Microsoft Teams rolling out 49-person view and new meeting experience

Microsoft Teams PC
Microsoft Teams PC (Image credit: Future)

What you need to know

  • A new calling and meeting experience is rolling out to Microsoft Teams.
  • The experience pops out meetings and calls into separate windows and adds several new features.
  • The experience is rolling out gradually over the next few days with some features rolling out over the next few weeks.

Within the new experience, meeting controls are moved to the top of the meeting screen. These controls are docked there so you can access them without jiggling your mouse.

The large gallery view is available on any call or meeting with 10 or more people in it. You can enable the view by going to "More options (...)" and turning on "Larger gallery."

Together mode is similar to large gallery view, but instead of having separate boxes for each person, Teams places everyone together into a virtual room.

Meeting notes also move to a new spot with the new experience. Meeting notes now appear in the Meeting notes tab in the main Teams window. The new experience also brings Focus mode, which helps you pay attention by hiding video feeds.

Microsoft breaks down the features and answers some frequently asked questions in its techcommunity post. The post highlights that these features are rolling out gradually, so you might not see them yet.

Here's how to turn on the new meeting and calls experience:

  1. Open Settings in Microsoft Teams.
  2. Open General within Settings.
  3. Select Turn on new meeting experience.

Teams New Meeeting Experience Circle

Source: Windows Central (Image credit: Source: Windows Central)
  1. Restart Teams by right clicking its icon and selecting Quit.
  2. Start Teams as normal.
Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott is a news writer and apps editor for Windows Central with 11+ years of experience. A Nottingham Trent journalism graduate, Sean has covered the industry’s arc from the Lumia era to the launch of Windows 11 and generative AI. Having started at Thrifter, he uses his expertise in price tracking to help readers find genuine hardware value.

Beyond tech news, Sean is a UK sports media pioneer. In 2017, he became one of the first to stream via smartphone and is an expert in AP Capture systems. A tech-forward coach, he was named 2024 BAFA Youth Coach of the Year. He is focused on using technology—from AI to Clipchamp—to gain a practical edge.