferencing and workflow platform. Similar to programs like Zoom and Skype, Teams allows you to do more than just confer with your teammates. You’ll be able to share files, photos, and videos on these calls too, and the Teams app is available for most desktop PCs and mobile devices. But sometimes the most poignant features are the ones you have to dig a little deeper for.
Microsoft Teams (desktop or mobile)
For instance, did you know you can change your background when you’re on a Teams call? It’s actually pretty easy to pull this stunt off, and it adds quite a bit of character to your conversations. Here’s a set of step-by-step instructions to walk you through the process, for both desktop and mobile versions of the Teams app.
Starting up Teams and waiting for a meeting to begin? You can change your background right now!
Step 1: Open your Background Effects. Before joining a Teams video, you can easily see this icon just to the right of your microphone switch. It looks like a tiny person sitting in front of a static background. If you don't see this option on your device, then select Settings to take a closer look.
Step 2: A new side window should now pop open on the right of your screen. This has all of your background effects. The first option, the "ban" symbol, will restore your screen to your real background if you want. The second option at the top is a blur effect, which uses AI tech to simply blur your background and mask everything except your face. If you don’t have many background preferences and just want some privacy (or you just want to hide a mess), enabling blur is a fast and easy way to change your background.
Step 3: If you don’t like the look of blue and prefer to pick a background, scrolling down on the Background Effects window will show you all the images that you can put up as your background. Many are just basic white rooms that won’t cause any distraction, but there are also a lot of nature scenes and fantasy landscapes to pick from. When you find one you like, you can select the Preview button at the bottom to see how it will look on your screen.
You can also upload and use any of your own images as backgrounds. To do so, tap the plus sign to start uploading an image from your phone or tablet. You'll also need to make sure that the format is a .PNG, .JPG, or .BMP file.
Step 4: When you find a background you like, select Apply, and that will change your background for your upcoming meeting.
If you’ve already started a video meeting, don’t worry! You can still apply a background effect any time you want; it’s just a slightly different process.
Step 1: Look at your Control Bar for Teams on the screen. It has icons for the camera, mic, etc. Click the Three Dots to access more settings.
Step 2: When your additional settings pop up, look for the option that says Show Background Effects. Select it. This will open up the same side window that we talked about for our previous instructions.
Step 3: The same options will be available to you now, including the option to blur the screen. However, since your video meeting has already begun, the Preview button is more important than ever (especially if other people are in the meeting). Use Preview to cycle through the backgrounds you like the best until you find the right one -- this will avoid switching backgrounds on the video conference itself. When you find one that works, select Apply to start using it.
Altering your background on the Microsoft Teams desktop app is really as easy as doing it on the mobile app. Certain settings are just called different things on the desktop version.
Step 1: Launch the Microsoft Teams desktop app. Then click Effects and avatars > Video effects.
Step 2: Choose Blur to blur the background, or select a Teams background to apply to your feed.
Step 3: You can also upload your own images (.PNG, .JPG, .BMP formats only). To do this, click More video effects > Add new.
Step 1: Choose More > Effects and avatars from the top of the meeting panel.
Step 2: Decide whether you’d like to use the blur effect, a Teams image, or your own image. Then, click Preview to see what the effect will look like during your meeting. If you’re satisfied, click Apply.
Affinity’s new all-in-one creative app is finally coming to the iPad, nearly a year after Canva launched the redesigned desktop version for Mac and Windows. Creatives have been asking for the iPad release ever since, especially because files created in the new Affinity app cannot be opened in the older V2 iPad apps.
Affinity already has Photo, Designer, and Publisher apps on iPad, but the new release combines those tools into the same unified app that Canva launched on desktop last year.
Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Apple has just launched its latest iPad mini with a notable set of upgrades, including an OLED screen, improved speakers, and a more resilient build. It also gets a new chip, and the whole package costs $200 more than its predecessor. But if you look closely at Apple’s online store, you’ll realize that $699 isn’t enough to get you the most powerful version of the A20 Pro chip inside this tablet. In fact, even if you pay $800 for the 256GB model, you still won’t get the beefiest variant. Only when you jump to the 512GB trim, which costs an absurd $999, do you get the most powerful flavor of the A20 Pro.
The $999 model gets more than extra storage