In a busy meeting, the people who get heard are the ones who are ready. Raising your hand from the keyboard means you never miss your moment while you hunt through the toolbar, and you come across as calm, prepared and on top of things.
Step by step
- Click once on the Teams meeting window so it's active.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+K. A raised-hand icon appears next to your name so everyone in the meeting can see it.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+K again to lower it once you've spoken.
Tips & troubleshooting
- Pair it with Ctrl+Shift+M to unmute the moment you're called on.
- Screen reader users can press Ctrl+Shift+L to hear who has their hand raised.
- Use it as a polite way to queue a question without interrupting the speaker.
What happens when you raise your hand
A hand icon appears on your video tile and beside your name in the participant list, and the organiser and presenters see a count on the People button. It makes no sound. The participant list shows raised hands in the order they went up, so a chair can take questions fairly without guessing who was first.
Other ways to raise and lower it
- Click Raise in the meeting controls at the top of the window. In some layouts it sits inside the React menu.
- Click the same button again to lower your hand.
- Organisers and presenters can lower anyone's hand from the participant list, or lower all hands at once after a round of questions.
- Teams may lower your hand for you once it detects that you have spoken, so check the icon before assuming you are still in the queue.
When to use it, and when not to
- Use it in any meeting of more than five or six people, where speaking up means talking over someone.
- Use it when microphones are restricted. In webinars and town halls it is the way to ask for permission to speak.
- For a quick yes or agreement, a reaction such as a thumbs up is less disruptive than joining the queue.
- For a link, a figure or a point that doesn't need airtime, put it in the meeting chat instead.
- Lower your hand if your point has already been made by someone else. A stale hand holds up the meeting.
If the shortcut doesn't respond
Teams shortcuts go to the window that has focus. Click once on the meeting window, not the main Teams window or a chat, and press Ctrl+Shift+K again. If you are sharing a window, use the presenter toolbar at the top of the screen instead.
On a Mac the shortcut is Cmd+Shift+K.