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Understanding Teams Meetings — Features, Roles, and Best Practices
Applies to: Microsoft Teams (Desktop, Web, Mobile)
Article Type: Informational
Last Updated: 2026-05-18
Summary
Microsoft Teams meetings offer far more than basic video calls — recording, screen sharing, breakout rooms, live captions, polls, whiteboards, and meeting recaps are all built in. Many users only scratch the surface. This article is a quick-reference guide to every major Teams meeting feature, the roles that control them, and which features to use for different meeting types.
Prerequisites
- A Microsoft Teams desktop app, web app, or mobile app.
- A Microsoft 365 work or school account.
- Some features (recording, breakout rooms, Copilot) require specific licenses or admin policies — check with IT if a feature is unavailable.
Instructions
1. Meeting Types — Which One Should You Use?
| Meeting Type | How to Create It | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled meeting | Outlook calendar or Teams Calendar → + New meeting | Standard meetings — team syncs, project updates, 1-on-1s |
| Channel meeting | Create a meeting inside a Teams channel → Meet → Schedule a meeting | Team-wide meetings where the entire channel should see the invite and recording |
| Meet Now (instant) | Teams → Calendar → Meet now, or click the camera icon in a chat | Quick, unscheduled calls — "let's hop on a call" |
| Webinar | Teams Calendar → + New meeting → select Webinar | Presentations to large audiences with registration, attendee management, and Q&A |
| Town Hall | Teams Calendar → + New meeting → select Town Hall | Company-wide broadcasts with presenter/attendee separation and moderated Q&A |
Tip: If you are presenting to more than ~50 people and attendees should not be on camera, use a Webinar or Town Hall instead of a regular meeting. Attending one rather than running one? A town hall locks your mic and camera off and replaces chat with a Q&A panel — see How to Join a Teams Town Hall or Live Event.
2. Meeting Roles — Who Can Do What?
Every participant in a Teams meeting has a role that determines their permissions. Understanding roles prevents surprises during important meetings.
| Role | Who Has It | Key Permissions |
|---|---|---|
| Organizer | The person who created/scheduled the meeting | Full control: start/end meeting, manage roles, breakout rooms, recording, meeting options, lobby, admit/remove participants |
| Co-organizer | Assigned by the organizer before or during the meeting | Same as organizer except cannot change meeting options; can manage breakout rooms and recording |
| Presenter | Default role for internal participants (configurable) | Share screen, start/stop recording (if allowed), manage polls, unmute themselves |
| Attendee | Default role for external guests and webinar participants | View shared content, use reactions and raised hand, chat (if enabled), cannot share screen or record |
How to Change Meeting Roles
- Before the meeting: Open the meeting in Teams or Outlook → click Meeting options → set "Who can present?" to Everyone, People in my org, Specific people, or Only me.
- During the meeting: Right-click a participant's name → Make a presenter or Make an attendee.
3. Feature Reference — What's Available in Teams Meetings
| Feature | What It Does | Who Can Use It | How to Access It |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen sharing | Share your entire screen, a specific window, or a PowerPoint file | Presenters and above | Click Share (↑) in the meeting toolbar |
| Recording | Record the meeting video, audio, and shared screen for later viewing | Organizer/Co-organizer/Presenters (if policy allows) | Click ⋯ (More) → Start recording |
| Transcription | Live text transcript of everything said in the meeting | Organizer enables; all participants can view | Click ⋯ → Start transcription |
| Live captions | Real-time subtitles displayed on screen (not saved) | Any participant can enable for themselves | Click ⋯ → Turn on live captions |
| Breakout rooms | Split participants into smaller groups for discussion | Organizer only | Click the Rooms icon in the toolbar |
| Polls | Create and launch live polls during the meeting | Organizer/Presenters | Click the Polls icon or ⋯ → Polls |
| Whiteboard | Collaborative digital whiteboard visible to all | Organizer/Presenters (others can draw if allowed) | Click Share → Microsoft Whiteboard |
| Reactions | Send emoji reactions (👍 ❤️ 😂 👏 😮) that appear on screen | Any participant | Click the React icon or press Ctrl + Shift + R |
| Raise hand | Signal that you want to speak without interrupting | Any participant | Click Raise hand (✋) or press Ctrl + Shift + K |
| Together Mode | Places all participants in a shared virtual scene | Any participant can enable for their own view | Click View → Together Mode — the full View menu is covered in How to Use Together Mode and View Options in Teams |
| Background effects | Blur or replace your video background | Any participant | Click ⋯ → Video effects before or during the meeting |
| Meeting chat | Text chat alongside the meeting | Any participant (unless disabled by organizer) | Click Chat in the meeting toolbar |
| Copilot | AI-powered meeting recap, action items, and Q&A | Requires Copilot license; meeting must be recorded or transcribed | Click the Copilot icon in the toolbar |
4. Meeting Options Quick Reference
Meeting options are the settings the organizer configures to control the meeting experience. Access them by clicking Meeting options in the meeting invite or during the meeting via ⋯ → Meeting options.
