As many of us, I have recently gone from Teams being that application some used to suddenly everyone is using and it is one of… if not the most critical application we use. Teams for us is used for teachers and students to communicate and conduct remote learning.

And despite hoping for some more beneficial updates for then virtual classroom last week we were given an update that allows us to use a series of Microsoft supplied backgrounds instead of just the Blurred background option that Teams has had for years.

https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2020/04/how-to-customize-your-background-in-microsoft-teams-video-calls/

LifeHacker like many other sites did a post on that… I’ll be honest I was surprised at the number of wallpapers they added to the list.

And it didn’t take long for people to figure out how you can put your own wallpapers into the list… the same day for example LifeHacker released another post detailing how to do it for Windows.

https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2020/04/how-to-customize-your-background-in-microsoft-teams-video-calls/

Though I hadn’t really come across articles to do it for Mac. I am sure they are out there but a quick google last night didn’t show any… and at first it didn’t really bother me since I wasn’t that concerned about my backgrounds in virtual meetings.

Sure I have been on a bunch of Zoom meetings, and the most I had done was a shot of the Overlooker from Stephen King’s The Shining because I found it amusing given the current ‘Stay home, isolate yourself. Though I didn’t really care past that.

Then… yesterday on Sunday that changed. Star Wars released a range of photos from sets of Star Wars that could be used as backgrounds and I knew I needed it.

https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-backgrounds

All images belong to StarWars.com, just showing the options.

So this morning when I got to work I reviewed the Windows build… and it took me about 5 seconds to figure it out.

Navigate to: ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams/Backgrounds/Uploads/

And add the custom backgrounds you want into there.

Once you have added them there. You will need to close and open Teams.

Then when your in a chat select what used to be the option to Blur your background.

Then you will be given a list of all the default backgrounds, plus those you have added to your list.

Finally click apply and you will be on the Death Star, Star Killer base, bridge of a Star Destroyer, a rebel base, cloud city or coruscant and many more.

My favourite has been on the bridge of the Death Star, I don’t know why but I enjoy it. I don’t think this will be possible on iOS/iPadOS due to the locked down nature of those platforms… but I generally only use my Mac for virtual meetings.

Enjoy being in a Galaxy Far Far Away!