While Microsoft Teams is one of the most popular collaboration tools, many users complain about missing features and stability issues. It's been a long since we heard Microsoft taking concrete steps to make Teams more stable, but the company keeps adding new features to Teams to make it more appealing to users.

The latest new feature Microsoft announced for Teams isn't something groundbreaking, though. It's already available on rival platforms like Zoom and is a pretty basic one, so much so that users were surprised that it's not available for Teams users. Well, that's no longer the case, as you can finally change the display name in Teams meetings.

Teams users can now change their display names in meetings, but there is a catch

On Microsoft's feedback portal, showing displeasure that it's not available, users requested Microsoft to add the ability to 'edit their display name or an option to assign themselves a nickname,' which received 1,463 upvotes at the time of writing. Also, as many as over 87,000 people on the Microsoft Community website looked for an answer to how to change their display name in Teams meetings. All of this clearly suggests that many Teams users have long been waiting for it to arrive.

The wait is now over, as Microsoft has finally announced the option to edit your display name in Teams meetings. There are multiple scenarios where you can take advantage of this. For example, in public or large meetings, you can protect your identity by using initials instead of your original name. You can also add your department or role to your name to help others in the meeting identify you easily. Moreover, you can add pronunciation to help people avoid mispronunciation of your name. Long story short, the newly introduced name editing capability ensures participants know who you are from the moment you meet.

However, it's not available for everyone at this moment. To use this, you need to use the new Teams client on Windows, Mac, or the web and be a member of the Teams Public Preview or Microsoft 365 Targeted release. This feature is turned off by default, so if you're an IT administrator, you must enable Show preview features in your update policy to see the change.

How to edit display names in Teams meetings

It's important to note that name changes will name changes will remain in place as long as the meeting lasts. It won't change your original name, nor will it be reflected on your profile card. So, if that's what you have been waiting for, here is how you can edit your name in Teams meetings:

1. Select People in your meeting control.
2. Hover over your name in the Participants pane, select More options, and click Edit display name.
3. Enter the display name and select Save.

There is no clarity if it'll also be extended to Teams clients on other platforms, like Android and iOS. However, if you're using it on your PC or Mac, you can send your feedback about the feature by going to Settings and more > Feedback from the top right corner of the Teams app.