Microsoft introduced a new feature to Skype this week that allows you to blur your background so that people don't see the messy home or office behind you during a video call. It works on computers but not on phones, and I'll show you how to use it.
It's an optional feature, so you don't need to use it, but you can if you want to have a call and don't want people on the other end to see what's behind you. I'm in my home office right now, for example, which is doubling as a makeshift kitchen while I'm renovating.
That means I look like this without background blurring:
And like this with the new feature enabled:
It's not perfect — it appears to blur part of my sweater, too — but it does a good job cutting out some of the clutter and makes the call feel a bit more focused on me, not what's behind me. That matters; nobody wants to look at a bunch of junk in the background of your call.
Here's how to turn on background blurring on Skype:
- Open Skype on your computer. (Both Mac and Windows are supported.)
- Start a video call with someone.
- Hover over the window with your video.
- Choose "Blur my background."
