Join a meeting as an avatar in Microsoft Teams
Notes:
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The Avatars for Microsoft Teams app must be allowed by your IT admin. Learn more.
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Avatars for Teams are currently available in the Microsoft Teams desktop app on Windows and Mac. Avatars are not supported in Teams for web, and are supported as view-only in the Teams mobile app.
Avatars for Microsoft Teams enable you to build connections in meetings without turning your video on. Include more people in the conversation—whether they need a break due to video fatigue or just feel more comfortable with their video off. Add a new layer of choice to your meetings.
Here’s what you can do with avatars in Teams:
Install the Avatars app
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On the left side of Teams, select Apps and search for Avatars.
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Open the app.
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If the Avatars app doesn't appear in your search results, try selecting More added apps
and searching there instead.
Create an avatar
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Go to Apps. Search for and open the Avatars app.
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To create a new avatar, select + > Create new (or Duplicate if you want to copy one of your existing personas). To modify one of your existing personas, choose the one you want to edit and select Customize.
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When creating an avatar from scratch, you'll have the option to choose from a wide selection of base avatars as a starting point. Pick the one that looks most like you and select Use Avatar.
Customize your avatars
When customizing your avatars, you'll have a variety of options to choose from across the categories of Body, Face, Hair, Appearance, and Wardrobe.
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In the Face section, start by selecting a base face shape, then use the sliders to fine-tune facial features.
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The Wardrobe section is also brimming with options.
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While the previous two sections are especially detailed, don't miss all the options available in the Body, Hair, and Appearance tabs!
To help you quickly find your desired styles, filtering is available for the Hair, Underlayer, Outerwear, and Headgear sections:
Join your meetings as an avatar
Select and join a meeting on your Microsoft Teams calendar. Turn off your camera, expand the Effects and Avatars tray, and select your avatar or Create More to create a new avatar.
Turn on your avatar while in a Teams meeting
If you’re already in a Teams meeting, you can turn on Effects and avatars from the Teams meeting menu.
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Select ... More > Effects and avatars.
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On the right side of the screen, select Avatars.
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Under Your Avatar, you'll have up to three different avatars to choose from. If you haven't yet customized an avatar, select Edit my avatar to start creating or customizing your avatars.
Interact using emotes, gestures, and more
When you're in a meeting, you can decide how your avatar acts and emotes. You can even choose digital backgrounds and camera angles for your avatar. All these options can be found under ... More > Effects and avatars > Avatars.
Avatar reactions and gestures
When you use the React option on the Teams meeting menu, your avatar will bring the normal 2D emojis to life. Laughing, clapping, and smiling aren't just flat images anymore: they're what your avatar does.
The same thing goes for raising your hand: when you select Raise, your avatar will raise its hand!
You can find more complex reactions under Effects and avatars in the Teams meeting menu.
Use the category icons under All reactions to quickly get to a reaction. You can pin frequently used avatar reactions to the top by selecting the pin icon in the upper right corner of a reaction. You can similarly use the All reactions list to unpin reactions.
Note: You can only pin up to 5 emotes at a time for quick access to your favorite reactions. If the top reactions list is full, unpin some current emotes before pinning any new reactions to the top of the All reactions list.
Avatar moods, backgrounds, and camera options
Moods
Adjust your avatar’s facial expression by using the Avatar mood slider bar.
Backgrounds
Choose a background for your avatar under Avatar backgrounds.
Camera
Under the Avatar camera option, choose a camera angle for your avatar. You can also zoom the avatar in (+) and out (-).
Use TTS with the Avatars app
You can activate our in-app text to speech (TTS) system in the current version of the Avatar customizer. With operating screen readers such as Windows Narrator, you'll be prompted to turn on the TTS system as you enter the application. When you open the Avatar customizer app, focus inside of it. When loading is complete, the system will announce "Press ctrl + b to activate the TTS system", and at this point TTS will be enabled. The TTS system behaves similarly to screen readers.
Troubleshooting
Avatars for Teams hardware requirements
|
Component |
Required |
Suggested |
|---|---|---|
|
Computer and processor |
Two core |
Four core or better |
|
Memory |
4.0 GB RAM |
8.0 GB RAM or better |
Having issues with Teams? See Hardware requirements for Microsoft Teams.
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