How to Raise Your Hand and Use Reactions in Teams

Talking over each other is the curse of online meetings. The raise hand button fixes it, and reactions let you agree, applaud or laugh without unmuting.

1. In the meeting toolbar, click Raise (the hand icon).
2. A hand appears next to your name in the People list and on your video tile.
3. Click Raise again (now labelled Lower) when you've spoken.

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + K (Command + Shift + K on a Mac).

1. Click React in the toolbar.
2. Choose 👍 Like, ❤️ Love, 👏 Applause, 😂 Laugh or 😮 Surprised.

The reaction floats over your video for a few seconds, then disappears. Everyone sees it, including the presenter.

• Click People to see the list. Raised hands are grouped at the top, in the order they were raised, so you can take questions fairly.
• Hover over someone and click ⋯ > Lower hand once they've spoken.
• To clear them all, click ⋯ at the top of the People list and choose Lower all hands.

Keep the People panel open during a Q&A so you don't miss anyone.

Tap ⋯ More in the meeting, then Raise hand or one of the reactions.

I can't see the Raise button. The toolbar hides buttons on a small window. Click ⋯ More and you'll find Raise hand and the reactions there. Making the Teams window wider brings them back.

My hand won't go down. Click Lower in the toolbar, or ask the organiser to lower it for you.

Reactions are missing. The organiser can turn reactions off in the meeting options for large events.

Ctrl + Shift + K raises your hand, React sends a quick emoji, and the People panel shows the organiser who's waiting and in what order. Small buttons, much calmer meetings.