Microphone and camera
Your microphone and camera are off until you talk to someone. They turn on when you walk up to a colleague and really turn off when you walk away: your camera light tells the truth.
How a conversation starts
Walk up to a colleague: sound and video start on their own between the people close to each other. In a meeting room, everyone in the room hears each other. In a quiet corner, nobody does.
The bottom bar
- “Microphone” and “Camera” turn them on or off. A muted microphone stays muted when you join a conversation.
- The small arrow next to each button opens the options: choose another device, or “Background effects” for the camera: “Blur”, a background (office, nature, beach) or “Add an image”, kept in this browser only (also in “Settings › Video”).
- “Share screen” shows your screen to everyone in the call (one share at a time).
- “Leave” closes your microphone and camera until you walk out of the conversation.
In a call
“Raise hand” and reactions are seen by everyone in the call. With 👏, clapping hands rise above your character, with their sound; when several people in the same room clap together, the whole room hears the applause (“Applause sounds”, in “Settings › Audio”, turns it off for you). In a room or an office, the padlock in the pill locks the conversation: no one else joins it. An admin can “Mute everyone”; each person can unmute.
The mini window
In Chrome and Edge, “My profile” → “Mini window” opens a small window on top of your other apps: your space and floor, your status, the current call (thumbnails, microphone, camera, leave), the people here with “Wave”, signals received and unread messages. “Back to the space” takes you back to the tab.
Nothing opens? Allow the mini window in your browser, then try again.
If something doesn’t work
- Blocked camera or microphone: allow them in your browser’s site settings, then reload the page.
- Screen sharing blocked on a Mac: allow it in System Settings → Privacy → Screen Recording, then try again.
- A colleague shows “can’t connect”: their network is filtering the call. Ask them to reload; if it persists, write to support.
- A saved device was unplugged: PixelBureau falls back to your default device.