This is what I realized is uncomfortable about camera on group meetings in teams - I can't mute other people's video, and so it feels intensely weird to have a wall of people staring blankly at you.

> I can't mute other people's video

you can switch to another tab, use a miniplayer, in some apps u can focus one person's screen and if you choose someone who has a static avatar up you'll barely see other people's faces.

The nuclear option is to install PowerToys [0] and put something always on top (im a fan of the hotkey winkey+space to toggle always-on-top on and off) in the exact position of the other video feeds. notepad or something.

[0] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/

This has been a feature since 2020 [1]. Similarly exists in zoom now.

[1] https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msteams/forum/all/featur...

You can totally turn off incoming video on msteams. What you can't is have it as a default setting afaik.