Video Backgrounds in Slack and Teams: Blur vs Full Effects
Turning your camera on raises the same question in both tools: what do people see behind you? Slack and Teams answer it very differently. Slack keeps a single blur preference for huddles. Teams builds a full background system with two blur levels, preset images, your own uploads and an AI Decorate effect. Here is what each help page documents.
Miles Crawford
The quick version
In Slack, background handling is one preference: profile picture, Preferences, Audio & video, then check Blur your video background when your camera is on under When joining a huddle. In Teams, open Effects and avatars on the pre-join screen (or More actions, then Video effects and settings during a meeting) and pick Standard or Portrait blur, a preset image, an uploaded .JPG, .PNG or .BMP, or the AI Decorate effect.
Slack: the blur preference for huddles
Slack's documented background option for huddle video is blur, and it lives in preferences rather than in the huddle window: click your profile picture in the sidebar, select Preferences, then Audio & video, and under When joining a huddle check Blur your video background when your camera is on. The same Audio & video page holds your default camera, microphone and speaker, and the neighboring checkboxes cover joining muted, automatic captions, a join preview and reaction animations, so huddle video behavior is configured once up front.
Slack: what is not documented
We could not find a Slack help article offering image or virtual backgrounds for huddles: across the huddles articles we checked, blur is the only documented background treatment, and we cannot confirm a built-in way to replace your background with a picture. If image backgrounds matter to your calls, that is a real difference to weigh, or a reason to check Slack's current help pages before assuming it exists.
Teams: before a meeting
Go to your Teams calendar, select a meeting and select Join. On the pre-join screen, select Effects and avatars. To blur, open the dropdown arrow next to Blur and choose Standard blur or Portrait blur. To replace your background, select a Teams background, or select More video effects, then Add new, and upload an image from your computer; it must be a .JPG, .PNG or .BMP file. Select None to turn effects off. Your background persists across all your meetings and calls until you change it again, and if you do not see the option, Microsoft says the feature might not be available on your device.
Teams: during a meeting
In the meeting controls, select More actions, then Video effects and settings, then Video effects. The same choices apply: the Blur dropdown with Standard and Portrait blur, a preset Teams background, or Add new for your own .JPG, .PNG or .BMP upload. Select Preview to see the background first, then Apply. Two platform caveats from Microsoft: Linux users are not able to use this feature, and background effects are not available when running Teams through optimized virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
Teams: Decorate and Premium extras
Beyond static images, the Decorate effect uses AI to restyle your actual room with five themes: Clean up, Fancy, Greenhouse, Celebration and Surprise me. From the video effects menu, select Decorate, let the camera turn off while you choose, select Generate to preview options (Generate more for alternates), then Apply and turn on video. Separately, Teams Premium can apply branded logos or images to your background, which is the documented route for company-branded calls.
Teams: mobile backgrounds
On mobile, tap a meeting in your Teams calendar, tap Join, and on the pre-join screen tap Background effects; tap an effect to preview it, Add new for your own image, or None to remove effects, then Done. During a meeting, tap More, then Background effects, and make the same choice. On Android, Microsoft lists requirements: the Teams app at version 1416/1.0.0.2021143402 or later, Android 10 or later, and a supported GPU (Qualcomm Adreno 610 or later, Arm Mali-G71 or later, or Arm Mali-T720 or later).
Which one for what?
Our read: if you just want your room out of focus, both tools get you there, but Slack makes it a set-once preference while Teams makes it a per-meeting choice with two blur strengths. If you want to look deliberate on camera (a clean office image, a branded backdrop for customer calls, or a tidied version of your real room), Teams is the only one of the two that documents it, and the persistent setting means you choose once and forget it. Slack's simplicity is a feature for quick internal huddles; just know the ceiling before you promise a polished external call from a huddle.
What to be careful about
- Blur is not a privacy guarantee. Microsoft notes that blurring or replacing your background may not prevent sensitive information from being visible to others on the call.
- Slack documents blur only. We cannot confirm image backgrounds for huddles from Slack's help pages.
- Slack's blur is a preference, not an in-call toggle. Set it under Audio & video before you join.
- Teams uploads must be .JPG, .PNG or .BMP. Other formats are not listed.
- Linux and optimized VDI are out for Teams effects. Microsoft says background effects are unavailable in both cases.
- Old Android phones may not qualify. Teams backgrounds need Android 10 or later and a listed GPU.
- Teams backgrounds persist. The last choice carries into every meeting until you change it, including the surprise ones.
Sources
Checked October 25, 2026. Features, steps and limits follow each product's own help articles. The guidance on when each shines is ours.