How to Use a Watermark in Microsoft Teams Meetings

Showing confidential figures, a product plan or personal data in a Teams meeting? With a watermark, the email address of each viewer appears across the shared screen and the video. If someone takes a photo or screenshot, you know straight away where the leak came from. This article covers what you need, how an admin allows watermarks, how to turn them on for a meeting and which features stop working.

What does the watermark do?

Each participant sees their own email address diagonally across the content. The watermark is different for every person.
You choose whether it appears on shared content (screen, window, presentation), on participants' video, or both.
Participants can't turn the watermark off.

What do you need?

A Teams Premium license for the organizer. Attendees don't need Premium.
A meeting policy that allows watermarks.
Attendees on the Teams app for Windows, Mac, iOS or Android, or a supported browser. People joining from an unsupported device, such as some meeting room systems or older clients, get audio only.

For admins: allow watermarks

Go to the Teams admin center > Meetings > Meeting policies.
Open the policy, for example Global (Org-wide default).
Under Watermark, turn on the settings for shared content and video feed.
Save. It can take a few hours for the policy to apply everywhere.

Watermark settings in a Teams admin center meeting policy

Turn the watermark on for a meeting

Create a new meeting in your Teams calendar and save it, or open an existing one.
Select Options (Meeting options).
Under Security, turn on Apply a watermark to shared content and/or Apply a watermark to everyone's video feed.
Select Save.

Applying a watermark in Teams meeting options

You can also change it during the meeting via More > Settings > Meeting options. Preferably do it beforehand: people who already joined only notice the change after reconnecting.

What doesn't work in a watermarked meeting?

Recording isn't available.
PowerPoint Live and sharing Whiteboard don't work; share your screen or window instead.
Views such as Together mode and large gallery are turned off.
Attendees on unsupported clients get audio only.

If you need a recording, you'll have to choose between recording and watermarking. You can't have both.

Enforce it automatically

With Teams Premium, admins can create a meeting template, for example Confidential meeting, with the watermark already on and locked. Organizers pick that template when scheduling. A Microsoft Purview sensitivity label can also apply the watermark and other settings, such as the lobby and blocking recording, automatically. Combine it with a strict lobby setting so only invited people get in directly.

Nederlandstalige versie: Een watermerk gebruiken in Microsoft Teams-vergaderingen

share on LinkedIn ☕ buy me a coffee

▸Share your screen, a window or a whiteboard in TeamsShare your screen, one window, PowerPoint Live or a whiteboard in a Teams meeting, and give control to a… ▸Who can bypass the lobby in Microsoft Teams: every option explainedLet only invited people join your Teams meeting directly. Every Who can bypass the lobby option, per meeting… ▸Prevent a Teams meeting invite from being forwardedTurn off Allow forwarding for a meeting in Outlook and protect your Teams meeting with the lobby, locking and… ▸Turn live reactions on or off in Microsoft Teams meetingsTurn off reactions in a Teams meeting: beforehand or during the meeting in meeting options, just for… ▸Turn waiting in the lobby on or off in Microsoft TeamsChoose in meeting options who can bypass the lobby of your Teams meeting, and set the default in the meeting…

Use a watermark in Microsoft Teams meetings