Can’t Add A Background In Microsoft Teams? 5 Fixes To Try

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Are you having trouble changing your background in Teams?

Sadly, this is a common issue and can be super annoying when it happens, especially when you’re working from home.

But, don’t worry. With the help of this article, you’ll be able to solve this issue in no time.

Try these 5 simple fixes if you can’t add a background in Microsoft Teams:

  1. Update the app.
  2. Clear your cache.
  3. Check the platform’s servers
  4. Check the Backgrounds folder.
  5. Ask your admin.

Read on to fix this problem today!

#1 Update the App

Microsoft Teams has become the most popular collaboration platform thanks to its extremely useful features.

With Teams, we can call our colleagues and clients, share documents and images, create announcements, customize our backgrounds, and much more.

Sadly, these features tend to fail quite often. You wouldn’t believe how many people I’ve seen struggle with not being able to chat with their team, share files, or change their backgrounds.

But, what if I told you that you can easily fix most of these issues by simply updating Microsoft Teams?

Yes, that’s all it might take.

You see, Microsoft is always making changes and improvements to the app to make sure you be productive while enjoying the process.

Updates often fix any bugs or crashes that were preventing you from changing your background or using other features.

Microsoft Teams usually installs any available updates while you work. However, sometimes a bad Internet connection can interrupt this process.

But, don’t worry. You can manually update Teams. You’ll just need to make sure you’re connected to a strong Wi-Fi signal. Then, follow this quick guide:

Desktop app:

  1. Click on the three-dots icon next to your profile picture at the top of your screen.
  2. Choose “Check for updates”.
  3. Microsoft Teams will automatically install any available updates.
How to update Microsoft Teams on your computer

iPhone:

  1. Open the App Store and click on your profile icon at the top of your screen.
  2. Tap on “Update All” or search for Microsoft Teams and select “Update”.

Bear in mind that this feature is only available for the Microsoft Teams desktop app (Windows or Mac) and mobile version (iOS). If you’re using the web version, you won’t be able to change your background.

Once you’ve updated the app, try changing your background again. Follow these simple steps to do it:

Desktop app:

  1. Join a meeting and click on “More” at the top of your screen. Then, select “Apply background effects” from the drop-down menu.
  2. Select a background or click on “Add New” to upload an image from your computer. Then, click on “Apply and turn on video”.
How to change your background in Microsoft Teams

Mobile app:

  1. Join a meeting and click on the three dots icon at the bottom of your screen.
  2. Tap on “Background effects”.
  3. Select a background or upload an image from your phone.
  4. Tap on “Done” at the top of your screen.

#2 Clear Your Cache

Moving on, I’d like you to get rid of any corrupted files by clearing your cache.

You see, Microsoft Teams stores information, such as images or fonts, in a reserved storage location in your device called “cache”. This way, every time you launch the app, it can access it quickly from your cache folder instead of loading it from its servers.

Although your app’s cache has great benefits, it may also be the reason you can’t change your background.

You see, sometimes the files stored in your cache folder can become damaged and may not match the ones from the web.

If this happens, Teams won’t be able to work as expected. But, don’t worry, clearing your cache can solve the issue.

Follow these simple instructions to do it:

Windows PC:

  1. Fully close Teams. Then, type “Run” on the search bar at the bottom of your screen and press Enter.
  2. Type “%appdata%\Microsoft\Teams” in the text box. Then, click on “Ok”.
  3. Delete every file.

Mac:

  1. Close Microsoft Teams and open Finder. Then, click on “Go”.
  2. Select “Go to Folder” from the drop-down menu.
  3. Type “~/Library/Applications Support/Microsoft” in the text field and click on “Go”.
  4. Right-click on the “teams” folder and click on “Move to Trash” or “Move to Bin”.
  5. Click on the magnifier glass at the top of your screen to open the Spotlight Search. Then, type “Keychain”.
  6. Select “Keychain Access”.
  7. Search for Microsoft Teams and right-click on “Microsoft Teams Identities Cache”. Then, select “Delete”.

If you’re using an iPhone, you’ll need to reinstall Teams to clear its cache. To do it, please go to the home screen, press and hold the Teams icon, and tap on “Remove App”. Then, download it again from the App Store.

Once you’ve cleared your cache, please launch Teams and try changing your background again.

#3 Check the Platform’s Servers

As you may already know, Microsoft servers are in charge of handling information and giving millions of users a high-quality service.

Unfortunately, they aren’t perfect.

You see, human errors, bugs, and hardware/software issues can affect how Microsoft Teams works and cause multiple issues such as not being able to change your background.

You can easily check if the platform’s servers are down by entering downdetector.com/status/teams/ and checking the color and spikes of the graph.

Is Microsoft Teams down?

You’ll know if Microsoft Teams is down if the graph is red or orange and if it has high spikes.

But, don’t worry. Microsoft’s IT team is no stranger to this issue and usually solves it within a couple of hours.

#4 Check The Backgrounds Folder

If you still can’t add images from your computer to use them as your virtual background, you might want to keep reading.

Hundreds of users found that manually adding the image they’d like to set as their background to their “Backgrounds” folder on their computer solved the issue.

Follow these simple steps to do it:

Windows PC:

  1. Open File Explorer and select the image you’d like to have as your virtual background. Then press the Ctrl + C keys at the same time to copy it.
  2. Type “%appdata%\Microsoft\Teams” on the search bar at the bottom of your screen.
  3. Open the Backgrounds folder and click on the “Consumer Uploads” or “Uploads” folder.
  4. Press the Ctrl + V keys at the same time.

Mac:

  1. Copy the image you’d like to set as your background in Teams.
  2. Open Finder and click on “Go”.
  3. Select “Go to Folder” from the drop-down menu.
  4. Type “~/Library/Applications Support/Microsoft” in the text field and click on “Go”.
  5. Open the Teams folder.
  6. Go to the Backgrounds folder and paste the image.

Once you’ve done that, please fully close Microsoft Teams and open it again. Then, try changing your background. You should be able to see the image you manually added to the Backgrounds folder.

#5 Ask Your Admin

If you’re using an institution account (school or work), there’s a very good chance the administrator disabled the background feature.

You see, institutions use meeting policies to prevent users from uploading offensive images and avoid distractions.

Sadly, if the administrator of your institution disabled this feature, the only thing you can do to solve the issue is to ask them to enable it.

But, if this isn’t possible due to their strict policies, you’ll need to use your personal account to change your background.

Conclusion

There’s nothing more annoying than not being able to add a background. After all, Microsoft Teams should make our lives easier, not the opposite.

Hopefully, with the help of this article, you’ll be able to leave this situation in the past.

If you take anything away, please let it be that the easiest way to add a background is by updating Microsoft Teams, clearing your cache, and checking the Backgrounds folder. But, if that doesn’t work, remember to ask your IT admin if they’ve disabled the background future.

Thank you so much for reading this article. If you ever have a different issue while using Teams or any other platform, don’t forget to visit our site. We love solving all sorts of tech problems.

Have a wonderful day!