How to Fix Virtual Background Not Working on Microsoft Teams

Can’t figure out why your virtual background is not working on Microsoft Teams?

One of the worries of many people with virtual meetings is other people judging their home or background. Fortunately, services like Microsoft Teams provide the option for users to use virtual backgrounds during meetings.

Besides, some companies or groups require their employees to use the company logo as the official background for meetings. 

However, there have been reports that the virtual background is not working on Microsoft Teams. 

Usually, this problem is caused by faulty app versions and corrupted resources. On the other hand, it can also be due to improper configurations, system issues, and incompatible background images. 

If you are reading this, we can assume that you are having a hard time using the virtual background feature on Microsoft Teams. 

To help out, we’ve decided to make a guide for fixing the virtual background if it’s not working on Microsoft Teams. 

Let’s get started!

1. Check Microsoft Teams Servers. 

As we have mentioned, system-related issues could be the reason your virtual background is not working on Microsoft Teams. The devs could be performing system maintenance or an unexpected error occurred. 

To confirm this, visit Microsoft’s dedicated status page and confirm if there are outages on Microsoft Teams. 

If the servers are down, the best thing to do is wait since server-related problems can’t be resolved on your end. On the other hand, you can proceed to the next solution if there’s nothing wrong with the servers.

 

2. Restart Your Computer. 

Whenever you encounter problems with Microsoft Teams or any other service, we suggest restarting your computer before proceeding with more advanced measures. This way, you can rule out minor issues that could be causing problems on the app. 

Here’s what you need to do: 

1. Access the Start Menu by clicking on the Windows icon on the Taskbar. 
2. Next, click on the Power Options tab. 
3. Finally, choose Restart and wait for your system to reboot. 

Go back to Microsoft Teams afterward and check if the problem is solved. 

3. Re-Login to Your Account. 

Refreshing your user data can also resolve the issue with virtual background on Microsoft Teams. An error or glitch could have caused your user data to corrupt, explaining why the feature is not working. 

To fix this, log out of your current session and ensure that the app is closed. After 2-3 minutes, log back into your Microsoft Teams account and see if the virtual background works. 

4. Try Other Backgrounds. 

There are instances when some backgrounds on Microsoft Teams become available due to internal issues. To confirm this, try using different virtual backgrounds on the app and see if anything works. 

If other backgrounds are working fine, it means that the initial background you’ve chosen is faulty. 

5. Clear Microsoft Teams Cache. 

Another way to fix your virtual background is to clear Microsoft Teams’ cache and temporary data. Some of its resources may have gotten corrupted, causing features like the virtual background to malfunction. 

Here’s what you need to do: 

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows + R keys to open Run Command. 
2. After that, type ‘%appdata%/Microsoft’ and hit Enter. 
3. Inside the folder, locate the folder named ‘Teams’ and delete it. 

Restart Microsoft Teams afterward and see if the problem is solved. 

6. Update Microsoft Teams. 

If you still encounter issues with the virtual background on Microsoft Teams, we suggest updating the software to the latest version. This way, you can ensure that there are no problems with the software. 

See the steps below to update Microsoft Teams: 

1. Launch Microsoft Teams on your computer. 
2. Next, click on More next to your Profile in the upper right corner of your display. 
3. Finally, choose the Check for Updates option and follow the prompts. 

Once done, try joining another call to see if the virtual background works. 

7. Reinstall Microsoft Teams. 

If none of the solutions above worked, the last thing you can do is remove the app from your system and perform a fresh install. This should ensure that the app is installed correctly and there are no missing resources on your computer. 

Here’s what you need to do: 

1. On your computer, go to the Control Panel and click on Uninstall a Program. 
2. Now, locate Microsoft Teams from the list of applications. 
3. Finally, right-click on the app and choose Uninstall. 

Go to Microsoft’s website and download the latest version of the app. 

That ends our guide on how to fix the virtual background if it’s not working on Microsoft Teams. If you have questions, please leave a comment below, and we’ll do our best to respond. 

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