This article covers how to start and schedule a meeting in Microsoft Teams. The instructions refer to the Windows 10 version, but the steps are nearly identical when using the other versions of the app and via the web.

What to Know

  • Click the camera icon > choose your camera and mic settings > Join Now > add participants.You can click Reply under someone’s comment in Teams, then click the camera icon to start a meeting with them.Anyone can be invited to join a meeting in Microsoft Teams regardless of group membership or what app they have installed.

How to Quickly Start a Meeting in Microsoft Teams  

Up to 300 members can participate in a Teams meeting, during which they can share their desktop and files while communicating via webcam, microphone, or text.

Here’s how to set up a Teams meeting as quickly as possible.

  • To set up a Teams meeting, click the icon that looks like a movie camera within the Microsoft Teams app’s upper-right corner.
  • If you want to start a meeting with a particular user in response to something they said, you can also click the camera icon that’s found within the comment reply bar that appears after you click Reply on a comment.
  • Before your Teams meeting starts, you’ll be shown a screen with various video and audio options. Select the appropriate settings to enable or disable your webcam and choose which microphone you want to use to pick up your audio.
  • When you’re ready, click Join Now.
  • Your Microsoft Teams meeting will immediately start. You can add participants by clicking on names from the list on the right side or by entering phone numbers or email addresses into the empty field at the top.
  • You can also click the link icon next to the text field to copy the code for a Microsoft Teams meeting invite which can then be pasted into an email or direct message.
  • Depending on your group’s permissions, you may or may not be able to invite people outside of your organization to join you in the Teams meeting. If your account has admin privileges, you can change these privacy settings via Meeting options within the ellipsis menu.
  • Once the Teams meeting is underway, you can use the icons at the top of the Microsoft Teams app to switch between the list of participants, the text chat, the virtual wave or hand-raise gesture, and going fullscreen.
  • The ellipsis menu will provide you with a variety of more advanced features such as adding effects and live captions to the meeting, adding a custom background image, and blurring the background. You can even begin a recording for on-demand viewing afterward.
  • The icons to the ellipsis’ right can be used to enable and disable your webcam and mic or share a screen from your computer in Microsoft Teams.
  • When you’re ready to leave the Teams meeting, click Leave.

How to Schedule a Meeting in Teams

In addition to starting a meeting that begins almost immediately, it’s also possible to use Microsoft Teams to plan a get-together for a set time in the future. Scheduled meetings can be helpful if your organization requires communication daily or weekly.

To set up a Teams meeting, click the icon that looks like a movie camera within the Microsoft Teams app’s upper-right corner.

If you want to start a meeting with a particular user in response to something they said, you can also click the camera icon that’s found within the comment reply bar that appears after you click Reply on a comment.

Before your Teams meeting starts, you’ll be shown a screen with various video and audio options. Select the appropriate settings to enable or disable your webcam and choose which microphone you want to use to pick up your audio.

When you’re ready, click Join Now.

Your Microsoft Teams meeting will immediately start. You can add participants by clicking on names from the list on the right side or by entering phone numbers or email addresses into the empty field at the top.

You can also click the link icon next to the text field to copy the code for a Microsoft Teams meeting invite which can then be pasted into an email or direct message.

Depending on your group’s permissions, you may or may not be able to invite people outside of your organization to join you in the Teams meeting. If your account has admin privileges, you can change these privacy settings via Meeting options within the ellipsis menu.

Once the Teams meeting is underway, you can use the icons at the top of the Microsoft Teams app to switch between the list of participants, the text chat, the virtual wave or hand-raise gesture, and going fullscreen.

The ellipsis menu will provide you with a variety of more advanced features such as adding effects and live captions to the meeting, adding a custom background image, and blurring the background. You can even begin a recording for on-demand viewing afterward.

The icons to the ellipsis’ right can be used to enable and disable your webcam and mic or share a screen from your computer in Microsoft Teams.

When you’re ready to leave the Teams meeting, click Leave.

One of the benefits of planning meetings in Microsoft Teams in advance is that the meeting is automatically added to the group’s schedule, which can be easily viewed by all participants in the days, weeks, or months leading up to the call.

The process for how to schedule a Teams meeting requires the use of the Microsoft Teams calendar feature. Calendars are built-into the Microsoft Teams service and can be accessed both on the web and via the various Microsoft Teams apps.

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