When you need to speak, or someone's doorbell rings, you don't want to be hunting for the mute button. These Teams meeting shortcuts give you instant control.
Step by step
- Make sure the Teams meeting window is active (click on it once).
- Press Ctrl+Shift+M to toggle your microphone.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+O to toggle your camera.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+K to raise or lower your hand.
Tips & troubleshooting
- Press Ctrl+Space to temporarily unmute while held (push-to-talk), if it's enabled in your Teams settings.
- Ctrl+Shift+E opens the share tray so you can present your screen, and Ctrl+Shift+H ends the call.
Other ways to mute
- Meeting controls: click the microphone button at the top of the meeting window.
- Before you join: the pre-join screen has microphone and camera switches, so you can enter a large meeting already muted.
- Windows 11 taskbar: while you're in a call a microphone icon appears in the taskbar. Click it, or press Windows key+Alt+K, to mute even when Teams is behind other windows.
- Headset button: Teams-certified headsets and speakerphones have a mute button that stays in step with the one on screen.
Speak briefly without unmuting
If you only need to say a few words, hold Ctrl+Space, talk, and let go. You are unmuted only while the keys are held, so there is no chance of forgetting to mute again afterwards. If it does nothing, look for the keyboard shortcut to unmute option in Teams settings and switch it on.
Why the shortcut sometimes does nothing
- The meeting window isn't the active one. Teams shortcuts go to whichever Teams window has focus, so if you've clicked into a chat, the main Teams window or another app, click the meeting window once and try again.
- You're presenting. While sharing a window, your keystrokes go to that window. Use the presenter toolbar at the top of the screen, or Windows key+Alt+K.
- The organiser has disabled microphones. In webinars and large meetings attendees can be prevented from unmuting. The microphone button is greyed out until an organiser allows it.
- The wrong microphone is selected. If you unmute and nobody hears you, open the device settings from the More menu in the meeting and check which microphone is in use.
Know whether you're muted
A line through the microphone icon means muted. Teams also shows a brief notice if it detects you talking while muted. Before you say anything you'd rather keep private, look at the icon rather than trusting memory: other participants can mute you, and you won't always notice.
On a Mac and in a browser
On a Mac press Cmd+Shift+M to mute or unmute and Cmd+Shift+O for the camera; hold Option+Space to unmute temporarily. In Teams on the web the shortcuts match the desktop app: Ctrl+Shift+M and Ctrl+Shift+O.