Microsoft Teams will soon let you spotlight up to 7 people at once

Microosft Teams iOS and Surface
Microosft Teams iOS and Surface (Image credit: Future)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft Teams will soon let you spotlight up to seven participants within a meeting.
  • The feature is already available in the public preview of Teams.
  • At the moment, you can only spotlight a single person within a meeting.

Microsoft MVP Vesa Nopanen, playfully known as Mr. Teams, spotted that the feature is already available in the public preview of Teams (via OnMSFT). Nopanen also shared a screenshot of the feature in action on LinkedIn.

Source: Vesa Nopanen via LinkedIn (Image credit: Source: Vesa Nopanen via LinkedIn)

The ability to spotlight multiple members of a meeting at once also appears on the Microsoft 365 roadmap. The feature is listed as "In development" with a listed release of May 2021, though dates on the roadmap are always subject to change.

When you feature someone with the Spotlight feature, it pins the person's video feed for everyone, not just your own view. It's a handy feature to highlight a person, such as a student who is presenting in a class or a teacher that's explaining a lesson. You have to be a presenter to set up Spotlight.

With the ability to highlight multiple people with the Spotlight feature, you'll be able to pin groups, such as a group of students sharing a presentation or multiple teachers co-teaching a lesson.

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.