Poor video quality in Microsoft Teams — blurry images, pixelated video, or a feed that constantly drops to a low resolution — is usually a symptom of one of three things: insufficient bandwidth, a misconfigured camera, or Teams deliberately throttling video quality to compensate for a poor network connection. The good news is that most video quality problems can be resolved without specialist IT knowledge. This guide covers the most effective fixes for both classic and new Teams.
Check Your Internet Connection First
Teams reduces video quality automatically when it detects packet loss or low bandwidth. Before changing any settings, run a speed test at fast.com or speedtest.net. For a 1080p video call, Microsoft recommends at least 4 Mbps upload and download. For HD (720p), you need around 1.5 Mbps each way.
If your connection is borderline, try the following before adjusting Teams settings:
- Move closer to your Wi-Fi router or use a wired Ethernet connection.
- Disconnect other devices that are streaming or downloading in the background.
- Restart your router.
For persistent call quality problems, see the related guide on Microsoft Teams calls keep dropping, which covers network-level fixes in more detail.
Check Camera Resolution Settings in Teams
Teams does not always default to the highest resolution your camera supports. You can verify this in Teams settings.
Classic Teams
- Click your profile picture and go to Settings > Devices.
- Under Camera, click Make a test call to preview your video.
- Resolution is managed automatically based on available bandwidth in classic Teams.
New Teams
- Click the three-dot menu next to your profile picture and go to Settings > Devices.
- Preview your camera feed. If the image looks blurry even before a call, the issue is with the camera itself or its driver.
Check Your Camera’s Own Settings
Many webcams have their own configuration software or Windows Camera settings that control resolution, brightness, and autofocus. A misconfigured autofocus or a low default resolution in the camera’s own software will affect quality in Teams regardless of your network speed.
On Windows, open the Camera app and check the video quality there. If it looks poor in the Camera app, the problem is the camera or its driver — not Teams.
Update or Reinstall the Camera Driver
An outdated or corrupt camera driver is a common cause of unexpectedly poor video quality. To update it:
- Open Device Manager (right-click the Start button and select it).
- Expand Cameras or Imaging devices.
- Right-click your camera and choose Update driver.
- Restart your PC after the driver update completes.
Disable Video Background Effects Temporarily
Background blur and custom backgrounds add significant processing overhead. On lower-spec machines, this can cause Teams to reduce video quality to compensate. Try disabling your background effect during a call and see whether quality improves.
During a call, click More > Video effects (new Teams) or Background effects (classic Teams) and select None.
Disable Hardware Acceleration
On some systems, GPU hardware acceleration causes video rendering issues rather than improving them. Disabling it can restore video quality:
Classic Teams
- Go to Settings > General.
- Tick Disable GPU hardware acceleration.
- Restart Teams.
New Teams
- Go to Settings > General.
- Disable GPU hardware acceleration.
- Restart Teams.
Close Background Applications
Video encoding is CPU-intensive. Other applications using significant CPU — browsers with many tabs, video editing software, or antivirus scans — can cause Teams to drop video quality. Open Task Manager on Windows or Activity Monitor on Mac and close anything that is consuming significant CPU or memory during the call.
Check Your Lighting
Teams struggles in low-light environments because cameras compensate by increasing sensor gain, which introduces grain and reduces apparent sharpness. Ensure you have adequate frontal lighting — a desk lamp or ring light positioned in front of you makes a significant difference. Avoid sitting with a bright window behind you, as this forces the camera’s exposure down and makes your face appear dark.
Clear the Teams Cache
A corrupted cache occasionally causes Teams to use incorrect media settings. Clearing it is a straightforward step if the above changes have not helped. See the full instructions in the guide on how to clear the Microsoft Teams cache.
Check for Organisational Bandwidth Policies
In managed environments, Teams meeting policies can cap video quality at a defined bitrate. If your video is consistently poor only on your work device but fine on a personal device, ask your IT administrator to check the Media bit rate setting in the Teams admin centre under Meeting policies.
Related Issues
If your camera is not appearing in Teams at all rather than just looking poor, see Microsoft Teams camera not working. For microphone problems during video calls, see Microsoft Teams microphone not working.
For a full index of every Teams guide and troubleshooting fix on Serverman, see the Microsoft Teams complete guide and troubleshooting hub.
