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Blur or change your background in a Connect call

Updated 12 October 2026

In Connect calls and meetings on the web you can blur your background or replace it with an image. You can choose before you join, so nobody ever sees your real background, and change it at any time during the call. You see a live preview of what others will see.

Steps

  1. When you join a meeting, the Ready to join? screen opens. Choose your Microphone and Camera from the dropdowns. Your computer's default devices are already selected.

    Blur or change your background in a Connect call: step 1 in Rentibly, with Join marked.

  2. Under Background effects, select None, Blur, or one of the background images.

  3. Select Camera on to see a live preview with the effect applied.

  4. Select Join now. The effect is on from the moment your camera starts.

  5. To change it during the call, select the arrow next to the camera button. Your cameras are listed first. Under Effects you see a preview of yourself and the same choices. Select one and it applies straight away.

  6. On a narrow window, such as a phone, select More, then Effects.

  7. To see yourself as others see you, turn off Mirror my video. On the web it is on the Ready to join? screen once your camera is on, in the camera menu during a call, and under More on a narrow window. In the Connect app, tap More during a call with your camera on.

  8. In the Connect app (version 1.0.2 or later), tap More during a call, then Background effects: you see a preview of yourself and the same choices. When you join a meeting, you can also choose under Background on the join screen; it is applied as your camera starts.

  9. To use your own picture as a background, select My backgrounds… in the camera menu (or My backgrounds under Effects), then upload it.

Good to know

  • Guests joining from a call link can choose None or Blur only. Background images and My backgrounds are for signed-in users.
  • If your camera is off when you choose an effect, it is applied as soon as you turn the camera on, so the other people never see your real background first.
  • The first time you use an effect on a computer, Connect loads it and shows Loading background effects… with a progress bar. Picking an effect on the Ready to join? screen starts this straight away, so it is usually done by the time you join. After that, effects start in about a second.
  • Effects are processed on your own computer. On a computer that can't keep up, Connect switches to a lighter version of the effect by itself. If the call still feels slow or your computer's fans get loud, select None.
  • Some devices cannot run effects. On those, the effect choices don't appear on the Ready to join? screen or in the camera menu, and the Effects sheet says the device can't run them. Everything else in the call works normally.
  • One-to-one calls where someone rings you skip the Ready to join? screen, so you don't miss the call. You can still choose an effect from the camera menu once you're in.
  • If the call reconnects, it keeps the effect you last chose.
  • Mirror my video only changes how you see yourself. Everyone else always sees your video the right way round, so text behind you reads correctly for them either way. It is on by default and remembered on that computer and browser.
  • While a background image is on, your own view is not mirrored, so the image doesn't look reversed to you. The switch says it is paused, and mirroring comes back when you switch to None or Blur.
  • Background effects in the Connect app need version 1.0.2 or later. Older versions of the app don't show Background effects. Your own uploaded backgrounds appear in the app too; to add one, use My backgrounds on the web.
  • In the app, Mirror my video only mirrors the front camera; the back camera is never mirrored.

Still stuck?

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