Microsoft Teams is one of the most popular video conferencing apps among students and remote teams. It allows you to participate in high-quality conference meetings or interactive classes from the comfort of your home. Thanks to recent updates, the app has been improved with many new features.
Now users wonder if they can see everyone at once and how to do it. In this article, we'll explain everything you need to know.
Can I see everyone at once?
As you know, Microsoft Teams allows you to include up to 250 participants in a meeting. The number is impressive because it will not compromise the quality of video and tone. However, it would be extremely impractical to show all 250 participants at once.
In the end, Microsoft Teams allows you to see a video of 49 people at the same time. Whatever you do, you won't be able to see more participants at once. Considering that originally you could only see four people at a time, and later nine people, this is a significant improvement for the app and its users.
However, that doesn't mean Microsoft intends to stop there. We can expect more changes in the future, and you might be positively surprised.
When can we expect an update?
It may be too early to say anything with precision. After all, it's only recently become possible to see all participants on any video conferencing app. Zoom was the first app to introduce this option and others were quick to follow. However, there is something you can do while we wait.
You could vote. That's right. Microsoft only increased the number of videos from four to nine due to user feedback via UserVoice. Other suggestions included upgrading to see all participants, a suggestion that already has over 40 votes.
You can contribute by voting and inviting your friends to do the same. Plus, if you sign up with your email address, you'll be notified of progress and might be one of the first to know when this feature becomes available.
Viewing multiple people at once in teams
In Microsoft Teams, you can quickly adjust the number of people you can see on your screen, here's how.
- Open Microsoft Teams and click the ... icon in the right corner.
- Now click on Great Gallery.
- Teams will now automatically show all participants with cameras enabled.
Note that you only see the Large Gallery option if there are more than ten people participating in the chat, otherwise you will need to pin them to the meeting.
Personalize what you see
Microsoft Teams tries to figure out what kind of content people want to see in a meeting. The application assumes that you would like to see the person speaking. Because of this, their video will always appear by default. You may think that other users were randomly selected, but that's not the case.
The people whose video you see are the most active during the meeting. Even though you didn't hear their voice much, they might have been engaged in content sharing and chatting.
Also, when someone shares their screen, you'll be able to see their video, even if you've never seen it before. Microsoft Teams is intuitive and it doesn't want you to miss an important presentation. Sometimes it prioritizes media content over the speaker.
However, if you don't want to watch a presentation all the time, you can switch between presentation and videos. All you have to do is click on the video icon of the person you want to see. This way you will feel like you are in a conference room as you can see both the presentation and the reactions of your colleagues.
Pin a video
If you want to be able to see a video from a particular member at any time, you can do so with just a few clicks.
- Choose the person whose video you want to see, right click on it and select Pin. Their video will now be pinned to your homepage so you can watch it until the meeting is over. Note that it will not alternate even when someone else starts speaking.
You can pin more people – it's the best way to personalize your view. If you pin nine participants, their videos will be the only ones to appear on your screen.
- To remove someone you've pinned, just click on their video and select Detach. Don't worry because the other person won't be notified when you pin or unpin their video.
Be patient
Many people can't wait to see everyone on Microsoft Teams at once. Although we are sure that this feature will be available eventually, we advise you to be patient. Things like this can take time as Microsoft tries to find the best solution for everyone.
Why do you usually use Microsoft Teams? Are you happy with the app and is there anything else you would like to change? Let us know in the comments section below.
