Microsoft Teams has established itself as an essential tool for remote communication, enabling teams to collaborate from different locations. However, users may sometimes encounter issues with the full screen feature not functioning correctly. This problem can be a significant hindrance in meetings, as full screen mode allows for a more immersive and focused experience.
Troubleshooting the full screen issue involves a systematic approach, considering the user interface intricacies and application settings. From our experience, starting by signing out and then signing back into the Teams application can often resolve this. It refreshes your app settings, which might be all that’s needed to correct the problem.
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Preliminary Checks
Before diving into specific solutions, we must ensure that our Microsoft Teams application is operating on a solid foundation. Let’s first confirm that our application is up-to-date and that our account and equipment are in good standing.
Inspect Updates and Versions
Verify Account and Hardware
| Account Verification | Hardware Checks |
| Sign out and then sign back into your Teams account. This simple step can sometimes resolve unexpected issues. | Ensure that your hardware meets the minimum requirements for Teams. Issues such as full-screen mode not working might be due to insufficient hardware capabilities. |
| Additionally, confirm that your subscription or license is active and in good standing. | Check your display settings on your device, whether it’s Windows Settings or macOS preferences, to make sure they are not the obstacle. |
Common Solutions
When faced with a Microsoft Teams full-screen issue, it’s essential to start with basic troubleshooting techniques, which can resolve many common software glitches. Let’s explore two effective methods: restarting and clearing cache, and adjusting window and display settings.
Restart and Clear Cache
We often undervalue a simple restart. Restarting Microsoft Teams can resolve temporary software issues that impede full-screen functionality. If you’re on Windows or Mac and restarting doesn’t help, clearing the cache might be your next best step. Cache stores temporary data, which, if corrupted, can cause display issues in Teams. For Windows users, deleting the contents in the %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams directory can clear the cache. On Mac, you should navigate to ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams and remove cached files.
Adjust Window and Display Settings
If restarting Teams and clearing your cache doesn’t fix the issue, tweaking window and display settings may get you back to full-screen mode. On Windows, you can zoom out within the Teams app using Ctrl + –, which can sometimes kickstart the full-screen display. For Mac users, entering Focus Mode by clicking on the View option at the top of the Teams window and selecting Enter Full Screen can sometimes bypass windowed mode restrictions. Ensure your display settings match the recommended resolution for your monitor, since mismatched resolutions can affect the appearance of apps on your screen.
In this section, we’ll focus on more technical solutions that go beyond the basic fixes for full screen issues in Microsoft Teams. These steps are aimed at addressing persistent problems that aren’t resolved by simpler measures.
Sometimes, the issue might stem from corrupted installation files. Uninstalling and reinstalling Microsoft Teams can often resolve unexplained glitches including full screen mode not functioning properly. We can start by uninstalling Microsoft Teams through the Control Panel or Settings menu on your computer. After we have successfully uninstalled it, we will visit the official Microsoft Teams website and download the latest version of the application. It’s a straightforward process. We’ll ensure our user account has administrative privileges to manage software installations, something crucial for the install process to go smoothly.
When Teams does not respond to usual commands, it’s time to dive into system tools. We can use the Task Manager to forcefully close Teams if it’s stuck on full screen. Pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc will open the Task Manager. We find Microsoft Teams in the list, select it, and click the ‘End task’ button. After that, we access System Settings to check for any pending updates for our Windows operating system, as these updates can include fixes for app compatibility issues. By keeping our system updated, we often prevent and fix a variety of problems, including some that may affect Microsoft Teams’ performance and functionalities.
Alternative Options and Workarounds
If you’re encountering difficulties with the full screen feature in MS Teams, fret not, as there are several proven workaround strategies to consider.
A quick tweak we’ve found effective involves the zoom function. To minimize or magnify the shared screen, try pressing and holding the CTRL key while scrolling up or down with your mouse wheel.
Enabling ‘Focus Mode’ is another nifty trick. It lets MS Teams hide the carousel of meeting participants, offering a cleaner display of the shared content, although it’s not a full screen, it significantly minimizes distractions from notifications.
| Workaround | Action | Expected Result |
| Zoom Adjustment | CTRL + Scroll | Shared Screen Sizing |
| Focus Mode | Enable in Settings | Less Distractive Screen |
| Re-login | Sign Out/Sign In | Reset App Settings |
For stubborn issues, we’ve found that signing out and then back in can reset the app settings, possibly restoring full screen functionality. As a last resort, you might want to give the web version of MS Teams a go. It’s received positive nods for less frequent issues and could provide a temporary respite while the desktop app gets its act together. Remember that these workarounds should not replace seeking a permanent fix, but they’ll certainly help keep you productive in the meantime.