| Setting | Options | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Who can bypass the lobby? | Everyone / People in my org / People I invite / Only me | Use People in my org for internal meetings. Use People I invite for external meetings with guests. |
| Who can present? | Everyone / People in my org / Specific people / Only me | Use Specific people or Only me for formal presentations to prevent accidental screen shares. |
| Allow mic for attendees? | Yes / No | Keep Yes for small meetings. Set No for large meetings or town halls to reduce noise. |
| Allow camera for attendees? | Yes / No | Keep Yes for team meetings. Set No for webinars or town halls. |
| Allow meeting chat | Enabled / In-meeting only / Disabled | Enabled is best for most meetings. Use In-meeting only if you want the chat to close after the meeting ends. |
| Record automatically | Yes / No | Enable for recurring team meetings you always record. Leave off for ad-hoc calls. |
| Allow reactions | Yes / No | Keep Yes — reactions are a low-disruption way for attendees to engage. |
5. Where Do Meeting Artifacts Go?
| Artifact | Where It Is Saved | How to Find It |
|---|---|---|
| Recording | OneDrive (personal meetings) or SharePoint (channel meetings) | Meeting chat → recording link, or OneDrive → Recordings folder |
| Transcript | Attached to the meeting event in Teams Calendar | Open the past meeting → Recap tab → Transcript |
| Meeting notes | Meeting chat or the Notes tab | Open the meeting → Notes tab |
| Whiteboard | Organizer's Microsoft Whiteboard account | whiteboard.microsoft.com |
| Poll results | Microsoft Forms (organizer's account) | forms.office.com → find the poll form |
| Chat history | Teams meeting chat thread | Teams → Chat → find the meeting chat |
| Copilot recap | Teams Calendar → past meeting → Recap tab | Open the meeting → Recap → Copilot summary |
6. Decision Guide — "Which Features Should I Use?"
| Meeting Type | Features to Enable | Features to Disable |
|---|---|---|
| Daily standup (5–10 min) | Camera, mic for all, chat | Recording, breakout rooms, polls |
| Team project meeting | Camera, recording, screen sharing, chat, notes | Together Mode (unless team prefers it) |
| Client presentation | Presenter-only screen sharing, recording, lobby for external guests, background effects | Attendee mic/camera (unless Q&A needed) |
| Training session | Recording, live captions, polls, breakout rooms, whiteboard | None — enable everything |
| All-hands / Town hall | Town Hall mode, Q&A, recording, live captions | Attendee mic/camera (use Q&A for questions) |
| Brainstorming workshop | Camera, whiteboard, breakout rooms, reactions | Formal lobby settings |
| 1-on-1 check-in | Camera, mic, chat | Recording (unless needed for compliance) |
7. Keyboard Shortcuts for Meetings
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Shift + M | Toggle mute/unmute |
| Ctrl + Shift + O | Toggle camera on/off |
| Ctrl + Shift + K | Raise/lower hand |
| Ctrl + Shift + R | Open reactions menu |
| Ctrl + Shift + E | Share screen |
| Ctrl + Shift + B | Toggle background blur |
| Ctrl + Shift + Q | Start/stop recording |
Troubleshooting
INFO
If a feature described above is missing or greyed out in your Teams app, your organization's IT team may have restricted it via admin policy. Contact IT to check whether the feature is enabled for your account.
| Symptom / Error | Potential Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| "Start recording" is greyed out | Recording disabled by IT policy or you are an attendee | Contact IT to check your recording permissions. If you are an attendee, ask the organizer to change your role to Presenter. |
| Breakout rooms icon is missing | You are not the meeting organizer | Only the person who scheduled the meeting can create breakout rooms. Ask the organizer. |
| External guest stuck in lobby | Lobby setting set to "People in my org" | The organizer should admit them from the lobby notification, or change lobby settings via Meeting options. |
| Screen share shows black screen to others | Hardware acceleration conflict | In Teams, go to Settings → General and disable Hardware acceleration. Restart Teams. |
| Recording does not appear after meeting | Processing delay | Recordings take 5–15 minutes to process. Check the meeting chat or your OneDrive Recordings folder. |
| Live captions are inaccurate | Background noise or multiple speakers talking over each other | Use headsets, mute when not speaking, and speak one at a time. Captions improve with clearer audio. |
| Cannot change someone's role during a meeting | You are not the organizer or co-organizer | Only organizers and co-organizers can change roles. Ask the organizer to make the change. |
| Copilot recap not available | No Copilot license or meeting was not recorded/transcribed | Copilot requires a Copilot license and the meeting must have a recording or transcription. Contact IT to check your license. |