Microsoft Teams Spotlight is here to highlight specific speakers

Spotlight lets you lock the view for everyone in a call to highlight a specific person.

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.

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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.