What you need to know
- Microsoft Teams Spotlight is rolling out to the general public.
- The feature allows you to highlight a specific person within a call for everyone to see.
- You can Spotlight anyone within a call, such as students or teachers.
Microsoft is rolling out its Spotlight feature to Microsoft Teams. The feature allows you to lock the view for everyone within a call to highlight a specific person. Spotlight starts rolling out today and should be fully available in late September.
Spotlight is different than "Pin participant," which only pins a video for the view of a single person. In contrast, Spotlight highlights a specific person within the call to everyone on the call. For example, a teacher could spotlight themselves so the entire class always has the teacher in view. Then, when a student is answering a question or presenting, the teacher could switch the spotlight to that student.
Mike Tholfsen, Product Manager on the Microsoft EDU team, showcases the feature in a quick how-to video. To use the feature, you just need to click the ellipsis icon next to any participant and select "Spotlight." When a person is spotlighted, an icon appears next to the person's name within the participants list.
Microsoft Teams allows you to collaborate with colleagues, upload files, send messages, and chat through video. It integrates with Office 365 and several other cloud services.
Sean Endicott is the news writer for Windows Central. If it runs Windows, is made by Microsoft, or has anything to do with either, he's on it. Sean's been with Windows Central since 2017 and is also our resident app expert. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.
