Microsoft has begun rolling out a variety of new and useful features to Microsoft Teams. The features below are part of Microsoft's "new meeting experience".

 

These features will be available by default in the coming weeks, but you can enable them now to get an early look. This article details how to activate the new experience and how to use the features that it includes.

 

Enabling and Using the New Experience:

 

  1. Select your profile picture at the top of the Teams app, then select "Settings". 
    Teams profile menu with Settings option
  2. Select "Turn on new meeting experience" 
    Teams Settings with Turn on new meeting experience checkbox
  3. Restart Teams by doing the following:
    1. Right-click or Cmd-click the Teams icon in the Windows taskbar or Mac System Tray. 
      Teams icon right-click menu in taskbar
    2. Select Quit.
    3. Start Teams again like you normally would.

 

You might also see a notification that announces the new experience or reminds you to turn it on. Then it's even easier—in that notification, choose Turn it on now if you're ready at that point, or Maybe later if you're in the middle of something.

 

What Happens After You've Turned It On:

 

The new experience contains several new and changed features. First, Meeting controls have been moved to the top of the meeting screen.

 

They're docked there so that you always have access to them (without jiggling your mouse) and they're out of the way of the content and video that's being shared.

 

New meeting experience with meeting controls docked at the top of the screen

 

Large Gallery:

 

Large gallery view lets you see up to 49 video streams at once. This view is available when there are 10 or more attendees who are sharing video. To switch to large gallery, go to More options (…) in the meeting controls > Large gallery.

 

More options menu with Large gallery option

 

Here's an example of what the Large gallery looks like:

 

Large gallery view showing up to 49 participant video streams in a grid

 

Together Mode:

 

Together mode places each meeting participant in a seat in a virtual audience. This is meant to create a sense of being in one room with all participants.

 

Note: Together mode is only available when 5 or more participants are sharing video

 

Together mode can be activated using the menu opened by clicking on the "…" icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

 

More options menu with Together mode option

 

Together mode will place each participant's video stream in a virtual seat. This will look something like this:

 

Together mode view showing participants seated in a virtual auditorium

 

Your screens and processes may vary slightly from this document.