Microsoft Teams: share audio from the computer during a meeting
Microsoft Teams has a screen sharing feature and a presentation mode for meetings. Both make it simple to share content from your local system with other users. The feature isn’t limited to sharing a screen or file but also extends to audio. If you’re in a Microsoft Teams meeting, you can share audio from the computer instead of the mic.
Microsoft Teams: share audio from computer
When a user joins a meeting, they have the option to choose which audio to use. The audio can come from the mic on your system (or the headphones), or it can come from your computer however, it is limited to audio from the input/output devices on your system and does not extend to apps that can play audio.
Share computer audio in Microsoft Teams
To share computer audio in Microsoft Teams, you must also share the screen or an app, the choice is yours but entering screen sharing mode is imperative if you want to do this as simply as possible.
- Open Microsoft Teams.
- Start or join a meeting.
- Once the meeting has started, click the share screen button at the top right.
- Select an app or the desktop to share.
- Turn the ‘Include computer sound’ switch on.
- Audio from your computer, regardless of which app is playing it, will be streamed to everyone in the meeting.
Note: you can also share audio from the computer if you’re presenting a PowerPoint.
Limitations
Audio sharing in Microsoft Teams has limitations if you stick to the app’s built-in tools.
- You cannot selectively share audio; once audio has been shared, all audio from your computer will be heard in the meeting.
- Outside of screen sharing, there is no way to share audio from the computer.
- You cannot share audio from the computer if you are using the Whiteboard app.
Workaround
If you want to share audio from your computer, but do not want to use screen sharing, you will need to route audio from an app so it can be heard through the mic. Use an app like Synchronous Audio Router which is free and open-source. Setting it up will take a little time and you must set it up before you join a meeting.
Conclusion
When you join a meeting, Microsoft Teams gives you the option to choose which audio you want to use and one of the options is Computer. This option is misleading since it suggests that you’re sharing your computer’s audio when you are, in fact, choosing to use the speakers and mic on your system for the call. The option to share audio from the computer is hidden.
