In a large meeting, class or webinar you sometimes don't want everyone turning on their camera. It can be distracting, uses bandwidth or simply doesn't fit the format. In Microsoft Teams the organizer can turn off attendees' cameras, in advance or during the meeting, for everyone or for one person. This article shows how, who it applies to and what to watch out for.
First: set the right roles
The option only works for people with the attendee role. If Who can present? is set to Everyone, everyone present is a presenter and turning off cameras has no effect. So first set that option to Only organizers and co-organizers or Specific people. Teams sometimes asks you to do this itself when you turn off the camera for attendees. Read about the differences between the roles in meeting roles in Teams.
Turn off in advance
- Open the meeting in your calendar and select Options (in some versions Meeting options).
- Under Roles, check who can present.
- Under Audio & video, turn off Allow camera for attendees.
- Select Save.
When they join, attendees see that their camera has been disabled by the organizer. They can't turn the button back on themselves.
During the meeting
- For everyone: open People > three dots at the top > Disable camera for attendees.
- For one person: hover over the name > More options > Disable camera.
- Allow again: choose Allow camera for the person or for everyone.
You can also open the meeting options during the meeting via More > Settings > Meeting options. The exact menu names can differ slightly per version.
Who does it apply to?
This option only applies to attendees. Organizers, co-organizers and presenters can always use their camera. Want an attendee to speak on camera? Make them a presenter for a moment or allow their camera. A practical approach: ask attendees to raise their hand, then allow camera and microphone for that person only. After the question, you turn them off again.
Combine with other options
- Turn off attendee microphones too with Allow mic for attendees, in advance or via People. Read mute everyone and prevent interruptions by muting attendees.
- Use Spotlight to keep the speakers large on screen.
- Turn off reactions if you don't want emoji.
- For really large, one-way events, use a webinar or town hall. There, attendees have no camera or microphone by default.
For admins
In the Teams admin center, an admin can use a meeting policy (under Audio & video) to restrict video completely for certain users, regardless of the meeting. That is a different setting from the meeting option: the policy applies to the user in every meeting, the meeting option only to that one meeting. If a user can never turn on their camera, not even as a presenter, check the policy first.
Common problems
- Attendees can still turn on their camera. They're probably presenters. Check Who can present?
- I don't see the option. Only organizers and co-organizers can change it. In a channel meeting or a chat that started as a meeting, roles and options are sometimes more limited.
- External guests still have video. Check their role in the People list: anyone who joined as a presenter isn't covered by the rule.
A tip for attendees
Want your camera on without showing your surroundings? Use a custom background or blur.
Nederlandstalige versie: De camera van deelnemers uitschakelen in een Teams-vergadering