When participating in Microsoft Teams video meetings, your self-view preview window mirrors your camera image by default. In other words, when you tilt your head to the left, your on-screen reflection tilts to the left—exactly as if you were looking into a household bathroom mirror. While this mirrored representation feels natural for adjusting your hair or checking your posture, it causes significant confusion whenever you attempt to show physical objects to meeting attendees.
When holding up a book title, a handwritten whiteboard note, a company product label, or wearing branded clothing with logos, the text in your self-view appears completely reversed and unreadable. Although other participants in the call already see your video un-mirrored and correct, the reversed self-view makes teaching and presenting disorienting. In this guide, you will learn how to turn off video mirroring in Microsoft Teams so your self-view matches what everyone else sees.
Why Disable Video Mirroring in Teams?
Unmirroring your video feed delivers several practical advantages during remote collaboration:
- Legible physical presentations: Review text on book covers, physical charts, architectural blueprints, or whiteboard sketches naturally without mental strain.
- Confident product demonstrations: Ensure product packaging, serial numbers, and equipment dials appear in their correct left-to-right orientation in your self-view.
- Eliminates confusion: Knowing that your self-view is an exact replica of what remote participants and webinar attendees see removes the anxiety of asking “Can you read this or is it backwards?”.
How to Turn Off “Mirror My Video” Before Joining a Call
You can adjust your camera mirroring setting in the main Microsoft Teams desktop app preferences before entering a call:
- Open the Microsoft Teams desktop client on your Windows PC or Mac.
- Click the Settings and more icon (represented by three horizontal dots
...) located next to your profile picture in the upper-right corner. - Select Settings from the drop-down menu.
- In the Settings window sidebar, click on Devices.
- Scroll down to the Camera section where your live video preview is shown.
- Locate the toggle switch labelled Mirror my video.
- Click the toggle to turn it Off (grey).
Notice that your live preview immediately flips horizontally. Text on your clothing or handwritten notes in your hand will now read forwards and legibly.
How to Toggle Mirroring During an Active Teams Meeting
If you are already in an active meeting and need to flip your camera view immediately to show a whiteboard or document:
- Click the More actions button (three dots
...) on the meeting controls toolbar at the top of the meeting window. - Hover over or click on Settings, then select Device settings.
- In the Device settings panel that opens on the right side of the screen, scroll down to Camera.
- Toggle Mirror my video to the Off position.
Does Disabling Mirroring Change How Others See You?
No. It is important to understand that Microsoft Teams always broadcasts an un-mirrored, non-reversed video stream to all remote participants, meeting recordings, and live streams. Toggling “Mirror my video” only alters your personal local self-view box.