Microsoft Teams will soon let you customize emoji skin tones

What you need to know

Microsoft Teams will soon support in-app skin tone customization for emoji.
The skin tone you choose will apply to emoji and reactions and sync across clients.
Skin tone customization is currently in testing in the public preview of Teams or the target version of Microsoft 365.
This feature is supported on Teams clients for Windows, macOS, web, Android, and iOS.

Microsoft Teams is developing a new feature that will make the app more inclusive. We’re currently testing a skin tone setting that lets you set the skin tone for reactions and emoji in Teams. This setting makes reactions more personal and reflective of the behavior of those communicating in the app. Microsoft announced the feature this week and is currently testing it among users of the public preview version of Teams or the target version of Microsoft 365.

Most operating systems already allow you to send emoji with your chosen skin tone. For example, in the People section of the emoji panel in Windows 11, you can choose your skin tone. But adding a skin tone setting to Teams syncs the settings between clients, saving you a few steps.

Select Microsoft Teams Emoji Skin Tone — Microsoft Teams will soon support skin tone customization for emoji and reactions. (Image credit: Microsoft)

“Customizing your skin tone with emoji and reactions allows you to better present your appearance and express yourself more authentically in virtual meetings and conversations.” Microsoft said when announcing the feature. “This makes for a more inclusive, personalized and engaging experience.”

Changing your skin tone settings changes the default for all emoji and reactions, but you can also change the skin tone for a specific emoji or reaction in Teams. To do this, right-click an emoji or reaction if you’re using Teams on Windows, macOS, or the web, or long-press an emoji or reaction in Teams for Android or iOS.

Here’s how to change skin tone settings in Teams, as outlined by Microsoft:

To change skin tone settings, select Settings and more (…) > Settings > Appearance and accessibilityand then select the option you want under Skin tone. Applies to Windows, Mac, Web, Android and iOS.
Or set your skin tone directly from the emoji and reaction menu. Just hover over a chat message or select the icon Emojis, GIFs and stickers button in the message box, select Tune button next to the search field, select the desired skin tone and save. Applies to Windows, Mac and Internet

Big changes for Teams

Customizing skin tones for emoji is a welcome change to Teams, but it’s not the only new feature in the works. Microsoft just announced a possible… biggest change in Teams history recently. The application will change the organization of chats, channels and teams. The new chat and channels interface will consolidate all text messages into one section, which you can then customize.

The new chats and channels will go into public preview in November and will be available on iOS, Android, and various desktop versions of Teams in the near future.