Microsoft Teams voice isolation and three other tools that can save you time at work
Microsoft Teams voice isolation is one of four lesser-known features that could save you several minutes each day, because the platform keeps gaining tools that many people never notice. Microsoft puts its monthly user base at more than 320 million, and Teams does far more than text chats and video calls, so some of its extras may have passed you by.
As remote working becomes more common and colleagues are frequently far from one another's desks, particular tools can make teamwork easier. Some help meetings end when they should, while another lets you find a message you had begun writing so you can carry on after being interrupted. In case you have not yet discovered everything Teams can do, here are four key capabilities worth knowing. For more, see our Microsoft Teams tips for teachers.
1. Stop meetings dragging on with the countdown timer
Hardly anything wears people out like a meeting that will not finish, especially when lunch or home time is close. Sticking to the agenda is also hard when a number of people are scheduled to speak, since at least one of them will probably go over.
Around the middle of 2025, Microsoft added a countdown clock to Teams meetings. To use it, go to the More menu at the top of the meeting window and pick Timer. A clock then appears in the upper-left of the screen during the call. Choose how long you want, up to a maximum of 100 minutes, then set it running.
Anyone else in the meeting who has presenter rights can view the countdown as well. It turns red as time runs short, and flashes once time is up.
While the timer is running, you are free to adjust or cancel it. Bear in mind that it works only in scheduled meetings, and is unavailable in spur-of-the-moment calls, webinars or live events.
2. Reduce background noise with Microsoft Teams voice isolation
If you have ever worked in a crowded open-plan office, or remember taking calls at home during the pandemic with the entire household around you, you will know a quiet place for a meeting is not always available. Happily, Microsoft Teams voice isolation is an AI-powered tool that lowers the noise around you as you speak in a call or meeting.
Before you can turn the feature on, you must set up a personal voice profile. It takes only a few steps:
- Click the three dots on the bar across the top and open your settings.
- Select Recognition, then Create a profile for your voice.
- Click Start voice capture, then say the brief on-screen text aloud and press End voice capture.
If your dog suddenly begins barking during a call, use the dropdown beside the microphone icon at the top right, where you can switch voice cancellation on or off.
3. Review what you missed with live transcription
Maybe you came in late, having rushed over from a different meeting, or your mind wandered while a colleague talked. Most of us have, at some point, wished we could go back through a meeting and pick up whatever we missed. Microsoft Teams provides a live transcription tool that lets you view what was said.
Microsoft launched live transcription in 2021. The company says it works in "near real time", and people can go back to the record after a meeting ends. Like the AI transcription system from Meta, it can distinguish between speakers. When it launched, a post on the company's blog said Microsoft stores none of the data and does not feed it into the training of its own AI systems.
Provided an administrator has permitted it, the meeting organiser, or any presenter, can start live transcription from the three-dot menu on the toolbar. All participants get a notification as soon as it begins. Those who would rather not have their name attached to what they say can turn off the setting that identifies speakers by name, found under accessibility in their settings.
4. Recover unsent drafts in Microsoft Teams chat
You probably receive more notifications daily than you could tally: emails, texts and chats. A few of them may be important, but they also distract you. You could be partway through a note to a colleague, get interrupted, and then forget who it was for and why you were writing it.
From March 2026, Microsoft Teams will help users locate messages they started but did not send. In the left-hand pane of Teams chat, pick drafts and you will see a list of every message you began typing and left unfinished.
So if you were composing a message to another person and wandered off with text still in the box, it has not disappeared, and you need not hunt for it or begin again. Once you find the draft you want, you can delete it, or go back to the conversation it belongs to and continue where you left off.
Between the timer, Microsoft Teams voice isolation, live transcription and saved drafts, each of these tools removes a small daily frustration, and all four are worth switching on this week.
This story was first reported by Engadget.
