In a Microsoft Teams meeting on Windows, press Ctrl+Shift+M to mute or unmute your microphone. On a Mac it is Cmd+Shift+M.
Teams has two more ways that help: hold Ctrl+Space to unmute only while you hold it, and Win+Alt+K mutes from the Windows taskbar even when the meeting window is not in front.
The three shortcuts
Ctrl+Shift+M: toggle mute
Microsoft documents Ctrl+Shift+M as the mute and unmute shortcut during a meeting, in the desktop app and in Teams on the web. Press it once to mute, again to unmute.
Ctrl+Space: hold to talk
If you stay muted most of the meeting, hold Ctrl+Space to unmute for as long as the keys are down, say your sentence, and let go: you are muted again. On a Mac it is Option+Space.
It has to be switched on first: in Teams, go to Settings > Privacy and turn on Keyboard shortcut to unmute.
Windows+Alt+K: from the taskbar
Windows itself has a mute shortcut for calls, Win+Alt+K. Microsoft describes it as muting and unmuting the microphone in supported apps, and Teams is one of them. It is the one to use when another window is in front and you need to mute quickly.
Why the mute shortcut does nothing
- The cursor is in the chat box. Microsoft notes that shortcuts, including the hold-to-talk one, do not work inside the chat box. Click outside it first.
- Something is shared on the meeting stage. The same note says shortcuts do not work while apps such as PowerPoint Live or Whiteboard are shared in the meeting stage.
- Teams is not the active window. Ctrl+Shift+M goes to whatever window is in front. If you are in a browser or a document, it does something there instead. Use Win+Alt+K in that case.
- Hold-to-talk is off. Ctrl+Space only works after you turn on Keyboard shortcut to unmute under Settings > Privacy.
- Another program has the keys. Some tools register Ctrl+Shift+M or Ctrl+Space for themselves; Ctrl+Space is also used by some keyboard layouts and input methods to switch input. If one never works, try the other route.
Mute and the rest of the meeting in one ring
RadialDeck is the radial menu for Windows that we make. When Teams is in front, the same hotkey that opens your usual ring opens a Teams ring, and the gallery has the meeting controls as ready-made slices:
- Mute (mute and unmute, Ctrl+Shift+M)
- Camera on and off
- Raise hand
- Share screen
- Leave the meeting
- Accept call and Decline call
So in a meeting, everything you would hunt for in the toolbar is one flick away: hold the hotkey, flick toward Mute, let go. Each slice keeps its direction, so after a few meetings you do not look at the ring.
For Zoom there is a Zoom ring with the same idea, and for Discord a Discord ring with mute and deafen. Every Teams action in the gallery is on the Teams page.
Quick reference
- Mute / unmute: Ctrl+Shift+M (Mac Cmd+Shift+M)
- Hold to talk: hold Ctrl+Space (Mac Option+Space), after turning on Keyboard shortcut to unmute in Settings > Privacy
- From the taskbar, any window in front: Win+Alt+K
- Not working: click out of the chat box; shortcuts pause while PowerPoint Live or Whiteboard is on stage
RadialDeck is free for two rings, and Pro adds a ring per program such as the Teams ring, with a 14-day trial. It is in the Microsoft Store.
Try it in RadialDeck
Free for two rings, with a 14-day trial of everything in Pro. Windows 10 and 11, from the Microsoft Store.
or download the installer (.exe)